Media & Entertainment Law

10 Most Endangered Newspapers in America

Posted on March 10, 2009
Not exactly a sports business topic, but indirectly it is and to my mind a very important one. Doug McIntyre of the excellent stock and investing block 24/7 Wall Street recently posted his best guess as to the 10 most endangered newspapers in America...

Mazel Tove to the Israeli Davis Cup Team

Posted on March 09, 2009
The Israeli Men's Tennis Davis Cup team advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1987, ousting seven time champion Sweden 3-2, in a stirring five game match. Sweden may have been done in by its craven surrender to political blackmail in its decision to hold the match before a handpicked crowd of only 300 spectators, claiming that closing the arena to spectators was necessary due to threat of violence from anti-Israel groups...

Becks Wants to Play in Milan But Own MLS

Posted on March 09, 2009
Italy's long national nightmare is finally over. The Los Angeles Galaxy, AC Milan and David Beckham have reached an agreement that will keep Becks in Milan until the end of the Italian season, when he will head to the City of Angels to join the Galaxy...

CBS & March Madness: Recession, What Recession?

Posted on March 06, 2009

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Pimlico, Santa Anita Tracks Owner Files Chapter 11

Posted on March 06, 2009

Friday Quick Links

Posted on March 06, 2009
Here are a few quick links to get you started on the weekend:It's getting rough in the NFL; Jets furlough non-football positions. Are there non-football positions at a professional football team? (Bloomberg)FC Barcelona and Miami pull out of MLS expansion leaving just four cities from which two will be chosen; cites recession, price tag...

It's Good to Be a Celtic Again

Posted on March 05, 2009

Will 2009 Bring Legalized Online Gaming to the US?

Posted on February 27, 2009

A's Bid Fremont Adieu

Posted on February 25, 2009
The Oakland A's canceled plans for Cisco Field in Fremont in the face of intense opposition from local residents, retailers and employers. A's owner Lew Wolff was surprised at the opposition his plans encountered and finally decided that it was just too much to overcome...

Bailing Out the Coyotes

Posted on February 25, 2009
The financial problems of the Phoenix Coyotes are well known and have been the focus of efforts by the NHL to salvage the franchise for the better part of the season. It now appears that the City of Glendale, owner of the arena in which the Coyotes play, has been bailing out the team for some time by foregoing rent payments...

WTA Fines Dubai $300,000 For Pe'er Ban

Posted on February 21, 2009
The WTA levied a $300,000 fine on the organizers of the Dubai Tennis Championships, more than twice as much as the previous record fine, after Shahar Pe'er was denied a visa from Dubai. The WTA also took steps to compensate Pe'er and her doubles partner for lost income and tour points as a result of being banned from the tournament...

IMG Allegedly Steered Stars Money to Stanford for Kickbacks

Posted on February 21, 2009
According to the New York Post, disgraced financier R. Allen Stanford's scam could ensnare star athletes represented by Ted Forstman's management firm IMG. Allegedly, IMG and Stanford Financial quietly entered into a quid pro quo agreement whereby IMG would advise its clients, including golfers Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Sergio Garcia and others to have their money managed by Stanford in return for for a payment in the low to mid seven figures...

Dubai Will Grant Israeli Men's Tennis Player a Visa

Posted on February 19, 2009
In the continuing saga of Dubai's blatant discriminatory treatment of Jewish athletes, comes word that the emirate is going to grant a visa to Israeli Andy Ram allowing him to play in next week's ATP Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. Apparently, following US pressure and a realization that perhaps they made a public relations blunder, Dubai officials have changed their mind...

Tennis Channel Won't Televise Dubai Open

Posted on February 18, 2009
The Tennis Channel is refusing to televise the Barclays Duabi Tennis Championships this weekend to protest the emirate's refusal to grant a visa to Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe'er to allow her to play in the tournament. According to Ken Solomon, chairman and CEO of the network: "This is an easy decision to come by, based on what is right and wrong...

Dubai Tarnishes Golden Sports Hopes; Denies Israeli Tennis Star Visa

Posted on February 16, 2009
The WTA has been gambling since 2001 when it decided to stage a tournament in the United Arab Emirates. This year it came up snake eyes when Dubai barred Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe'er from competing in this week's Barclay's Dubai Tennis Championships...

Curllin's Former Owners Retrial Starts Tomorrow

Posted on February 16, 2009
The retrial of the two lawyers Shirley Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion, who are the former owners of Horse of the Year Curlin begins tomorrow in US District Court in Frankfort, Kentucky. The two disbarred lawyers are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and eight counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud in charges arising out of their alleged taking of $94...

Are Pacers Positioning to Move?

Posted on February 16, 2009
The Pacers are just one of several (many? most?) NBA losing money this season and over the last several seasons. The reported figure is $7 million the last two seasons, although co-owner Herb Simon says it's more.The Pacers lease of the iconic Conseco Fieldhouse is not particularly favorable...

Ralph Kaplowitz, Played in NBA's First Game, Dies

Posted on February 15, 2009
My condolences to the family of Ralph Kaplowitz, of blessed memory, who passed away on February 2 at his home in Queens. He was 89. Mr. Kaplowitz, a 6'2" guard out of NYU, when NYU was a college powerhouse, played for the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia Warriors...

Becks to Return to LA

Posted on February 14, 2009
With the Galaxy turning down AC Milan's initial offer, the expectation was that Milan would likely up the ante a bit and MLS and the AEG, the owner of the Galaxy, would come to a deal that would allow David Beckham to stay in Milan as he wished. After all, who wants the centerpiece of your marketing campaign to be vocally wanting to be somewhere else...

Ohio Judge Strikes Down NCAA Ban on Lawyers

Posted on February 13, 2009
The NCAA bans student athletes from having lawyers present when contracts are discussed with potential professional teams if the athletes wish to retain their eligibility to compete in NCAA competition in the event the negotiations do not result in a contract and the athletes stay in school...

New Football League Launches in Fall

Posted on February 10, 2009
Defying all logic, the United Football League will actually launch this fall, according to league founders, but with fewer teams than originally planned and without a certain celebrity owner who needs to be spending his time battling the SEC rather than selling football tickets...

The Ups and Downs of Citi and the Baseball

Posted on February 09, 2009
I could talk about A-Rod and steroids but frankly I'm done with steroids. I'm bored with it and suspect that most of you are too. I'll only say this about A-Rod since this is a sports business blog, the revelations about a positive test probably ruined his sponsor relationships forever...

Condi Rice Rejects Pac-10

Posted on February 06, 2009
The Pac-10 search for a new commissioner continues. Former Secretary of State Condolezza Rice told the conference that she was not interested in the job and wanted to return to Stanford and teaching. The Pac-10 approached the avid football fan, who once said her dream job was to be Commissioner of the NFL, about their soon to be vacant commissioner's post but now must continue looking...

Phelps Suspended

Posted on February 06, 2009
The first ramifications for pot smoking are starting to roll in for gold medal wonder boy Michael Phelps. Yesterday, USA Swimming suspended him for three months, meaning he will not be allowed to participate in any sanctioned meets during that time. He had planned to return to competition in a March Grand Prix meet in Austin but that will have to wait until a May meet in Charlotte...

I'm Back

Posted on February 05, 2009
Sorry for the scarcity of posts recently. We suffered a terrible ice storm here in the Bluegrass a little over a week ago and I've been without power for a bit over a week. With thanks to the good folks from Georgia Power who did yeoman's work in sub-freezing weather to get our lines back up, I was finally able to return home on Tuesday night for the first since power was lost last Monday...

Rugby Stars Get Naked for Powerade

Posted on January 26, 2009
In a new ad campaign that's not likely to see the light of day in North America for a number of reasons, Powerade has decided that the way to combat Gatorade and promote its sponsorship of British Rugby Union is through women. Three stars of British Rugby Football Union are posing nude in various rugby poses in print and poster ads...

RichRod NCCA Football's Newest $6 Million Man

Posted on January 25, 2009
Well, that didn't take long. It seems that Bob Stoops is not college football's only $6 million man after all. Michigan, which finished a sparkling 3-9, paid Rich Rodriguez $4.1 million to cover the cost of buyout of his West Virginia contract and associated taxes, which of course was only achieved after settling rather contentious litigation and the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees...

NHL Players Won't Reopen Collective Bargaining Agreement

Posted on January 24, 2009
It's All Star Weekend in the NHL, with the league's All Star Game slated to be played before a capacity crowd in Montreal tomorrow night. Montreal fans made sure that they would have a rooting interest in what is traditionally one of professional sport's least realistic all star games by stuffing the ballot box and electing four Canadiens to the East's starting lineup...

High School Football Coach Indicted in Player's Heat Related Death

Posted on January 23, 2009
Last summer, a high school football player in Louisville, Kentucky collapsed during summer football practice and died a short time later from heat stroke after his body temperature reached 107 degrees. It is alleged that the coaches withheld water and continued to run the players at practice despite a heat index that reached 94 degrees...

Cubs Settle On Buyer; Sam Waterston to Pitch Tickets

Posted on January 23, 2009
The Tribune Company has settled on a buyer for the Cubs, Wrigley Field and the Cubs' interest in Comcast Chicago. The apparent winning bidder is the Ricketts family. Although the family does not live in Chicago, they do have business interests there and have pursued the Cubs for some time...

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