Media & Entertainment Law

On rewriting history

Posted on September 24, 2010
Phil Taylor has a piece in this week's Sports Illustrated (I cannot find it on-line) criticizing the NCAA's recent over-reliance on stripping teams and players of wins, records, and awards as punishment for rules violations. He derides the punishment as meaningless and ultimately ineffective symbolism...

Mascot Violence in Ohio: Vicarious Liability?

Posted on September 20, 2010
On Saturday, the nation's #2 ranked team, Ohio State University, and the non-ranked Ohio University played one another in a clear mismatch. Not surprisingly, Ohio State pummeled Ohio University, at least during the game (Ohio State won 43-7).Ohio University, however, got some hits in before the game...

New Sports Illustrated Column on Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Domestic Violence Charges

Posted on September 20, 2010
I have a new SI.com column on Floyd Mayweather Jr.--who earned $60 million last year in boxing winnings and endorsements--being charged with beating up his ex-girlfriend and threatening to beat up his kids if they called the police. Here are some excerpts:* * *According to those authorities, Mayweather did much more than steal a phone during his argument with Harris...

What Impact will Ed O'Bannon and Sam Keller claims have on NCAA?

Posted on September 20, 2010
Paul Ellias of the Associated Press tackles that question in a new article. He interviews Rick and me for the piece. Here are some excerpts:* * *A judge earlier this year refused the NCAA's request to toss out the eight lawsuits filed across the country by former student-athletes...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

I have company in disliking the wildcard

Posted on September 16, 2010
In both 2009 and 2007, I criticized the baseball wild card, arguing that it eliminates close races among the top teams in the league, since both will end up in the post-season, in favor of close races among a lot of lesser teams. Turns out I am not alone in this view...

WAC v. Mountain West Conference

Posted on September 15, 2010
ESPN reported yesterday that the Western Athletic Conference has initiated a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference, California State University-Fresno, and the University of Nevada. The lawsuit relates to this summer's announcement that the two schools were leaving the WAC to join the Mountain West...

Marquette University Law School - Sports Law Conference

Posted on September 14, 2010
Marquette University Law School is hosting its annual conference on October 22, 2010. The title of the event is "The Increasing Regulation of Sports in a Declining Economy." I have attended in the past and highly recommend it. CLE credits are available...

Boston College Law Review Symposium on NCAA

Posted on September 14, 2010
I'm thrilled to be a panelist at Boston College Law Review's forthcoming symposium titled, "Legal Perspectives on the NCAA." Here is information on the symposium, which will be held on Friday, October 15: Legal Perspectives on the NCAASymposium, October 15, 2010 One hundred years ago, in 1910, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was rechristened as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA as it is known today...

Will Donald Fehr take over the NHLPA?

Posted on September 13, 2010
It's been rumored for a few weeks that former MLBPA executive director Donald Fehr, 62, is set to become the next executive director of the NHLPA. The latest is that he will indeed become director. Over on his blog, baseball attorney Jay Reisinger wonders why is it taking so long:* * *The NHLPA has been a rudderless ship since Bob Goodenow resigned in 2005, and in my opinion, the only person that can right the NHLPA is Don Fehr...

Floyd Landis as Whistleblower?

Posted on September 13, 2010
As Mike noted in his SI column last spring, the Landis-Armstrong doping drama has some interesting legal consequences. Mike drew attention to "...the possibility that Armstrong's treatment of USPS sponsorship money could bring legal scrutiny, particularly under the federal statute for the misuse of public funds and embezzlement...

Sports Justice by Roger Abrams

Posted on September 12, 2010
Our friend Roger Abrams, a professor and former dean of Northeastern University School of Law, has published a terrific book sure to be of interest to many readers on this blog: Sports Justice: the Law and the Business of Sports (University of New England Press, $35)...

The NBA and Weight Clauses: Derrick Caracter joins Glen "Big Baby" Davis as Weighted Players

Posted on September 08, 2010
Last year I wrote about Glen "Big Baby" Davis's weight clause with the Boston Celtics. Davis, who is in the middle of a 2-year, guaranteed $5 million contract, can earn an additional $500,000 each year if he avoids exceeding a certain weight (he earned it in his first season)...

Legal Aftermath of Brawl in Stands at US Open

Posted on September 06, 2010
We've seen plenty of fights in the stands of baseball, basketball, hockey, and football games, but people who attend tennis matches are often stereotyped as civil or "proper", at least while they are in the tennis stadium (e.g., patrons are expected to be quiet while the match is in play)...

"Let ?em Play"

Posted on September 01, 2010
Professor Mitchell N. Berman of the University of Texas School of Law has posted a new essay that may be of interest to some readers. ?Let ?em Play?: A Study in Sports and Law considers the potential arguments regarding whether officials should call infractions less strictly during the end of a close match than throughout the rest of the game...

The Impact of Tiger Woods Scandal on Morals Clauses in Endorsement Contracts

Posted on September 01, 2010
John Gibeaut of the American Bar Association Journal examines how the scandal involving Tiger Woods and infidelity will impact the use and enforcement of morals clauses in endorsement contracts. Below are excerpts from his piece, which includes comments from Peter Carfagna, Brian Socolow, and me, as well as from Porcher Taylor III and Fernando Pinguelo, both of whom recently authored the excellent article The Reverse-Morals Clause: The Unique Way to Save Talent's Reputation and Money in a New Era of Corporate Crimes and Scandals, Cardozo School of Law's Arts & Entertainment Law Journal (2010)...

Possible Collusion and the 85 Percent Rule: Are NFL Teams trading and cutting rookies to avoid paying into collectively-bargained pool?

Posted on September 01, 2010
The National Football League Players' Association is reportedly looking into whether teams are trading rookie players who would be cut in order to avoid cutting them themselves and having to pay 85% of the player's salary:In a pair trades on Monday, Washington sent 6th round draft pick tight end Dennis Morris to St...

New Sports Illustrated Column on Roger Clemens Arraignment

Posted on August 30, 2010
I have a new SI.com column on today's arraignment of Roger Clemens. Here is an excerpt:* * *In the months ahead, Clemens' legal team will also consider whether to accept a trial by jury, as is Clemens' right under the Sixth Amendment, or to request a bench trial, which would leave the question of Clemens' guilt or innocence to Walton...

MLB financials and stadium funding

Posted on August 28, 2010
I don't understand finances enough to say much about Deadspin's (leaked) disclosure of the financial statements for a number of major league teams, which show that a number of the poorer small-market teams (including the Pirates, Marlins, and Mariners) actually have turned pretty good profits by keeping player payrolls way down and raking in (but not spending) revenue-sharing dollars...

Another Potential Legal Dispute Over a Breached College Football Scheduling Ageement

Posted on August 27, 2010
The SportsLawTalk blog has identified a potential legal dispute brewing between Indiana University and Central Michigan University regarding a breached college football scheduling agreement. Several years ago, IU and CMU entered into an agreement calling for their football teams to play three games against one another, with the first and third games to be held at IU, while the middle game was scheduled to be played this fall at CMU...

NFL Sunday Ticket and American Needle

Posted on August 26, 2010
Elliot Turner at Wallstcheatsheet.com has written an interesting post speculating on the effect that the Supreme Court's opinion in American Needle v. National Football League had on the NFL's recent decision to make the NFL Sunday Ticket package available via the Internet...

Watching your favorite NFL Team Lose and Resulting Family Violence

Posted on August 25, 2010
Interesting item:The National Institutes of Health spent $314,613 over two years on a study that determined that family violence increases about three times as much on the Fourth of July as it does after the local NFL team suffers an ?upset? loss.?Taken together our findings suggest that emotional cues based on the outcomes of professional football games exert a relatively strong effect on the occurrence of family violence,? the authors of the study concluded...

Will Texas Allow for Plaster of Pac Man?

Posted on August 20, 2010
By a vote of 5-1, the California State Athletic Commission decided this week that Antonio Margarito need not be reissued a professional boxing license on its watch following the revocation of his license after a Plaster of Paris-like substance was found on Margarito's hand wraps before his bout with ?Sugar? Shane Mosley on January 24, 2009...

New SI.com Column: Roger Clemens Indicted

Posted on August 19, 2010
I have a new column on SI.com on the indictment of Roger Clemens. Here's an excerpt:* * *Clemens, though, is not an ordinary person. For starters, he will be able to afford the kind of legal representation that few defendants could imagine. Being able to assemble a "legal team" is itself often a marker of wealth...

New SI.com Column on whether Mets can Void Contract of Francisco Rodriguez

Posted on August 17, 2010
I have a new column on SI.com on the possibility of the Mets voiding the contract of closer Francisco Rodriguez ("K-Rod"), who was charged with assault by law enforcement officials and also suspended two games by the Mets for a post-game fight with his girlfriend's father that led to Rodriguez tearing a ligament in the thumb of his pitching hand...

Dustin Johnson and the Fairness of Punishing Him: Lessons from the Law

Posted on August 17, 2010
If you watched the final round of the PGA Championship this past weekend, you probably feel bad for Dustin Johnson. He held a one-shot lead entering the final hole and bogeyed that last hole, leading--so it seemed--to a three-way tie with Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer...

Fifth Circuit affirms lack of jurisdiction in Clemens v. McNamee

Posted on August 17, 2010
A divided panel of the Fifth Circuit yesterday affirmed the district court dismissal of Roger Clemens' defamation action against former trainer/friend Brian McNamee, agreeing that McNamee was not subject to suit in Texas. (H/T: Adam Steinman at Civil Procedure & Federal Courts Blog)...

Signing with a Big League Team out of High School: College and Law School are still reachable goals

Posted on August 16, 2010
From DJ Bean of WEEI in Boston (bold added):Multiple industry sources have indicated to WEEI.com that the Red Sox and fourth-round pick Garin Cecchini are closing in on a deal that should be completed prior to midnight?s deadline for signing draft choices...

Why to care about cheering speech

Posted on August 16, 2010
I spend a lot of time writing and talking (here and in my scholarship) about the free speech rights of fans at sporting events. At times, this has me defending yo-yo's who are just trying to piss people off.But every so often some meaningful speech can, does, and should occur at sporting events...

The Impact of a Slotting System in the MLB Draft on Teams and Agents

Posted on August 16, 2010
Interesting note from ESPN.com's Mike Andrews, the President and Executive Editor of SoxProspects:. . . the deadline for major league teams to lock up their remaining unsigned picks from the 2010 draft is tonight at 11:59 pm ET. Entering Monday, the Red Sox have signed sixteen of their fifty-two picks...

More on Title IX: When Gregg Easterbrook Attacks

Posted on August 12, 2010
Over at ESPN.com, Nancy Hogshead-Makar, the senior director of advocacy for the Women's Sports Foundation and professor at Florida Coastal School of Law, has a good article up defending the recent decision in the competitive cheerleading-Quinnipiac Title IX case...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.