Sports and Entertainment Law Insider™
Your All-Access Pass to the Latest Legal Developments Impacting the Business of Sports and Entertainment.
The NBA, and more specifically, four of its teams, were on the wrong side of an historic windfall. And now, they’re looking to get out of it.
When the ABA merged with the NBA in 1976, the plan was to keep four of the league’s seven teams: the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, New York (later New Jersey and now Brooklyn) Nets and Indiana Pacers. The Virginia Squires were folded by the ABA before the end of the season due to financial problems. The Kentucky …
Continue ReadingThat the NCAA investigation of the University of Miami has dragged on beyond any reasonable timeframe is beyond dispute. Students who entered the school as freshmen when the investigation began are seniors now, with no formal findings having been issued by the NCAA. The Penn State investigation took less time. The investigation and trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg took less time. And yet, there is no sign that the NCAA will be making formal findings anytime soon.
However, the Palm Beach Post’s Greg Stoda…
Continue ReadingThe physical rigors of an NFL career are familiar to any football fan. However, the unfortunate case of former Cincinnati Bengal Reggie Williams is one that stands out, and is instructive of the difficulties faced by former NFL players in getting post-career medical treatment. During a playing career, all medical care for players is covered under the league’s collective bargaining agreement. And vested players (those with at least three-years experience) are entitled to medical care for five years after the end of their career. However, …
Continue ReadingWith the World Cup just a year away, widespread protests across Brazil have cast a long shadow over the host country’s ability to stage soccer’s biggest event.
President Dilma Rouseff called an emergency cabinet meeting today in the wake of protests in 80 cities, involving 1 million Brazilians. The protests initially began peacefully, but a brutal police crackdown of a peaceful protest on June 13 has caused the situation to devolve into chaos, with serious vandalism, looting and arson, and one fatality. These have occurred …
Continue ReadingJay-Z has built an impressive empire as a rap mogul, and now he’s moving into sports, reaching an agreement with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which represents more than 800 professional athletes. Jay-Z has wasted no time making moves, signing on New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, and New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz as clients.
This move into the world of sports agency has not gone unnoticed. Cano was signed away from Scott Boras, universally regarded as baseball’s most powerful agent. And …
Continue ReadingAll states allow athletes to be awarded workers’ compensation benefits for injuries sustained during their playing days. However, California has emerged as a favorite jurisdiction for two reasons. First, California is one of the few states that allow athletes to claim injuries for the cumulative effect of injuries over time, or what some jurisdictions would call either an “occupational disease” or “cumulative injury.” Second, California has extremely lax personal jurisdiction requirements.
Ordinarily, a claimant in a workers’ compensation claim would need to establish residency or …
Continue ReadingIn 1992, Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, 26 USC 3701, to ban sports gambling outside states where it was already established (Nevada, and to much lesser extents, Delaware, Montana and Oregon) as of the time of the statute. In 2012, the New Jersey State Legislature passed a law allowing for wagering on the outcome of sporting events at racetracks and at Atlantic City casinos, and Governor Chris Christie signed that into law. The four major North American sports leagues, plus the …
Continue ReadingThe NCAA’s seemingly never-ending probe of the University of Miami football and basketball programs took a bizarre turn on Wednesday, as the governing body admitted that it improperly obtained information via the attorney of former booster, and convicted felon, Nevin Shapiro. The NCAA admitted to hiring Mr. Shapiro’s attorney, Maria Elena Perez, to depose witnesses in his bankruptcy case.
The NCAA does not have subpoena power, and thus may have gained information that would not have otherwise been available through Ms. Perez’s representation of Mr. …
Continue ReadingThe United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) recently released its evidence against former cyclist Lance Armstrong. Though Armstrong has claimed innocence against charges of blood doping and use of banned substances, the evidence provided by the USADA leaves little, if any, doubt that Armstrong was part of what USADA chief executive Travis Tygart called, “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.”
Armstrong was given a lifetime ban from the sport of cycling in August, and was stripped of his …
Continue ReadingThe Minnesota Wild made waves this offseason by signing Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to identical 13 year, $98 million contracts. Shortly before that, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed Sidney Crosby to a 12 year, $104.4 million contract extension that will pay him through the age of 38. These contracts epitomize a problem that has bedeviled the NHL ever since the salary cap was introduced following the 2004-5 lockout: salary cap circumvention. And, to no surprise, the NHL once again locked out the players when the …
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