Sports and Entertainment Law Insider Named Best Niche and Specialty Blog of 2018!

We are pleased to announce that the Sports and Entertainment Law Insider blog has been named the best niche and specialty blog in the country and earned 1st place overall in The Expert Institute’s Best Legal Blog Contest for 2018!

The Expert Institute — a leading legal service provider for identifying, verifying, and retaining expert witnesses — holds this annual contest to vet and recognize the best legal blogs out of the thousands that are on the web. In the 2018 Best Legal Blogs Contest …

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We Need Your Vote!

Attention blog readers!

We are proud to announce that our Sports and Entertainment Law Insider blog has made it to the voting round in The Expert Institute’s 2018 Best Legal Blog Contest! Over the past month, this contest received thousands of nominations, which were then narrowed to the “most exciting, entertaining, and informative legal blogs online today.” The polls are now open – if you like our blog, please consider voting.

How it works: You can submit one vote per blog. In order to cast …

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Boston University Calls NHL’s Subpoena Unjustified; Seeks Reimbursement of Legal Fees

Boston University has filed a motion in Minnesota federal court asking the court to order the National Hockey League to reimburse the university for $119,704 in attorneys’ fees and costs. The NHL is currently embroiled in a proposed class action suit involving the claims of former players that the NHL failed to warn the players about the risks of head injuries and concussions. One of the potential groups of members includes players diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Boston University is not a party to …

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Five College Baseball Players Suspended for Involvement in Fantasy Sports

Student-athletes need to think twice before accepting their fantasy football league invitations this year. Five players from the University of Richmond’s baseball team have learned this lesson the hard way. The five effected players have begun the 2017 college baseball season suspended by the NCAA for their involvement in a fantasy football league.

The NCAA rules state: “You are not eligible to compete if you knowingly participate in any sports wagering activity that involves intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics, through a bookmaker, a parlay card …

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Author Looks to Thaw Adverse Copyright Ruling Related to Disney’s Frozen

Muneefa Abdullah, a Kuwaiti children’s author, has appealed a District Court’s recent decision denying the author’s copyright suit against Disney, claiming that the District Court judge failed to see the substantial similarities between her 2007 story “The Snow Princess” and Disney’s megahit Frozen.

Abdullah sued the entertainment company in 2015 for copyright infringement, alleging that Walt Disney Studios motion pictures and Frozen screenwriter Jennifer Lee stole plot points, characters, and themes from her story. Last month, Judge Wilson of the Central District of California, …

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St. Louis Soccer Stadium Proposal Stays Alive but Faces Uphill Battle to Make Ballot

After it looked like the St. Louis soccer stadium proposal for an MLS franchise was dead, a last-ditch effort has revived the proposed legislation. On January 26, 2017, the MLS bill was voted down by the Aldermanic Ways and Means Committee 6-2. After the vote, the parties quickly negotiated to amend the bill and bout an hour later, the parties presented the amended bill. The new proposal was slightly different: The main change included an amount of $12.5-$17 million dollars in projected revenue be …

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Documents Show Fox News Settled Sexual Harassment Case Against Bill O’Reilly

Fox News network has settled another sexual harassment scandal. Juliet Huddy, a local New York television personality, has alleged that both Bill O’Reilly and longtime Fox executive, Jack Abernethy, pursued her, albeit, unsuccessfully for sexual relationships. She rebuffed both relationships to her own demise. Fox has denied Huddy’s allegations, but nevertheless, settled the potential lawsuit for a disclosed sum on money combined with an expensive confidentiality clause.

Huddy and her family are well-known to the Fox family. Her father, John Huddy Sr., was consultant …

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The Road for MLS Expansion in St. Louis Takes a Wild Turn

On November 17, 2016, an ownership group known as SC STL revealed an official plan to build a 20,000 seat stadium to lure an expansion MLS franchise to St. Louis. The proposed $200 million stadium would be built west of Union Station and have the capability to expand to 28,000 seats if demand dictated. Per SC STL’s plan, private investors would pay at least 60 percent of the stadium costs. The remaining 40 percent, or around $80 million, would be funded with public money subject …

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NHL Seeks To Have Wrongful Death Claims Checked

On November 4, 2016, the NHL sought to have Judge Gary Feinerman of the Northern District of Illinois reconsider the court’s previous decision to allow relatives of deceased hockey player Derek Boogaard to file wrongful death claims against the National Hockey League (NHL). The NHL argued the claims fell under the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and should be preempted.

Judge Feinerman had previously agreed with the player’s family, which alleged the NHL promoted violence and implied head trauma was not dangerous and did not …

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New Jersey Betting Big on Legal Sports Wagering

After previous attempts to legalize sports betting in New Jersey have stalled, New Jersey appears to once again be pushing to make sports betting legal within its borders. Back in 2012, Governor Chris Christie signed legislation that purported to legalize sports betting in New Jersey. The proposed law was a partial repeal of anti-sports betting laws that carved out exceptions that allowed betting at specific locations; namely racetracks and casinos. The NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB quickly took legal action against the new legislation. …

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