NCAA College-Athletes Move to Secure Settlement

On January 31, 2018, a class of college-athletes, suing the NCAA over the alleged anti-competition cap benefits, asked Judge Claudia J. Wilken to issue an appeal bond. As we have previously covered, the class secured a court approved settlement of over $209 million, the second largest settlement in NCAA history. However, Darrin Duncan was the only member of the class of 53,748 that objected to the $209 million settlement. Mr. Duncan has since appealed the court approved settlement. Now, the rest of the class …

February 2, 2018 Basketball / Sports Betting

NBA Calls for Legalization of Sports Betting

On January 24, 2018, the NBA’s Assistant General Counsel, Dan Spillane, testified in front of a New York State Senate committee and expressed the NBA’s support for a body of law that would legalize sports betting. Spillane said, “[w]e have studied these issues at length …[o]ur conclusion is that the time has come for a different approach that gives sports fans a safe and legal way to wager on sporting events while protecting the integrity of the underlying competitions.” Spillane’s testimony comes in stark …

February 1, 2018 WWE

Take Two — Vince McMahon Announces Return of the XFL

On January 25, 2018, Vince McMahon announced that he planned to relaunch the Xtreme Football League (XFL) in 2020. Mr. McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), originally launched the XFL in 2001, The league was meant to be an extreme version of spring professional football. Even though NBC and McMahon each held a fifty-percent ownership stake in the XFL, NBC still pulled the plug after only one season. NBC cited low ratings, lack of top-level talent, lack of organization, lack of exhibition games, and …

January 31, 2018 Concussions / Litigation / NFL

Judge Stays Aaron Hernandez’s Consortium Suit

On January 23, 2018, U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. decided to stay a suit brought by Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, the fiancée of the late New England Patriots tight end Arron Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez committed suicide in prison while awaiting the appeal of his murder conviction. A court can stop, or “stay,” a proceeding or trial temporarily or indefinitely. Judge O’Toole ordered a stay on Ms. Jenkins-Hernandez’s suit in order to await a ruling by a Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The panel is deciding …

January 30, 2018 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / NCAA

NCAA Wins Another Trademark Infringement Suit

On January 18, 2018, U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson granted the NCAA’s motion, and subsequently, entered a default judgement against Kizzang LLC. Kizzang provides online sweepstakes and fantasy sports entertainment services. As we have previously covered, the suit originally began in March 2017 when the NCAA opposed Kizzang’s attempt to register the marks “April Madness” and “Final 3.” The NCAA sued Kizzang alleging trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition. The NCAA complained that Kizzang’s marks infringed, diluted, and unfairly competed with the …

January 29, 2018 Litigation / NFL

Riddell Fights Hundreds of Remand Motions

On January 19, 2018, Riddell Sports Group, Inc. opposed a class of former National Football League players’ motion to remand. Riddell is a sports equipment company that specializes in football equipment, particularity football helmets. The players are a part of a massive multidistrict litigation proceeding that is suing Riddell and the NFL. According to the motion, for the past six years, the players have been preceding under one master complaint that controlled all of their claims and superseded their original complaints. In addition, the players …

January 26, 2018 Litigation / NFL

Harvard Law Professor Changes His Mind Regarding Attorney’s Fees

As we have previously reported, back in September 2017, Judge Anita B. Brody appointed Harvard Law School professor William B. Rubenstein to address questions surrounding the $112.5 million settlement in the NFL concussion litigation. The final settlement established an uncapped fund that would compensate a class of over 20,000 former NFL players. In May 2017, a collection of law firms representing the players, filed a petition seeking $112.5 million common-benefit fee to compensate the class of attorneys.

In his original assessment, Professor Rubenstein said …

January 26, 2018 NCAA

NCAA Pushes Vote on Transfer Rule

On January 17, 2018, an NCAA committee voted to prolong a potential vote on whether to change the Division I transfer rule. Under the “academic year in residence” rule, a transfer student must spend an academic year in residence at the school to which they are transferring. This means that players who want to transfer have to wait one year before they can start playing at their new university. As we have previously covered, this rule has been subject of several lawsuits, and …

January 25, 2018 Fantasy Sports / Litigation

DraftKings and FanDuel Once Again Fight Back Against Lawsuit in Indiana

On January 16, 2017, FanDuel, Inc. and DraftKings, Inc. once again argued their websites do not violate Indiana’s right of publicity statute. As we have previously covered in May 2017, a group of 3,000 college athletes, led by former Northern Illinois University football players Akeem Daniels and Cameron Stingily, and former Indiana University football player Nicholas Stoner, bought a suit against DraftKings and FanDuel. The suit alleged that FanDuel and DraftKings were profiting from the use of the students athletes names, images, likenesses, and …

Texas A&M “12th Man” Copyright Suit Continues

On January 16, 2017, author Michael J. Bynum filed a motion in response to Texas A&M’s University Athletic Department, the Texas A&M University 12th Man Foundation, and three school employees (collectively Texas A&M), motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. According to the original complaint, in January 2014, Texas A&M posted on its website the “heart” of Mr. Bynum unpublished book, 12th Man: The Life and Legend of Texas A&M’s E. King Gill, “nearly word-for-word” without Bynum’s permission. Thus, according to …

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