Widow of Victim Locked in Cooler at Sun Trust Park Sues Atlanta Braves

Angela Keeling, the widow of Marvin “Todd” Keeling, has sued the Atlanta Braves, as well as more than a dozen other companies that provide services at SunTrust Park, for his death after being locked inside a stadium cooler. The complaint states that the Braves knew the cooler door release mechanism was “faulty . . . improperly constructed, assembled, maintained, and allowed to exist despite notice . . .” but never fixed it.

On June 26, 2018, Keeling was an “invitee servicing and finalizing the installation …

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MLB Strikes Deal with Cuban Baseball Federation

On December 19, 2018, MLB and the MLB Players Union (MLB PA) announced that they reached an agreement with the Cuban Baseball Federation. The agreement will allow MLB teams to sign Cuban baseball players without requiring the players to “defect” from the Cuba. Further, the MLB also agreed to give the Cuban Baseball Federation a percentage of signing bonuses that Cuban players receive. The move comes amid slowly easing tensions between the United States and Cuba and was made with the hope of ending player …

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Trademark Showdown at Home Plate: Atlanta Braves at Bat against Local Taxi Company

On November 1, 2018, the Atlanta Braves commenced an action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against a local Marietta taxi company and its owner for trademark infringement. The complaint filed by the Atlanta Braves asserts Federal and State causes of action against Braves Taxi sounding in Trademark Infringement, Trademark Dilution, Unfair Competition, and Cyberpiracy. In short, the Atlanta Braves claim that Braves Taxi is using identical and confusingly similar marks to those of the MLB team on its vehicles.…

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The Atlanta Braves Are One Step Closer to a New Field

The Atlanta Braves are “thrilled” that the Cobb County Commission voted in favor of a public financing deal that will move the team out of downtown Atlanta for the first time since 1966.

On November 26, 2013, by a 4-1 vote, the commissioners approved spending $300 million in tax revenues to fund part of a new $672 million Braves stadium.  The new field will open in 2017 and will be located in an Atlanta suburb.  The plan calls for the reallocation of current Cobb County …

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The Ugly Truth of Public Financing

Despite research showing stadiums are a poor use of tax dollars, professional sports complexes are continually financed by cities, counties, and states. In the most recent example, Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves announced the team will move to a neighboring county after being promised $300 million in public funds for a new stadium, but some politicians plan to oppose the deal.

For years, economists have been telling a different story than team owners want taxpayers to believe. Owners argue that a new stadium will …

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