Yankees Seeking to Avoid Paying Potential $24 Million Bonus to A-Rod

The New York Yankees have made it clear they are still unhappy with Alex Rodriguez despite his return. A-Rod is preparing to return after a year-long suspension for admitted use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. At the same time, the Yankees are avoiding contact with the player, hoping to give him as little time playing as possible, and seeking to void his milestones bonus contract.

Recently, the Yankees have given A-Rod the cold shoulder a few times. They have made it clear that he …

January 14, 2015 NCAA

College Football & Basketball Families to be Reimbursed for Travel Expenses

Following the trend of sharing broadcast and other revenues with college athletes, the NCAA and College Football Playoff announced they would help athletes’ families with the cost of attending championship games.

CFP is an independent body overseeing college football subject to NCAA rules. Just after being granted a waiver allowing it to reimburse families for travel, the CFP announced it would provide up to $2,500 to parents or guardians attending Monday’s championship game in Arlington Texas. Reimbursement is capped at $1,250 per parent or guardian …

January 6, 2015 NFL

St. Louis Rams Owner Planning to Build L.A. Stadium

Rumors and hopes of an NFL team returning to Los Angeles have been swirling ever since the Rams and Raiders left two decades ago. With more than a dozen previous proposals, it’s a wonder hopefuls haven’t given up. The latest is a plan for a new St. Louis Rams stadium. But, this time it’s different – Ram’s owner Stan Kroenke owns a suitable plot of land for a new stadium.

Last year, Kroenke purchased a 60-acre tract of land in Inglewood, an L.A. suburb. Although …

December 21, 2014 Antitrust / Music

Apple Wins $1 Billion iTunes Antitrust Case

After only three-hours, the jury in a 10 year old dispute reached a verdict favoring Apple. The federal jury found that Apple’s iTunes 7.0 software was a technological improvement for iPods rather than an attempt to monopolize digital music.

Along with improvements such as the addition of games and movies to iPods, iTunes 7.0 included FairPlay. FairPlay was a digital rights protection system that only permitted songs purchased through iTunes or on CDs to play on iPods. Songs purchased from competitors would not work. …

December 17, 2014 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

Nike Sues Three Former Top Designers After Move to Adidas

On December 8, Nike filed suit against three of its former designers after they left to work for Adidas. According to Nike’s suit, Dennis Dekovic, Marc Dolce, and Mark Miner violated their non-compete agreement and stole trade secrets from their former employer.

The lawsuit seeks more than $10 million in damages and an injunction preventing the trio from opening a new design center called Brooklyn Design Studio. Allegedly the studio is a replica of Nike’s Innovation Kitchen. Nike claims it will suffer irreparable harm and …

December 16, 2014 Concussions

Recent Poll: Half of Americans Don’t Want Their Son to Play Football

Despite football’s popularity as a spectator sport, according to a recent Bloomberg Poll, half of American’s don’t want their son’s playing the game. Those statistics are even gloomier among the educated; sixty-two percent of college-educated survey respondents said they wouldn’t want their son to play.

Many suggest this decline is attributable to the attention on the negative health impacts of the sport. Concussions have been a large stumbling block for the NFL. A vast number of former players have alleged they suffer long-term effects …

December 14, 2014 Litigation / NHL

Bookie Pleads Guilty to Extorting Thomas Vanek

The second bookie involved in a Rochester, NY gambling ring pled guilty to illegal gambling, extortion, and money laundering conspiracies on December 5, 2014. In his plea, Joseph Ruff, admitted to extorting Thomas Vanek for partial payment of Vanek’s gambling debts. The plea comes months after Joseph’s brother Mark pled guilty in October.

The gambling ring was based out of a Rochester restaurant called Marina Restaurant & Bar but operated through the internet. However, after the April 2014 indictment of three men, including Ruff and …