Michael Avenatti Arrested for an Attempt to Extort up to $26.5 Million From Nike

On March 25, 2019, celebrity lawyer and outspoken President Trump critic, Michael Avenatti, was arrested and taken into custody after federal prosecutors charged him with numerous crimes, including conspiracy to commit extortion, bank fraud, and wire fraud. According to a federal criminal complaint, on March 19, 2019, Avenatti met with Nike representatives claiming to represent a youth basketball coach who had information that Nike employees made illicit payments to the families of high school athletes.

Avenatti and his alleged co-conspirator Mark Geragos, a high-profile criminal …

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Sports Betting Website Sued Over Mass Texts

Sideline Marketing, Inc. has been accused of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending unsolicited advertisements via text messages. The proposed class action was filed in Florida federal court on February 22, 2019.

The lead plaintiff Steven Saul alleges in his complaint that Sideline Marketing bombarded individuals with unwanted text messages, sending spam texts advertising its sports betting advice service on BlowoutPicks.com. The suit claims that these bulk spam messages were sent without the recipients’ permission by an automatic telephone dialing system, and that …

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Youth Hockey “Boys Club” Prevents Tier 1 Application, Suit Says

On February 21, 2019, Reapers Hockey Association Inc. (Reapers), an organization that hopes to become Illinois fifth Tier 1 youth hockey club, filed a lawsuit against the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois Inc. (AHAI), the committee in charge of granting Tier 1 charters. According to the lawsuit, the AHAI governs all organized amateur hockey in Illinois, but the AHAI has only served the pecuniary interests of the existing four hockey clubs that possess a Tier I charter. It was alleged that the AHAI and its …

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AAF’s Orlando Apollos to Practice in Georgia to Secure Workers’ Compensation Coverage for Players

Beginning in March, the Alliance of American Football’s Orlando Apollos will start practicing in the state of Georgia due to a lack of Workers’ Compensation coverage in its home state.

Typically, the vast majority of states’ laws provide workers compensation coverage for professional athletes. However, in Florida, professional athletes are not considered employees under its workers’ compensation laws, thereby preventing these athletes from filing claims for injuries arising out of the course of employment. For teams like the Tampa Bay Rays or Miami Dolphins, the …

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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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Five in NYC Charged for Selling Over $73M in Counterfeit Jordans

According to shoe hero, five New York City individuals have recently been charged for the sale of over $73 million worth of counterfeit Nike Air Jordans, in a ring thought to have been active since at least 2016. On August 3, 2018, a complaint was filed in the Southern District of New York, alleging that Miyuki Suen, Jian Min Huang, Songhua Qu, Kin Lui Chen, and Fangrang Qu conspired to and did traffic counterfeit goods in violation of federal law.

The investigation was led …

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Two Former NFL Players Dispute Rightful Ownership of Miami Property

On August 2, 2018, a judge denied an “emergency motion” requesting a temporary injunction to prevent a Miami property purportedly owned by former NFL player, Antonio Bryant, from being conveyed to a third party by another former NFL player, Chuck Sanders.  Bryant filed the motion after claiming that Sanders forged Bryant’s signature on a 2012 deed to himself, and in February 2018, inappropriately conveyed Bryant’s North Miami Beach parcel to a Pennsylvania company called DTT North LLC (“DTT”).

The dispute began after Sanders made a …

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USGA Reaches Agreement with Shinnecock Indian Nation Ahead of U.S. Open

The United States Golf Association (USGA) will host the 2018 United States Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York on June 14-17. This will be the fifth time the national championship is held at Shinnecock, and the first time since 2004. The second ever U.S. Open was played at Shinnecock in 1896, which marked the start of a long standing relationship between the USGA and the Shinnecock Indian Nation.

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club was constructed on land once owned by the Shinnecock …

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Under Armour Sued in Latest Data Breach Case

In April 2018, Rebecca Murray filed a putative class action suit against Under Armour relating to the March 2018 data breach of Under Armour’s MyFitnessPal nutrition and fitness app. On Tuesday, May 15, 2018 Under Armour filed a notice of removal transferring the case to federal court in the Central District of California Murray v. Under Armour, 2:18-CV-04032.

The case arises from a data breach which Under Armour announced in late March 2018. Under Armour said that the breach affected an estimated $150 …

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