Media & Entertainment Law

New SI.com Column on Gilbert Arenas and His Guns

Posted on January 04, 2010
I have a new SI.com column that looks at the potential punishments Gilbert Arena could face at the hands of the legal system, the NBA, and the Washington Wizards. The piece also discusses implications for NBA players who carry guns. Here's an excerpt:* * *The Wizards could also attempt to sanction Arenas...

Update: Time Warner and Fox Settle

Posted on January 02, 2010
A few hours after midnight on January 1st, Time Warner and Fox settled their cable carriage issue. Terms were not announced, but most likely the agreement involves the payment of a retransmissions fee to Fox of between 30 cents and $1.00 per subscriber...

The Fox-Cable Wars -- Sports Fans' Woes

Posted on December 31, 2009
In addition to sports law, I teach and write about communications law issues. With a new year approaching, a nasty access war between Fox and Time-Warner Cable, one of the nation's largest cable operators is simmering, which may wreck havoc on college football fans (and devotees of other Fox programs) once the new year begins...

The NFL's Brief in American Needle v. NFL

Posted on December 30, 2009
For those who have been waiting to read the brief filed by the NFL in the upcoming American Needle v. NFL case, it is now available to be downloaded. Meanwhile, a complete collection of all the briefs filed with the Supreme Court in the case can be accessed here.

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New SI.com Column on Mike Leach and Texas Tech Legal Battle: Was He Wrongfully Terminated?

Posted on December 30, 2009
I have a new SI.com column that looks at the Mike Leach firing from Texas Tech and the possibility of a wrongful termination lawsuit. Here's an excerpt:* * *Was Texas Tech legally entitled to fire Leach for cause? In addition to requiring Leach to follow Texas Tech procedures and polices and to provide responsible treatment of players' health, Leach's contract lists the circumstances under which Texas Tech could dismiss him for cause: 1) The commission of a major NCAA violation or an excessive accumulation of secondary violations by Leach...

Texas Tech coach fired: Updated and moved to top

Posted on December 30, 2009
Texas Tech has suspended football coach Mike Leach for its bowl game, because of Leach's alleged treatment of a player (receiver Adam James, the son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James) who had suffered a concussion and was unable to practice...

Texas Tech coach suspended--some questions

Posted on December 29, 2009
Texas Tech has suspended football coach Mike Leach for its bowl game, because of Leach's alleged treatment of a player (receiver Adam James, the son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James) who had suffered a concussion and was unable to practice...

The Aroldis Chapman Sports Law Saga Continues

Posted on December 29, 2009
A couple of weeks ago, Ed and I discussed an interesting lawsuit filed in a Massachusetts state court by the former agents of 21-year-old Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman against his new agents for "stealing" Chapman as a client. The lawsuit -- Athletes Premier International v...

The Rules Regarding Blood That May Put Mayweather-Pacquiao in the Crypt

Posted on December 23, 2009
It is being widely reported this week that the proposed mega-fight between the two best fighters in professional boxing today, Filipino sensation Manny (Pac Man) Pacquiao and the undefeated Floyd (Money) Mayweather, Jr., tentatively scheduled for March 13, 2010, may now be in serious jeopardy...

Instant replay and standards of review

Posted on December 22, 2009
There has been a free-ranging blog conversation recently on why video-replay review in the NFL is so deferential rather than de novo. Joseph Blocher started things off, triggering responses here, here, and here, as well as my limited comments. Mitchell Berman weighs in at Slate today...

City of San Francisco Threatens to Sue MLB

Posted on December 20, 2009
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday that San Francisco's City Attorney has sent Major League Baseball officials a letter threatening a lawsuit by the city of San Francisco should MLB approve the relocation of the Oakland Athletics to San Jose...

American Needle Updates

Posted on December 18, 2009
Two quick items for those closely monitoring the American Needle v. National Football League case before the United States Supreme Court. First, American Needle filed a reply brief yesterday, which is available here. Unfortunately, the NFL's brief is still not yet publicly available for download...

Arn Tellem on NCAA Ban on Use of Attorneys during Contract Talks with Teams

Posted on December 18, 2009
Arn Tellem, a prominent agent to MLB and NBA players and Principal at the Wasserman Media Group, has a thoughtful piece on the Huffington Post on how the NCAA largely prohibits student-athletes from legal representation during contract talks with professional teams...

New Sports Law Scholarship

Posted on December 17, 2009
Recently published scholarship includes:Nadir S. Ahmed, Inclusionary seating: application of the principle of inclusionary zoning to stadium event ticket pricing, 16 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 301 (2009)Manav K. Bhatnagar, Comment, Fantasy liability: publicity law, the First Amendment, and fantasy sports, 119 YALE LAW JOURNAL 131 (2009)Peter Charlish, Dwain Chambers runs out of time, 10 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS LAW 57 (2008)Colin J...

The Next NCAA President?

Posted on December 17, 2009
The next NCAA president will oversee the organization's policies in a number of controversial areas, including player rights to names and likenesses, a potential college football national championship playoff, and policies regarding the hiring of minority coaches...

Did Aroldis Chapman switch agents because of Tortious Interference?

Posted on December 16, 2009
An interesting lawsuit has been filed in a Massachusetts state court by the former agents of 21-year-old Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman --whom the Boston Red Sox have reportedly offered a $15.5 million contract--against his new agents for "stealing" Chapman as a client...

Tender Deadline and Additional Free Agents

Posted on December 16, 2009
Back on November 6, I offered an observation based on Buster Olney?s claim that many teams would not tender players by the December 12 deadline. Olney argued that this year many more players (he said he and executives had a list of 93 candidates) would be non-tendered and added to the free agent market...

Illegal Motion?

Posted on December 15, 2009
My wife loves this clip and it has grown on me. But I must ask: Is this Illegal Motion?

Utah's Attorney General Planning an Antitrust Suit against the BCS

Posted on December 12, 2009
Following a Congressional subcommittee voting to prevent the BCS from declaring its culminating game the "national championship," as Howard discussed on Wednesday, it appears that another legal challenge to the BCS may be brewing. ESPN.com's Lester Munson reported on Friday that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is prepared to file an antitrust lawsuit against the BCS as soon as early 2010...

Bill Belichick and Punishing Players Who Are Late for Meetings during Snow Storms

Posted on December 10, 2009
Yesterday morning four Patriots players -- including Randy Moss and Adalius Thomas -- were between 10 and 20 minutes late for an 8 a.m. meeting. It was snowing that morning in Massachusetts (which weather forecasts had predicted, so the snow was foreseeable to anyone with access to a forecast)...

Roundup of Interesting Links

Posted on December 09, 2009
The Sports Law Professor, Just so We're Clear, the NFL Steroid Policy is DeadTaxProf Blog, Tax Consequences of Tiger Woods' Marital TroublesWall Street Journal Law Blog, The Fights and Suits over the Fighting SiouxTitle IX Blog, Article Examines Shortcomings in Title IX's Pregnancy Regulations

Congress and the BCS

Posted on December 09, 2009
Yesterday, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce passed H.R. 390, which prohibits the "promot[ion], market[ing], or advertis[ing]" of a post-season Division I college football game as a national championship game unless it is the final game of a single-elimination post-season playoff tournament rather than the current BCS system...

Cincinnati vs. Notre Dame

Posted on December 08, 2009
Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Notre Dame is interviewing Cincinnati's Brian Kelly today to see if he is interested in their coaching vacancy. Tell it like it is. Notre Dame is soliciting Kelly to breach his contract with Cincinnati. Here you have a university that has made a substantial investment in a coach based upon his express contractual commitment to stay for a period of years in order to develop a successful program, and a coach who is going to speak to another school about leaving at a time his players are preparing for the biggest game of their lives in a few weeks...

Dwayne Bowe and the StarCaps Saga

Posted on December 07, 2009
I have a column up in the Huffington Post discussing the StarCaps saga and the recent suspension of Dwayne Bowe. For a different take on the issue, please check out Professor Standen?s post here. In a nutshell, I do not believe that the 8th Circuit?s decision in the StarCaps case poses a real problem for the NFL or other sports leagues...

Marcus Jordan and The Capacity of College Players to Choose their own Sneakers

Posted on December 07, 2009
Over on MSN Money, John Kelly of Minyanville News recently had an interesting story on Michael Jordan's son Marcus, a freshman at the University of Central Florida. Marcus Jordan wears Air Jordan sneakers even though his team, until a few weeks ago, had a sponsorship contract with Addidas...

Legal Fallout of Tiger Woods Saga

Posted on December 05, 2009
I am a contributor to the Legal Broadcast Network, which was co-founded by environmental torts and consumer protection lawyer Jan Schlictmann, and I was interviewed this week by Scott Drake about a story that Rick also discussed in a different forum: the legal fallout of the Tiger Woods saga...

Tiger's Privacy and Image

Posted on December 03, 2009
The Lawyer 2 Lawyer show of the Legal Talk Network has a 30-minute podcast on "The Tiger Woods Saga" that can be downloaded from here. Josh Galper, partner in Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe's Washington D.C. office, and I discuss and debate Tiger's right to privacy and the impact on his image.

American Needle v. NFL Moot Court

Posted on December 03, 2009
Two weeks ago, the Penn State School of Law hosted a moot court session considering American Needle v. NFL. Gary R. Roberts, dean of the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis, argued on behalf of the NFL, with Penn State's own Stephen Ross representing American Needle...

More Amicus Briefs in American Needle v. NFL

Posted on November 30, 2009
Last Tuesday was the deadline for amicus curiae briefs supporting the NFL in American Needle v. NFL. A number of supporting briefs were filed with the Supreme Court, and are now available for download:A brief by the National Hockey League, available here...

Tiger Woods Brings to Light the Privacy Rights of Public Figures

Posted on November 30, 2009
Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune wrote an interesting post titled, Up in Tiger's Business: Is it Our Right to Know? Zorn writes that many of us may want to know what precipitated the weird, low-speed crash outside Tiger Woods' home very early Saturday...

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