• Monday, June 29th, 2009
As Mike noted below, the Supreme Court granted cert today in American Needle v. NFL and will review the Seventh Circuits holding that the NFL and its teams act as single entity when promoting NFL football through licensing teams intellectual property. We have been tracking and discussing this case since the district court ruled for the NFL back in October 2007 (and then debating it in the Tulane Mardi Gras Moot Court Competition), and I wanted to emphasize one point as we continue to follow this case through the Supreme Court: The NFLand other professional sports leagues in the U.S.have a tremendous amount to gain from the Supreme Courts decision, but not much to lose.
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• Saturday, June 27th, 2009
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Brandon Jennings, a 19-year-old who earned over a million dollars playing basketball in Italy last season, was drafted 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in last night’s NBA draft, ahead of a number of high-profile college players. Significance?
Some believed that Jennings risked hurting his draft status by playing abroad and away from the TV coverage that players receive at top college programs. I never found that concern particularly persuasive, since NBA teams regularly scout Europe and other parts of the globe, and I presume teams are most interested in drafting the best available player or the player best fitting team needs–rather than the most well-known player (and fans’ recognition of drafted players didn’t help the Cavs after drafting Trajan Langdon at #11 in 1999 or the Bobcats after drafting Adam Morrison at #3 in 2006 or the Nets after drafting Ed O’Bannon at #9 in 1995 etc.). For more on Jennings, see Jeff Goodman’s “
Jennings’ Experiment Pays Off.”
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• Friday, June 26th, 2009
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act signed by President Obama’s earlier this week contains provisions that should be of more than passing interest to those involving sports sponsorship. As has been widely reported, the legislation (found in 111 P.L. 31, 123 Stat. 1776) asserts Food and Drug Administration jurisdiction over tobacco products and will finally give that agency the power to regulate tobacco products. Additionally, and significantly for those in the sports industries, the legislation prohibits tobacco-related sponsorships of sports and entertainment events.
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• Thursday, June 25th, 2009
In the late 1990s, sports consulting firms such as Game Plan LLC advised their clients to adopt centrally-planned league structures. Just ten years later, however, these structures have become relatively obsolete. Not only has the WNBA converted to a more traditional structure, but also the centrally-planned XFL, MISL and WUSA have gone entirely out of business.
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• Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
The Street & Smith Sports Business Journal posted a link to an article by ESPN stating that Donald Fehr will be stepping down as Executive Director of the MLBPA “no later than the end of March.” Pending board approval, his replacement will be current General Counsel Michael Weiner. more…
• Monday, June 22nd, 2009
Professor Scott Rosner, the associate director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania, has an engaging op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune on sports broadcasting. The op-ed is excerpted below.
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• Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
I have a column up on SI.com on the legal fallout of news that Sammy Sosa was–according to the New York Times–one of the 104 names on the list of steroids users. Here’s an excerpt.
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• Monday, June 15th, 2009
I have a new column on SI.com, here’s an excerpt:
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• Thursday, June 11th, 2009
* I was interviewed on Toronto 590 The Fan yesterday to discuss the Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy saga. Geoff up some great links yesterday on the same topic.
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• Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
We’ve given little attention so far to the bankruptcy of the Phoenix Coyotes, pending in federal bankruptcy court in Phoenix. The ongoing dispute over control of the team raises some important longstanding issues relating to franchise relocation and antitrust law. In the hope that the parties will settle before he’s forced to issue a decision, Judge Baum has “dropped the hammer” on lawyers from all sides. I’ve been quoted in several stories over the past month in the National Post (Toronto) on the case: more…
