Last month, I blogged about Celtics forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis’ new two-year, $5 million contract with the Celtics and the contract’s inclusion of an annual bonus of $500,000 if Davis can avoid getting too heavy, which in the past has been a major problem for him.
Friday was the deadline for the filing of amicus curiae briefs supporting the petitioner, American Needle, in American Needle v. NFL. According to the Supreme Court’s docket, only two amicus briefs were filed:
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Nathan Crabbe and Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun wrote some interesting stuff yesterday regarding the profts made by the University of Florida from the commercial use of its players’ identities.
This Sunday marks Michael Vicks official return to the National Football Leaguean event that has been widely criticized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), as well as some sports writers and doggie bloggers. more…
For anybody who questions whether a jersey number constitutes a sufficient indicia of identity for establishing a right of publicity cause of action, check out this snippet from the L.A. Times. more…
Justice Sotomayor will throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium this Saturday, prior to the Red Sox-Yankees game. This fits in with a bunch of themes of the moment: She grew up in the Bronx (presumably as a Yankee fan, although I don’t know), she famously “saved baseball” with her decision while on the Southern District of New York, and, as the first Hispanic Justice, is being honored as part of Hispanic Heritage Month.
For those of you who just can’t get enough of the NFL and antitrust law, I have posted on SSRN a draft of my forthcoming piece in the Wisconsin Law Review, titled,
The Puzzling Persistence of the Single Entity Argument for Sports Leagues: American Needle and the Supreme Court’s Opportunity to Reject a Flawed Defense.
As Marc noted last week, American Needle’s opening brief to the United States Supreme Court in American Needle v. NFL was filed on Friday. The brief is now available to be downloaded from the ABA’s website. Based on the Supreme Court’s docket, it does not appear that any amicus briefs were filed last week. However, under Supreme Court Rule 37, amicus briefs supporting the petitioner, American Needle, are not due until 7 days after the petitioner’s brief is filed. more…
The Tax Prof Blog posts insight from GWU Law Professor Sarah Lawsky on the tax ramifications of the sale of the Chicago Cubs. more…
Following up on a post from last week, the NBA formally declared today that it would lock out its referees, after renewed talks collapsed on Thursday. According to the New York Times, there are three major sticking points preventing the parties from reaching an agreement. First, the NBA wants to reduce and/or eliminate the severance payments it has traditionally made to referees who retire at age 55 or older. Second, the NBA is seeking to use WNBA and NBA Development League referees in a limited number of NBA regular season games, for training purposes. The Referees’ Association had reportedly previously agreed to allow up to 75 such assignments, only to later reject the proposal. Finally, the league wants to switch the referees from a defined-benefit pension plan to a 401(k) system used by other NBA employees.
