The Sports Lawyers Association 36th Annual Conference will be held in Phoenix, Arizona on May 20-22. The three day annual conference is designed for attorneys, agents, representatives of professional athletes, professional sports teams and leagues, players associations, stadium and arena authorities, and companies tangentially involved with amateur sports; students and professors of sports law; educators; and all others generally interested in the field. The conference is also a great networking opportunity for those seeking to enter the field. The conference brochure contains the schedule of events and registration information, which can be accessed from the SLA’s website. more…

Here are some commentaries that I’ve been meaning to blog about over the last week and today found time to do so:

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The first issue of the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law was just published today. We congratulate all of the folks who worked so hard to get an official sports and entertainment law journal at Harvard Law School. They include, among many others, our blog’s founder, Greg Skidmore (a 2005 graduate of Harvard Law), Boston Celtics assistant general manager Mike Zarren (also a 2005 graduate), Professors Paul Weiler and Peter Carfagna, and current third-year student and Journal editor-in-chief Ashwin Krishnan, who recently received the Paul Weiler Award for excellence in sports and entertainment law.

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Recently published scholarship includes:

Marc Bianchi, Comment, Guardian of amateurism or legal defiant? The dichotomous nature of NCAA mens ice hockey regulation, 20 SETON HALL JOURNAL OF SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW 165 (2010)

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This Thursday at noon my law school is hosting a panel titled, Controlling the Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports: How to Maintain Competitive Balance Without Destroying Due Process. The participants are (1) Josh Kane, Associate Counsel & Drug Testing Program Administrator at the LPGA (and Florida Coastal alum); (2) Andy Levinson, Executive Director of the Anti-Doping Program at the PGA TOUR; and (3) Travis Tygart, CEO, United States Anti-Doping Agency.

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The NCAA announced several new rules today, two of which raise interesting questions if one (say, me) were to try to develop a rigorous conception of athlete free speech. (H/T: Rick). First, the NCAA toughened the penalties for taunting by making it, in some situations, a live-ball foul that would bring the ball back to the spot of the foul and might even negate a score. Second, it banned players from putting messages on eye black (outlawing a practice made famous by Reggie Bush and then Tim Tebow).

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This Friday morning, the Sports Law Society at my law school is hosting a panel titled, Exploitation of the Student-Athlete? Evaluating Bloom, Oliver, O’Bannon and Keller. While the title of the event speaks for itself, the panelists are, or have been, involved in high profile cases on behalf of amateur athletes and consist of: Rick Johnson, attorney for Andy Oliver and James Paxton; Jon King, lead attorney in the O’Bannon/Keller case; and MSU Law Professors Bob and Amy McCormick, who have written extensively on the commercialization of student-athletes and Bob served as a consultant in Maurice Clarett’s lawsuit against the NFL. The panel will be moderated by Michael Huyghue, Commissioner of the United Football League, who has extensive experience as both a player agent and league front office executive. The panelists will share their expertise and practical experiences representing athletes against the NCAA and its member institutions and other commercial entities. I am also pleased to announce that each of the panelists is writing an article on the topic that will be published in this summer’s edition of the Florida Coastal Law Review.

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Upon further research, I learned that the NFL currently has in place an internal policy to police NFL clubs for situations involving player discipline. So now the question becomes, not whether Commissioner Goodell can punish the Steelers, but, whether Goodell WILL punish the Steelers, and whether such action will remain private. more…

On March 6, 2010, boxing fans around the world bore witness to one of the most impressive junior welterweight title fight victories in recent memory, as undefeated Devon Alexander unified the WBC and IBF titles in devastating fashion by stopping Juan Urango in the eighth round live on HBO. The victory appeared to be the coronation of Alexander, who looked the part of a future pound-for-pound entrant as he seamlessly mixed uncanny defense with an aggressive, fan friendly style and accurate punching. Alexanders rise, however, was quickly undermined by the bizarre ways of the WBC. Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reported this week that Jose Sulaiman, long-time head of the WBC, recently asked that Alexander resign as WBC junior welterweight champion. The reason: Alexander dared to express an interest in facing fellow titleholder Timothy (Desert Storm) Bradley, the undefeated WBO champion who many regard as the number one fighter in the junior welterweight division. To Sulaiman, Alexanders expression of interest was equivalent to treason. As patently absurd as Sulaimans position appears to be, however, the question arises as to whether it is within the WBCs power to strip Alexander of his title if he does not voluntarily resign...

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