Sports Law in a Nutshell
Author:
Champion, Jr, Walter T.
Edition:
5th
Copyright Date:
2017
35 chapters
have results for Sports Law in a Nutshell
Preface 2 results
- This Nutshell will explain all elements of Sports Law in an organized, reasonably coherent manner. Sports Law flows through our lives in many different formats and impacts on many different people: from agents to lawyers to athletic directors to fans. This book is a review of sports law; it can also be used as a course book, a student outline, a primer for would be professionals (whether agent, athletic director, athlete, or coach), or just a nice way to mull away an afternoon.
- This is my fifth edition, and the need for a unified text on sports law is greater than ever. In some ways, I find myself in the position of ombudsman to the genre. The field has changed dramatically in the last seven years including moral dilemmas in drug testing, athletic discipline, gambling, player morality, owner scandals, league corruption, and litigation against the NCAA and FIFA. Hopefully, this edition will help resolve some of the conundrums. The maxim of French philosopher/historian Jacques Barzun, with respect to sports in general, remains true: “Whoever wants to know the hearts and minds of America had better learn baseball.”
- Open Chapter
Chapter 25. Intellectual Property 51 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The marketing of both the athlete and sports in general deal directly with the laws of intellectual property. Sports marketing has become a huge industry in the United States and in the international community. The business of sports has become a billion-dollar industry. The growth of sports has exposed millions of people to sports every day in one form or another. Licensed sports merchandise sales totaled $13.9 billion in the United States in 2006. The National Football League has consistently been the leader in sports merchandise sales in the United States.
- Sports licensing and marketing agreements are now commonplace in the business of sports and are found in many different forms. Corporate sponsorships are popular ways for a company to promote company identification and product through the purchasing of television time, etc. Corporations understand that sports has a universal appeal and they attempt to use that to their advantage to assist them in expanding their presence in a global fashion. Licensing sports properties and corporate sponsorship has become commonplace in the sports world today.
- Patent law is involved in the sports industry in many different forms from golfing gizmos to football helmets to skates to rackets to lawn darts, etc.
- , in which Canadian Football League (CFL) team in Baltimore was restrained from using the “Colts” trademark as in the “Baltimore CFL Colts”, since “ (trademark infringement over caricatures of hockey referees in the form of three blind mice);
- There are a myriad of copyright concerns that entangle the sporting universe from autobiographies to instructional videos to TV broadcasts and re- broadcasts, etc. A typical and increasingly frequent example of a modern sports copyright problem is the unauthorized reception (or interception) of blacked-out ( ) TV sports programming by the way of a satellite dish antenna. In this type of case, the copyright holder will usually prevail and be granted a permanent injunction. Another example is , in which the second circuit ruled that a sports beeper company did not misappropriate the NBA’s property by transmitting real-time NBA scores and statistics taken from the broadcasts of games in progress. (copyright infringement over a rubber running track surface).
- Open Chapter
Introduction to Fifth Edition 6 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Professor Walter Champion is a true sports law expert. His many years as a sports law professor can be easily seen in his writing. His ability to teach is second only to his expertise in sports law. Since it takes aspects from many disciplines of law, sports law is a balance of exciting, complicated and mundane subjects. Champion knows how to make the less interesting aspects of sports law into compelling ones. He also knows how to use sports to make other areas of law interesting. He has a way of making the complex into easily understood terms for all to learn. When discussing the NCAA, he effectively simplifies the labor laws it violates. In today’s era of technology and 140 character statements, Champion demonstrates his expertise by being succinct yet thorough, without being verbose or redundant.
- What comes to mind when you hear sports law? Most think of agents and their accompanying fame and prestige. Sports law brings to mind watching Super Bowl games from the sidelines, access to superstars, and more than occasionally the heated phone call. However, sports law is much more involved than any Hollywood depiction. Sports law builds lawyers. The reality is that while people are fascinated by sports law because it involves athletics, competition, the almighty dollar, and national heroes, this book explores sports law as a compendium of just about every legal discipline from contracts, to torts, to civil rights, to constitutional law, to anti-trust, to contracts, to the First Amendment. Champion’s book delves into every discipline of law as easily as Tom Brady tosses touchdown passes in the snow of Foxboro. While people become interested in sports law because they think they will be seeing Grestskys and Sanders, they eventually learn all areas of law, with sports fact patterns...
- Whether you are employed by an amateur organization, the NCAA, a sports team, an athletic apparel company, or a sport agency, you will find yourself becoming a general counsel and find yourself studying and learning areas of the law you never imagined you would come across. Sports law gives lawyers the variety of experience that few areas of the law do.
- His students, who are perhaps groaning at thought of constitutional law, begin to enjoy the subject after they study how it applies to one’s rights to participate in sports, and the due process that applies to them. Students return to take as many of his classes as possible, and sports law-loving readers return to read as many of his books as possible.
- As a person fortunate enough to have carved out a living in the sports industry as an agent, I have garnered a true appreciation for the intricacies, delicacies and “meat and potatoes” of the areas of law needed to succeed in the shark-infested, competitive waters. I tell all aspiring young sports attorneys to read and relish every possible article, book, treatise, website, or cartoon involving the subject. The best part about Champion’s book is that it is one-stop-shopping for this type of thoughtful research. Cheers to Walter for his passion, work ethic and knowledge.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 15. Criminal Liability 28 results (showing 5 best matches)
- There is no question that some degree of violence is a part of sports. This is especially true in contact sports. This is even more true in the extreme contact sports, like football and hockey. There is some degree of violent contact that is unavoidable in any contact sport. However, arguably there is an unnecessary amount of violence in today’s professional sports. This excessive violence has spilled over to amateur sports.
- The philosophy behind criminal law is based on society’s need to be free from harmful conduct. Criminal law defines criminal contact and prescribes the punishment to be imposed on persons convicted of that proscribed conduct. Violence and possibly criminal conduct, however, is looked on differently when that violence occurs in a sporting or recreational event. That is because the harm and violence are confined to the participants who obviously know and assume the risks that are inherent to the game. Also the innocent public is not subjected to that risk of physical harm. The question becomes whether the violent conduct is accidental or within the rules of the particular sport or criminal conduct. The crux is that certain sports are extremely physical and violent physical conduct is part of the sport. For battery to be a crime, there must be illegality. Yet, that element is to some extent negated in conventional sports. However, arguably the most onerous and heinous acts that occur
- Battery is the criminal offense that is most usually applicable in cases of sports violence. A battery is an unlawful application of force to the person of another that results in bodily injury. Battery possesses an element of unlawfulness and that is the key to the question of whether battery is relevant or not in the sports arena. Society and the criminal codes have made sports violence an exception from criminal laws by treating it as lawful. The type of activity that is unlawful on a city street might be entirely lawful when used in a professional football game. The elements of battery are a guilty state of mind, an act, a physical touching of a victim and causation. Battery’s state of mind does not require actual intent. Criminal negligence or a conscious disregard of known and serious risks will be sufficient. Both states of mind allow for aggravated battery and will punish battery as a felony when the use of a deadly weapon or the causing of serious bodily injury is a part of...
- In inherently violent sports, the question is to what type of violent conduct is consent a defense. Consent is arguably a defense to criminal charges that arise from injury so long as it is a reasonably foreseeable hazard of that sport and not a result of intentional conduct that is not reasonably related to that particular sport. Although there is no direct American authority on point, the situation where consent would not be a defense is arguably the type of unforeseeable and unexpected punching incident that occurs every once in a while in professional basketball. An athlete would arguably be criminally responsible for an intentional and reckless act. As regards the consent defense, an athlete would not be deemed to consent to intentional or reckless acts that are not reasonably related to the conduct of the particular sport.
- For a successful assertion of self-defense, defendant must show that he was not the aggressor. This creates a problem in sports injury cases since the athlete will often fail to qualify as a non-aggressor. Therefore, self-defense will be unavailable in the majority of sports violence cases.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 20. International Sports 40 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Sports is international in scope, not only with the Olympics, but also with international leagues in different sports. American sports are becoming more and more international in their own outreach. All the major leagues now have some teams with foreign venues and some sports, for example, football and basketball, are actively courting foreign markets. Under international law, a Court of Arbitration (CAS) for sport and specialized tribunals help resolve sports-related disputes that transcend national boundaries.
- What has reconfigured the legal process in sports is the rapidly growing role of international sports law as a distinct regime governing international and, to a lesser extent, domestic sports activity. Until the 1990’s the principal focus within this process was on political issues, such as boycotts of the Olympic Games or competition involving athletes from apartheid South Africa, and on issues of player eligibility, given a new more flexible distinction between professionals and amateurs. Today, the focus of international sports law has shifted toward organizing and judging of competition, doping of athletes, violence in sports, and commercialization of the sports arena and athletes.
- As a response to the report of the President’s Commission on Olympic sports, the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 (as it was then called) was created. 36 U.S.C.A. §§ 371–396, (It was reorganized under the name “Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act,”
- The resolution of sports-related disputes is complex, involving administrative facilities within sports associations and IFs, national and international arbitration, and courts of law. The Court of Arbitration for Sport, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, is a particularly effective tribunal of both first instance and last resort. Its jurisdiction extends, for example, to competing claims for accreditation of sports bodies, Olympic judging controversies, commercial and intellectual property right disputes, and appeals from anti-doping sanctions.
- National legal systems have strengthened this process. For example, United States courts have normally refused to review decisions of nongovernmental sports bodies and have characterized the Olympic Charter as a binding international agreement. Moreover, the Amateur Sports Act designates the United Olympic Committee and constituent national bodies for each sport to govern Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic competition in the United States, participation of United States athletes in international competition, and their solution of related disputes. The Act applies to all participants in designated competition regardless of their earnings from sport, thereby extending the process of international sports law far beyond such competition so as to regulate athletes and athletic activity, at least minimally, in all sports that are fully recognized by the IOC. Even sports that have not been fully recognized by the IOC, such as golf and North American-style football, are influenced by
- Open Chapter
Chapter 21. Discipline and Penalties 44 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Natasha’s Law calls for state-mandated education for all parties, removal from play of athletes suspected with a concussion, and guidelines for return to activity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 300,000 mild traumatic brain injuries, or concussions, occur annually in the United States as a result of participation in sports. The Sports Concussion Institute estimate 10 percent of athletes in contact sports suffer a concussion during a season, and a 2006 report estimated there are 92,000 cases of concussions in school sports yearly. Natasha’s Law [Prevention of concussions], 2011 Texas H.B. No. 2038, Texas 82nd Leg., adopted June 17, 2011.
- Since it is controlled by both contract and the collective bargaining agreement, the authority to discipline in professional sports is not as broad as in amateur sports. The league’s commissioner cannot use his disciplinary power solely to enhance the league’s economic position or to restrict the competitive opportunities of a player.
- Penalties and discipline in high school sports usually take the form of a denial of eligibility to participate in a particular sport. Courts usually will not interfere with eligibility determinations made by a voluntary state high school athletic association. Unless there is fraud or the defendant acted in an unreasonable manner, the athletic association will usually be permitted to enforce its rules without interference by the judicial system.
- , is an attempt by New Jersey to have its own sports book. The problem is the Professional and Amateur Protection Act (PASPA),
- In professional sports, the athlete-employer relationship is based on consent and defined by agreements such as the SPK and the c.b.a. These agreements along with some principles of antitrust law define the boundaries that the employer must address as regards disciplining or penalizing athletes for various infractions, e.g., gambling, referee arguments or drugs. Those who punish are the club and the league, and those who receive the punishment are the athletes. The power to discipline emanates from the consent of the player himself.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 5. Antitrust 85 results (showing 5 best matches)
- These laws are the major mechanism available to effect change in sports. That is because the basic leitmotif in organized sports is summarized by the oxymoron of competitive cohesion. In sports one competes in some respects and cooperates in others. Organized sports must have honest competition to be attractive, but to be organized it must establish rules to assure fair play, arrange schedules, punish wrongdoers, etc. “Cooperation” is necessary for the college draft, cable TV, roster limitations, player restraints, preseason games, season tickets, franchise movement and league competition.
- The non-statutory labor exemption is a derivative of the labor exemption that protects union activity from antitrust scrutiny. It is the crux of nearly all antitrust actions in professional sports. Basically, any union-management agreement that was a product of good faith negotiation will receive protection from the antitrust laws.
- The use of antitrust litigation as a means to force change in professional sports historically developed from policies that restrain the movement of the athletes. Player restraint mechanisms limit the player’s ability to negotiate the best dollar from the highest bidder and thus restrict the player’s commerce; these procedures appear on their face to violate antitrust laws.
- Many of the famous law suits that have shaped the current state of antitrust in professional sports have involved interleague rivalry. . Radovich involved the blacklisting of a football player by an NFL affiliate for playing with a competing league and held that football is not exempt from antitrust laws.
- TV packaging is not the only area in which antitrust litigation has arisen in amateur sports. The typical situation involves the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a defendant versus either a college, an athlete or another athletic governing organization. The plaintiffs will claim that NCAA policies and regulations have acted as an illegal restraint on their trade and commerce. Although the court found against the NCAA as regards their television packaging regulations, that is not the case for their eligibility requirements. Neither the NCAA eligibility rules that restrict compensation to athletes nor the enforcement of these rules are violations of the antitrust laws. These eligibility rules are justifiable means of encouraging competition among amateur teams and therefore, are pro-competitive since they enhance public interest in intercollegiate sports.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 6. Torts 124 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Negligence in sports is a relatively new phenomenon. In earlier days, the law was dominated by Justice Cardozo’s maxim that “the timorous may stay at home.” . Basically, the law did not want to place an unreasonable burden on active participation in sports. One was assumed to voluntarily embrace any danger that might occur in a sporting activity. However, the courts slowly began to understand that athletic competition did not exist in a vacuum; “some other restraints of
- The tort action of choice for sports-related injuries is negligence. Negligence is any conduct that falls below the reasonable man standard. In sports, there is a myriad of possible variations of what that standard is as it relates to the varieties of sporting conduct. Negligence is measured against the particular facts and circumstances in each and every case.
- A standard of care for a team physician can be typically defined as performing to the level of expertise that conforms to a reasonably competent medical practitioner under similar circumstances taking into account all reasonable limitations that are placed on the scope of the doctor’s undertaking. However, it appears that sports medicine has reached a specialty status for purposes of establishing a minimal standard of care. In the future, courts will probably elevate sports medicine doctors to a specialist’s standard. This standard will be limited to the fundamentals of the sub-field of sports medicine which are known to all practitioners in the field based on the types of athletes with whom the doctor is primarily involved. Traditional specialists, such as orthopedic surgeons, who happen to concentrate in sports medicine, will still be expected to act to the standard of a reasonable orthopedist.
- Malpractice is a bad or unskilled practice by a physician or other medical professional. As in other negligence actions, the element of duty is essential to malpractice. Duty is an obligation to conform to a particular standard of conduct towards another. In the medical sports area, this duty can include the duty to disclose, the duty to instruct, the duty to disclose whether the physician is employed by a third party, e.g., a sports team, and a duty to disclose medical negligence. The duty is evaluated by a standard of conduct taking into account the skill and knowledge of the medical community as a whole.
- In , a university baseball player filed suit against university, coach, and another player for personal injuries sustained during a team drill. The Indiana Court of Appeals held that the standard of care for university sporting events and practices was to avoid reckless or malicious behavior or intentional injury, rather than the reasonable care standard; and that a participant in a sporting event, including any person who was part of the event or practice such as players and coaches, did not have a duty to fellow participants to refrain from conduct which was inherent and foreseeable in the play of the game. A teammate, who did not act recklessly or maliciously, was not liable to player; also coaches were not liable to player, and the university was not vicariously liable to player.
- Open Chapter
Appendices 75 results (showing 5 best matches)
- These appendices display documents that represent practical ramifications of athletic participation and representation. These documents are an essential aspect of the practice of sports law and should be read as an adjunct to the chapters on contracts, amateur sports, and drug testing.
- The Player and the Club recognize and agree that the Player’s participation in certain other sports may impair or destroy his ability and skill as a baseball player. Accordingly, the Player agrees that he will not engage in professional boxing or wrestling; and that, except with the written consent of the Club, he will not engage in skiing, auto racing, motorcycle racing, sky diving, or in any game or exhibition of football, soccer, professional league basketball, ice hockey or other sport involving a substantial risk of personal injury.
- RACISM IN SPORTS
- Other Sports
- AMATEUR SPORTS
- Open Chapter
Chapter 13. Tort Defenses 111 results (showing 5 best matches)
- In the determination of whether a plaintiff who is injured in a contact sport subjectively appreciates the risk giving rise to the injury, it is within the power of the jury to review all evidence as to what plaintiff really expected while participating in that sport. If plaintiff is found to have recognized the risk and continued participation in the face of danger, then the defendant can raise the defense of expressed assumption of risk.
- Often the issue of reasonable care is not reached in a ski injury suit, because the skier assumes the risk inherent in that sport. For a skier to assume the risk, the defendant must show that plaintiff knew the risk, appreciated the extent of those risks and accepted those risks voluntarily. Thus, where ski areas have changed the nature of the sport by improving slope grooving and maintenance, one can argue that these improvements make it questionable that the hazards encountered by skiers are currently obvious and necessary to the sport and therefore, they might be viewed as no longer inherent to that sport.
- Participants must be warned about inherent risks in a sport. The more dangerous the sport, the more important the warnings. It is preferable to place warnings in writing and to read through the written warnings with players and parents, if the sport is a particularly hazardous one and the players are minors. A signed, written warning, dated and understood by players and parents, will assist the coach in his attempt to defend himself against liability.
- It has been held that voluntary participation in football games constitutes an implied consent to the normal risks that go with the bodily contact that is permitted by the rules of football. However, participants involved in contact sports do not automatically consent to contacts which are prohibited by the rules or customs of that sport, if those rules are designed for protection rather than the control of the mode of play.
- The doctrine of primary assumption of risk requires actual knowledge of the sport’s risks, which may be inferred from experience in the sport. For example, an experienced snow tuber assumes well-known incidental risks associated with the sport, therefore, defendant has no duty to protect the plaintiff from well-known incidental risks that accompany the sport of snow tubing.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 7. Participant Injuries 28 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The contract sports exception to negligence, which provides that participants in a contact sport are only liable for willful and wanton conduct, was applicable to a hockey league, a hockey officials organization, and an amateur hockey association, for purposes of the negligence claims that were brought against them by a father of a minor player who was injured when he was checked from behind at a hockey game by the opposing players. In an issue of first impression, the Illinois Supreme Court noted that while the father alleged that the defendants failed to adequately enforce the rule against bodychecking from behind, rules violations were inevitable in contact sports and are generally considered an inherent risk of playing the game. Additionally, the Court noted that the rules in an organized contact sport directly affect the way in which the sport is played and that imposing too strict of a standard of liability on the enforcement of those rules would have a chilling effect on...
- Contact sports are different from other sports in regard to potential for recovery. In contact sports a certain amount of contact between participants is not only expected but even required.
- , involved a minor who was injured while acting as a goalie in an informal game of floor hockey on a friend’s patio. The court held that the inquiry should be whether floor hockey was a contact sport and not whether the participants were organized or coached. After they decided that floor hockey was a contact sport, the court established that the standard for contact sports is that mere negligence is insufficient to establish a cause of action. However, willful and wanton behavior will be sufficient to establish a participant negligence suit. Willful and wanton contact is an intentional or reckless disregard for the safety of others. The defendant’s action in this case was neither willful nor wanton. Anything normal in the game will not rise to the level of willful or wanton conduct and thus will be insufficient to support an action in negligence.
- Probably the most famous incident in professional sports violence occurred during a National Basketball Association game in 1977 when Kermit Washington of the L.A. Lakers punched Rudy Tomjanovich of the Houston Rockets; Rudy was acting as a peace maker when Kermit saw a red jersey coming at him and landed with a right that caused a concussion, broken nose, broken jaw, skull fractures, facial lacerations, loss of blood, and leakage of brain cavity spinal fluid. Tomjanovich won a substantial jury award (nearly $3 million) in a suit for civil damages against the Lakers, as Washington’s employer. His theory was that the Lakers were vicariously liable for his actions since they knew about and even encouraged his dangerous tendencies and reputation as evidenced by a front page
- In , an action was based on injuries sustained when defendant shortstop in a softball game ran across the infield and collided with plaintiff/base runner as she was running from first to second base. A sports participant accepts reasonable dangers that are inherent to the sport; but only to the point that they are obvious and a usual incident to that sport. Material factors that can be used in determining if a participant’s conduct which causes injury to another constitutes actionable negligence include the specific game involved, ages and physical attributes of the participants, their respective skills at the game, their knowledge of its rules and customs, their status as amateurs or professionals, the type of risks which are inherent to the game and those which are outside the realm of reasonable anticipation, the presence or absence of protective uniforms or equipment and the degree of enthusiasm with which the game is played. In ...stated a claim on which relief could be granted...
- Open Chapter
Copyright Page 5 results
- Nutshell Series, In a Nutshell
- The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional advice, and this publication is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. If you require legal or other expert advice, you should seek the services of a competent attorney or other professional.
- Printed in the United States of America
- © WEST, a Thomson business, 2000, 2005
- © 2017 LEG, Inc. d/b/a West Academic
- Open Chapter
Chapter 24. Sex Discrimination 54 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Sexism can occur in almost every aspect of sports, including different rules in girls’ sports and less opportunities for girls to participate in amateur sports. Men historically have felt that women are too frail to meaningfully participate in sports.
- In an equal protection claim, the courts will also consider whether the sport is or is not a contact sport. Women can be excluded from a men’s team as long as there is a women’s team in the same sport. If there is no female equivalent, the courts are divided; however, the state’s interest here is usually expressed as the protection of the participants’ health and safety. Some courts, however, hold that total exclusion when there is no separate program is overly inclusive since it is based on the assumption that females are relationally fragile. However, in noncontact sports, where there is no health or safety risks, and likewise no separate female team, then the courts will hold that total exclusion violates equal protection.
- Another approach is to allow mixed competition in all sports that do not involve physical contact. The only criteria for participation would be the person’s ability to play. Here, the outstanding female athlete would have the opportunity to participate at the most competitive level. However, this type of program has its drawbacks because females have traditionally had poor experiences in sports training; therefore, the males would be likely to dominate every sport. The end result would be that few females would be selected and participate in the particular sporting program.
- ), contact sports include boxing, wrestling, rugby, ice hockey, football, basketball and other sports in which the purpose or preeminent activity involves bodily contact. Some courts, however, have also included baseball and soccer as contact sports.
- In this case, for example, the cost of the expensive men’s football and basketball teams were included in the overall sports budget; also, the school agreed that the money spent on the female teams would be within ten percentage points of the amount spent on the men’s teams. The school was required to monitor participation in the women’s sports programs to guarantee that their participation to financial aid figures are proportionate to the agreed upon ratio in the men’s sports programs.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 12. Defamation 57 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Sports is an established part of the American existence, and because of that sports figures and people involved in the sports industry are constantly commented on in various ways. The business of sports journalism is to create controversy through opinions and accusations about the problems of different athletes. Therefore, there is a great possibility that sports figures will be defamed by journalists or newscasters. The question is whether journalistic tirades are defamatory and, if so, are they also actionable? Statements will be defamatory if they are published, false and cause damage to one’s reputation. Defamation is the taking from one’s reputation: it is defamatory if it tends to diminish the esteem, respect, goodwill or confidence in which the plaintiff was held, or, if the remarks excite adverse, derogatory or unpleasant opinions.
- Hypothetically, after one attains public status, he might possibly slip back into the veil of privacy. This is called the rule of repose. But this is difficult in sports since sports heroes are in many ways larger than life and therefore, their public image will last. A sports personality will usually always be a sports personality. However, there can be exceptions. One case in this area involved Jack Dempsey, the great heavyweight boxing champion. The champion was defamed 45 years after the alleged event occurred when in a
- The usual source of defamation in sports is the sportswriter, sports journalist or radio sports personality. These people are paid to create as much controversy as possible concerning sports heroes. It is their job and they do it well. They are also protected in a majority of the cases by the privilege of fair comment: their analyses are deemed opinions and are thus protected by the First Amendment. But, a “mixed opinion” that is capable of implying an underlying defamatory fact is actionable.
- The corollary to fair comment is the First Amendment right to express an opinion. Sports columns are usually opinions and thus protected. An Ohio Supreme Court case discussed the parameters of a sports columnist’s right to express opinions. The key here was the determination of whether an alleged defamatory statement was an opinion or an assertion of fact; this determination is a question of law. . The standard to be applied is totality of the circumstances which will include specific language, whether the statement is verifiable, the general context of the statement, and the broader context in which the statement appears. Sports columns are traditionally the home of hyperbole and invective. Columns can be protected when the headlines of these captions show in some way that the statements are protected opinions (e.g., “in my opinion,” etc.). When a column is prefaced with an opinion-like statement, then it is highly suggestive that it is indeed the opinion of the author; however,...
- Sportswriters can also sue for defamation. In
- Open Chapter
Chapter 2. Agents 38 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Although their relationship is fiduciary in nature, sports agents were unregulated for many years. As a result of this, there were many infamous cases of abuse on the part of the agents. The perceived need for reform created a public outcry that resulted in attempts to regulate agents by both the states and the professional sports unions.
- With the great increases in salaries and benefits in professional sports, a need developed for athletes to have personal representatives, or agents, to manage their affairs. This representation includes the negotiation of a personal services contract with a professional sports team. There is a fiduciary relationship between agents and athletes; therefore, agents are under an obligation to exercise the utmost care and good faith in their dealings with athletes.
- The agent-athlete agreement typically demands that the agent will be the exclusive representative for the athlete. The fee for these services can range from 3% to 50% of the athlete’s contract; the specific share will depend on the agent’s responsibilities, the sport, etc. The athlete should expect that the agent’s results will be comparable to the results of other agents. The agent has an affirmative duty to be aware of the customs and practices that are relevant to that particular professional sport. Also, as regards publicity, the agent must use his best efforts in a good faith attempt to find employment opportunities outside of the sporting arena.
- Many times in the field of sports agency, one associate leaves the firm and takes clients when he departs. Alternatively, one agent sues another for tortious interference with contractual relations when the second agent woos away a signed athlete.
- Some state statutes regulate the conduct of professional sports agents by the imposition of criminal sanctions. For example, in Alabama, an agent can be prosecuted under a statute that prohibits tampering with a sporting event. (Supp.1989). The penalty provisions of the Alabama act establish that all offenses under the act are felony violations. These offenses range from failure to properly register to failure to provide a ten-point type on the face of the SRK warning that the athlete’s amateur standing might be jeopardized by entering into the contract.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 4. Labor Law 86 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The process of collective bargaining only works because of the threat of concerted action that each party can legally invoke if negotiation reaches an impasse. This is especially true in professional sports where the season is only so long and the athlete’s career is limited in duration. Even though the history of collective bargaining in professional sports is not very long, there is an almost annual ritual in the major sports of either concerted actions, the threat of concerted actions or accusations of unfair labor practices.
- Next, the NLRB must determine the appropriate bargaining unit. In most sports, the unit is determined to be the sport as a whole instead of individual teams or particular positions (e.g., not a union for catchers only). Once a union is recognized it becomes the exclusive bargaining representative for all members of the unit.
- The first question the NLRB must decide when considering if a particular industry is eligible for protection under the NLRA is whether the coverage of the NLRA is broad enough to include that industry. The NLRB answered in the affirmative regarding the sports industry, since the effect of professional sports on commerce is not minimal.
- The arbitration and mediation procedures in professional sports are probably the most important result and ingredient in the collective bargaining process. In fact, in baseball, the grievance procedure which began in the 1970 c.b.a. helped to end the reserve clause; and salary arbitration which began in the 1973 c.b.a. is perhaps the greatest additive to the players’ quest for higher salaries.
- The grievance arbitration procedure as usually stipulated in the c.b.a. is an extremely practical method for both parties to settle their differences. The purpose of this clause is to provide an orderly and expeditious procedure for the handling and resolving of certain disputes, grievances and complaints. Although it is similar to all other sports, baseball’s arbitration procedure specifically excludes the benefit plan, union dues check-off and complaints involving the integrity of the sport.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 22. Drug Testing 50 results (showing 5 best matches)
- There are many different policies in the various sports that are promulgated to restrict drug usage by their players. These policies cover the entire range of policing activities from statutory requirements for mandatory drug testing to voluntary programs. The more dangerous sports, for example, boxing and horse racing, have had drug testing and drug testing requirements as a part of their sport for many years.
- A student found to be on a substance which is included in the list of banned drugs will be ineligible for post- and regular season competition for a minimum loss of one season of competition or its equivalent. If the student-athlete tests positive for the use of any drug, other than a “street drug,” he/she shall lose all remaining regular-season and post season eligibility in all sports. If the student-athlete tests positive for a street drug after restoration of eligibility, the student shall be charged with the loss of a minimum of one additional season of competition in all sports.
- Every professional sport has a plan to evaluate and monitor drug usage. These programs are usually developed through collective bargaining, with a system that progressively punishes drug usage in a step-by-step program, according to the amount of repeat offenses. In these processes, elements of review and due process are made a part of the procedures.
- The seriously regulated sports, however, will usually be allowed to maintain mandatory random drug testing. Those programs that have developed through a collective bargaining agreement in the less regulated sports, e.g., football, baseball and basketball, combine potential redemption with punishment. Their aim is education and treatment, and if that fails, punishment. These collectively bargained for agreements usually provide for some sort of amnesty for those players who voluntarily seek treatment. However, there is a heightened schedule of punishment which usually leads to a life banishment if the abuse continues.
- [A]t the apex of the international hierarchy is the Olympic Movement which is made up of three main constituents: The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Sports Federations (IFs) for each participating sport, and the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) for each participating country.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 14. Workers’ Compensation 17 results (showing 5 best matches)
- In professional sports the injured athlete is an employee of the team. A more ambiguous situation occurs when the injured athlete is a member of a college sports team. The question then is whether the injured athlete is an employee for purposes of workers’ compensation. If the athlete was a walk-on and had no financial relationship with the school, the courts will not view that person as an employee for workers’ compensation purposes. However, some courts will view the athlete as an employee if the athlete is paid in anyway whatsoever for his participation. For scholarship athletes, the general view is that if there is a contract to pay for the athlete’s participation, then there is a relationship on which to base compensation coverage. If there is a continued receipt of a job, free meals or money, and it is contingent upon the athlete’s continued participation in a sport, then a contract to play that sport has been created. Since there is a contract of employment, then compensation...
- The key to coverage is whether the employer has brought this sporting activity within the course of employment. If there are few or no indices that bring the activity under the course of employment, workers’ compensation will not be applicable. This includes those sports-related activities that are significantly employee-generated, have little contact with the employer and are basically an ad hoc employee recreational activity. However, the opposite is true in those situations when the employer actively encourages and provides for participation in the sporting enterprise.
- Another frequently used category of sports compensation plaintiffs covers those that are injured in employment-related sports, such as team softball or bowling leagues. Employment-related sporting activities that have been brought under the coverage of workers’ compensation include those which occur on the jobsite during job hours, those which are controlled by the employer who furnishes uniforms, league fees, equipment and encourages participation; and those that the employer will receive direct benefit from, such as advertisement, public relations or improved customer relations.
- Another obstacle for the professional athlete is whether the event that created the injury was an accident. This can be an interesting question in physical sports such as football. Where the injury occurred to an offensive guard while blocking, that event could not be construed to be an accident under the applicable workers’ compensation statutes. That was because the relevant statute only protected against injuries that were the result of an accident, that is, trauma from unexpected or unforeseen events in the usual course of the employee’s occupation. This statute did not contemplate that the deliberate collision between human beings during a professional football game was an accident, or that the injury, in the usual course of his occupation was caused by an unexpected event.
- A. PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
- Open Chapter
Chapter 16. Amateur Sports 27 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The NCAA is only one of a very large number of groups of governing bodies that control athletic participation in amateur sports; however, regarding college sports, it is easily the most important one and perhaps it is the most important governing body in sports of any type at any level. The NCAA is controversial in that many critics view it as paternalistic. There has been much debate, for example, on the various propositions (e.g., proposition 42, proposition 48 and proposition 16) which limit academic eligibility based on achievement on standardized tests and high school grade point averages in core courses.
- What is amateur sports turns on the status of the amateur athlete. If one is an amateur then one cannot by definition also be a professional. But the applicable categorizations are ambivalent, especially in the context of collegiate sports where a well-known amateur athlete can also be a quasi-professional since he is under scholarship and perhaps creating revenue in other ways. The definition of an amateur is defined by the governing body of that particular sport and for that particular athlete. The definition of an amateur athlete may change from one organization to another. For example, it is possible that an individual can be viewed as an amateur under the rules of the USOC but not recognized as an amateur under NCAA rules.
- On average, the NCAA makes over $740 million in revenue each year. Unlike professional sports organizations, the NCAA does not use revenues to pay its athletes, nor does the money go towards pensions or medical benefits for post-collegiate athletes. The NCAA gives no medical or financial support to post collegiate student-athletes who sustained concussions while playing an NCAA sport and who then cope with the costs and care needed resulting from their injuries.
- On January 10, 2005, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors adopted a new academic reform structure, the Academic Performance Program, which will impose “contemporaneous penalties” on Division I college sports teams whose athletes’ performance in the classroom falls below a new minimum standard. The Board approved use of the Academic Progress Rate, which is based on individual academic performance and retention over a five-year period and will apply to all Division I men’s and women’s sports starting in the 2005–06 school year. If a team’s APR falls below the minimum cut score of 925, roughly equivalent to an expected fifty percent graduation rate, the NCAA will penalize the offending team by reducing its available scholarships by up to ten percent. Currently, the NCAA estimates that 7.4% of all Division I sports teams, including 30.7% of football, 23.9% of baseball, and 20.1% of men’s basketball teams do not meet the APR cut score of 925. The NCAA also estimates that 51.2% of the...
- The term, “amateur athlete,” is a true oxymoron. Amateurism was at one time a pure recreational outlet for the upper class. Today, all amateur sports are tinged with some shadings of professionalism. The distinction between amateur and professional athletes is ambiguous and uncertain. Amateur athletes of the past did not expect remuneration in any form for their athletic endeavors. However, this is certainly different today: for example, many college athletes are supported by scholarships. Also, many college athletic programs are a grooming ground for professional sports. The student athlete is subject to rigid rules, requirements and restrictions.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 1. Contracts 82 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Contracts in sports define the rights and responsibilities of the various participants in the business of professional sports. The so-called Standard Player’s Contract (SPK) (see Appendices), is an employment contract which specifies the player’s rights. The SPK will state that the player has unique skills and that the team will control the activities of the player.
- The insurance companies have been active in an attempt to avoid coverage on burgeoning issues in sports law, most notably lawsuits based on the reoccurrence of concussions in contact sports. Concussion-related lawsuits in football have generated the most consternation and insurance frenzy. The NFL, for example, is staking its turf in , by suing 32 liability insurers for declaratory relief as to insurers’ duty to defend against lawsuits that claim that the NFL is responsible for concussive brain damage suffered by football players. This is not the only lawsuit of its kind, but in this particular instance, the judge stayed California proceedings pending the outcome of parallel New York proceedings.
- When there is an alleged breach of contract, there are several defenses that can be posited. Of course, when an employer terminates the contract due to an injury, the c.b.a. will spell out the appropriate procedures. Usually, the team doctor’s diagnosis will be submitted to arbitration after a review by a neutral physician. Club’s defenses that can be raised in arbitration are: failure to pass the preseason physical exam, failure to make complete disclosure of a physical or mental condition, injury occurring prior to exam, a non-sport injury, no new sports-related injury after exam and no aggravation of prior injury after exam.
- Suppose an athlete chooses you as his agent. What does your job description include? Although agents aren’t required to be attorneys, the first document that you must be familiar with is the collective bargaining agreement (c.b.a.), a legal document (written by lawyers). The document that the agent must negotiate is the standard player’s contract (SPK). This agreement is part of the c.b.a. which controls the union-management relationship in that sport. Most team sports have some form of a salary cap (or, at least, a luxury tax). The salary cap information is found in the c.b.a. It is imperative that you must know the “cap status” of the team that you are negotiating with.
- The art of negotiating a contract in sports is very similar to the art of negotiating in other more standard venues. Although the SPK is in many ways a contract of adhesion, there are ways to flesh out the contract in an attempt to get the best deal for your client. As an overview, the more money up front the better; the more money in the signing bonus the better. Also, management will usually not object to the addition of incentive clauses (e.g., bonus money for achieving “all-rookie” status, attendance clauses, etc.).
- Open Chapter
Chapter 18. The Disabled Athlete 30 results (showing 5 best matches)
- However, in recent years disabled students have used § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to establish a right for disabled athletes to participate in interscholastic sports, if they are otherwise qualified.
- Courts progressed to a point where a person who is otherwise qualified would not be excluded from participation in a federally funded program solely by reason of disability. The mere possession of a disability is insufficient to assume that there is a corresponding inability to function in an appropriate manner in a particular sport. Otherwise qualified individuals are people who are able to meet all the program requirements in spite of their handicap. . A disabled athlete must have the opportunity to participate for inclusion in a sports team. An example is the person who only has one kidney but still wants to participate in a contact sport such as interscholastic wrestling. In , plaintiff and his parents were well aware of the risk involved in his participation and were prepared to sign a waiver that would release the school from all liability. The court held that the school’s only duty was to advise the family of the risk and not to impose a paternalistic view of the proper...
- As mentioned above, disabled athletes were regularly restricted under a paternalistic attitude. Even after medical assurance that athletic participation would not harm the individual, school boards would still restrict participation. Courts usually supported the school board’s decision that the athlete was not qualified to participate. For example, an individual who was blind in one eye was precluded from participation in contact sports because of medical testimony that indicated that continuation in that sport would result in a high risk of injury to his good eye.
- On May 16, 2008, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the previous decision of International Association of Athletics Federations “fell short of the high standards that the international sporting community is entitled to expect” when the IAAF denied South African dual amputee quarter-miler Oscar Pistorius who runs on two carbon-fiber blades a chance to run in the Summer Olympic Games. Unfortunately, Pistorius was unable to lower his time enough to qualify in 2008; so he waited to compete in the 2012 Games in London. The CAS said that there was not enough evidence to prove that his j-shaped blades which attach to below his knees gave him an unfair advantage; the court said he should be able to compete with able-bodied athletes. CAS 2008/A/1480, CAS, May 16, 2008, rev’g IAAF No. 2008/01 (Jan. 14, 2008). He was subsequently convicted of murder, so the question of competition will be moot for a long time.
- There are many ways in which eligibility to participate can be restricted; one way is through a person’s alleged disability whether it is physical or emotional. Eligibility is restricted by rules that are based on paternalism and disallow individuals who are viewed as disabled from participation in interscholastic sports. Many schools, colleges, athletic associations and school districts have such rules.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 10. Coach Liability 31 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Coaches must use reasonable care to avoid the creation of foreseeable risks to the athlete under their supervision. The standard of reasonableness will change from sport to sport. That degree of care will increase if the activity involves a contact sport. Generally, coaches have a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of their players.
- It is also expected that the athlete will be furnished with the proper protective and safety equipment which is appropriate for the sport especially if it is a contact sport. Added to that, the athlete must be properly instructed as to the appropriate use of this equipment; also, the equipment must be properly maintained so that its effectiveness is maximized. In , the coaches were potentially liable for the negligent failure to warn the football player of the danger inherent in the use of a football helmet.
- There is a movement in amateur sports that would demand a basic minimum in education and experience before one could become certified as a coach. Also, coaches would be obliged to take a certain amount of continuing education to maintain certification. In , an injured school hockey player sued his coach and a helmet manufacturer for injuries received when a puck struck him in the head causing severe injuries. The helmet in question was a three-piece helmet which allowed for gaps that under the wrong circumstances allowed enough space for a puck to squeeze through and cause injury. At the time there was another type of helmet available which was a single piece and would have prevented the injury. This single piece design was known to all parties and was available at the time of the accident but at a slightly higher price than the three-piece helmet. The coach was negligent in supplying the helmet: he should have known that the three-piece design was faulty and that another more...
- In a New Jersey trial decision, a novice player, a track star who was recruited for football solely for his speed as a receiver, was severely injured while tackling an opposing player on an interception. The player contended that his injury was a result of the negligence of the coaching staff who failed to provide sufficient training, conditioning, equipment and supervision. Specifically, he only had one practice session on tackling. Expert testimony averred that tackling is an extremely dangerous aspect of the sport and that the correct technique and manner, including keeping the head elevated which plaintiff did not do, must be reinforced by repeated practice. The experts agreed that one practice session was insufficient. Plaintiff also contended that he was not provided with sufficient preseason training, including weight training, to strengthen neck muscles which experts contended was essential and the absence of which contributed to the incident. The jury found the head coach...an
- A coach has the responsibility to minimize serious injuries. One way of accomplishing this goal is to provide competent and thorough instruction in the sport’s technical aspects and their corresponding safety rules. In , no negligence was found when football coaches provided adequate, standard instruction and practice without negligently omitting any detail. The program in contained a daily calisthenic “bull-neck” exercise which was designed to strengthen the neck muscles and thus help to prevent neck injuries. The court averred that the player had a duty to ask questions on matters to which he was unclear. Since there were no questions, the coaches could have assumed that he was aware of the possibility of injury occurring from using his head as a battering ram.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 23. Civil Rights 22 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Racial discrimination in the United States in sports has deep historical roots. African American athletes were not able to participate at many universities until after World War II. Jackie Robinson did not break the color barrier in professional baseball until 1947. However now African-American athletes dominate Division IA basketball and football; that is, those sports that are revenue producing for colleges and universities. One can certainly argue that African-American athletes are in actuality taken advantage of and exploited for financial reasons. These large revenues generated by African American athletes are then used for purposes other than supporting the educational development of these athletes. This too, is exploitation in a manner that is at best ironic. The new assertion that African Americans now have a natural superiority in sports, acts as a negative and racist counter-balance to the implied assertion that these athletes are correspondingly intellectually or...
- It can also be said that racism exists in the roster construction in professional sports teams. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( U.S.C.A. § 2000e) is the most significant tool in shaping the legal and political discourse on the practical application of equality. All of America’s major professional leagues (e.g., basketball, hockey, football, and baseball) have a history of racial discrimination and either actual or implied Title VII violations and concerns. For example, after the collapse of the “Caucasian” Boston Red Sox to the much more integrated New York Mets in the 1986 World Series, there developed a riot by white students against anything deemed to be associated with the Mets. This ugly riot, which was pursued by approximately 3,000 students implied racism as it was directed not only against the “African American-Oriented” Mets, but also the African-American students at the ...injuring students. Even if this was an “isolated incident,” it was one that was clearly...
- RACISM IN SPORTS
- Just as roster-construction was racist, so to was the lack of African-American management hirings in professional sports. An attempt to alleviate the situation was brokered by Johnnie Cochran and Cyrus Mehri in a report entitled,
- Private golf clubs are considered places of exhibition or entertainment since most private golf clubs provide activities either in the form of direct participation or through viewing sports activities as spectators. Once an organization is covered by one of the four categories in section 2000a, the next question is whether the activities affect interstate commerce. The commerce requirement has been easily satisfied with regard to golf and country clubs due to golf outings with out-of-state professionals, qualify for an exemption.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 17. Eligibility 56 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The key to amateur sports is the question of eligibility. Eligibility is the decision by the athletic governing body of whether a particular athlete or team is eligible to participate in a specific sport or a specific event. Establishing eligibility under a particular rule or bylaw is the province of the applicable governing association. The question is whether a denial of eligibility is a violation of that participant’s constitutional or civil rights. An athlete’s right to participate may be protected by the constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection.
- However, in another Texas case, in 1981, a summer camp rule was found to be constitutional. This rule did not allow students to participate in interscholastic sports if they attended a same sport summer camp. The compelling state interest was that the rule sought to achieve a balance in interscholastic athletics. This interest outweighed a parent’s freedom of choice in family matters as regards the student’s participation in summer
- An integral part of many states’ attempts to improve the educational potentiality of their students is the enactment of legislation that keys eligibility to play high school sports to the participant’s ability to achieve certain academic grades. This type of legislation is generally called, “no pass, no play.” The basic format of this legislation will demand that no student can participate in an extracurricular activity for a certain period if he or she fails any course during the preceding period other than the last grading period before the summer break. There are variations to these statutes in that some grant the power to specify the criteria to counties while some grant the power to a state’s athletic association. Also, in Texas, for example, this statute applies to all extracurricular activities, however, in West Virginia it applies only to “non-academic” extracurricular activities (sports and cheerleading). But all have one thing in common: they tie high school athletic...
- These two rules are contained in a section of the NCAA rules entitled “Amateurism.” The first rule (no. 12.2.4) states that an athlete will lose his eligibility to participate in a particular sport once the athlete requests to be included in the pool of players that are eligible to be chosen in the annual professional draft of collegiate athletes. The second rule (no. 12.3) renders an athlete ineligible once that athlete agrees to be represented by an agent.
- There are many rules, but they all possess the same theme of attempting to control the way in which an individual will be deemed to be eligible to participate in high school sports. Usually these rules involve around such broad concepts as the “no transfer” rule, the anti-marriage rule, rules that relate eligibility to grade point average, no-agent rules and anti-red shirting rules.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 19. College Scholarships 30 results (showing 5 best matches)
- A contract is enforceable because of the interplay among offer, acceptance and consideration. When a college extends a scholarship offer to an athlete, the athlete who chooses to attend that college accepts the offer. The receipt of the scholarship is the athlete’s consideration, and it is in exchange for his participation in sports which is the college’s consideration. With the presence of offer, acceptance and consideration an enforceable contract is deemed to exist.
- A major problem inherent in most cases that pertain to collegiate athletics is the phenomenon of the scholarship athlete. Scholarships are ways for colleges to get athletes into their schools to play sports. The problem is that a scholarship really is not defined in any neat or comprehensible manner. The question is whether the scholarship is a contract or just some sort of informal arrangement which does not require duties, responsibilities or obligations on each party.
- Arguably, the better policy might be to accept college athletes as entertainers and treat athletes as employees. This makes sense since the big college football powerhouses recruit quasi-professionals to play in collegiate athletics. Yet, schools have been reluctant to acknowledge that the relationship between universities and their athletes is one that can be characterized as a business relationship. This in turn leads to a reluctance to recognize scholarships as contracts and the athletes as the college’s employees. To do this would be to legally recognize the rights and responsibilities that are owed to the athlete as part of the contractual relationship in which the athlete must perform for that particular sports team. These institutions have benefited from the talents of their athletes: sometimes financially, sometimes to the detriment of the student-athlete. If there is a bargained-for exchange that is legally universally recognized between the institution and the athlete,...
- By accepting a scholarship, an athlete enters into a relationship with the university which grants the award to the athlete. A relationship of this sort will typically require the athlete to maintain certain grade levels and to perform as an athlete for the school in return for tuition, books and certain other educational expenses. The question is whether a scholarship athlete is an employee of that school. This is important for ascertaining whether the athlete will be covered under workers’ compensation laws if he is injured, and whether that scholarship is taxable as income.
- A federal trial court in , also used contract law to determine the rights of both the athlete and the school. In the school sought to terminate an agreement for an athlete’s scholarship when it discovered that the entering student did not have the required high school grade point average. The court found that because the student did not meet one of the conditions of the contractual agreement, he could not expect the university to perform its part of the contract by allowing him to keep the athletic scholarship.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 8. Spectator Injuries 38 results (showing 5 best matches)
- However, in
- It is not customary to give a warning in a baseball game for each ball that is either pitched or batted. When an eight year-old was struck in the face by a foul ball during a game in which he and his parents attended in an inadequately screened picnic area directly adjacent to the right field foul-line, the court observed that spectators at a baseball game are presumed to be aware of the dangers inherent in that sport. However, whether a child’s assumption of that risk bans recovery is a question for the jury unless the facts are so plain that they demand a finding by the court as a matter of law. The court found nothing which demanded the conclusion that the eight year-old plaintiff understood the risk of occupying the place he occupied or that he assumed the inherent risks. Because of his age, the lack of evidence in the records concerning his ability to appreciate the risk and his actual understanding of the risk, the court held that the child did not as a matter of law assume...
- Baseball has traditionally been America’s number one pastime. Cases of foul ball injuries have received numerous judicial reviews throughout the years. However, the general rule is that a spectator cannot recover for ordinary risks inherent in the sport; and in baseball, foul balls are viewed as an ordinary risk. In
- Like participants, spectators run the risk of injury while observing a sport. These injuries can come from foul balls, errant pucks, out of control halfbacks, etc. Spectators, however, will not recover for injuries that result from ordinary and foreseeable risks that are inherent to that particular sport. This is true because they have legally assumed those risks. However, they will not assume the risk of intentional harm, nonforeseeable injury or the negligent acts of a participant. Spectators will also not assume the risk of an arena operator who fails to meet his duty of care.
- A knowing and voluntary assumption of risk is especially important in ice hockey, automobile racing and professional wrestling. Spectators assume all risks that are matters of common knowledge. Spectators assume the risk of injury from these potential harms as a matter of law. However, what is common knowledge at one time may not have been common knowledge at an earlier time. In a 1952 Pennsylvania case,
- Open Chapter
Title Page 3 results
Chapter 11. Referee Liability 24 results (showing 5 best matches)
- However, the duty to supervise and control only requires that the referee exercises reasonable care under the circumstances to prevent injury. It is clear that the referee has the duty to stop the match if it appears that an opponent is in serious danger of injury. This is especially true in the dangerous contact sports of boxing and wrestling.
- The referee has a duty to enforce the rules of the sport and to prevent illegal holds or actions. The standard is one of an ordinarily prudent referee. Id. Although referees have a duty to enforce the rules of the game, there is no separate referee malpractice for bad calls. Referees cannot prevent all rule violations, and they only have a duty to use reasonable care to see that the rules of the game, including safety rules, are followed. Reasonable care consists of advising the participants of adverse conditions and illegal maneuvers, showing due diligence in detecting rule violations, penalizing the rule breakers, etc.
- “ ‘Soccer, while not as violent a sport is football, is nevertheless replete with occasions when the participants make contact with one another during the normal course of the game. When two soccer players vie for control of the ball, the lower limbs are especially vulnerable to injury. If a player seeks to challenge another player who has possession of the ball or seeks to prevent another player from gaining possession of the ball, the resulting contact could reasonably be for seen to result in injury to either player.’
- To counteract what is viewed as an alarming trend, some states have promulgated laws that eliminate suits against referees and umpires unless they are grossly negligent. For example, New Jersey passed a law that provides partial immunity for volunteer referees from civil suits for damages that result from acts or omissions during the ordinary course of their supervision.
- Comparable to the duty of the referee to protect and warn participants is his duty to anticipate reasonably foreseeable dangers. Before the contest and while the game is in progress, it is the responsibility of the referee to determine that the playing conditions are safe. This could reasonably include checking for the following: glass on the running track, holes on the field in football, metal stakes protruding from the dirt in a baseball diamond, loosely secured bases in softball, etc. Officials have an obligation to inspect field conditions. In basketball, the safety rules provide that a referee must ascertain whether there are loose basketballs in the vicinity of the court, whether the padding at the basket support is secure and continuous around the entire pole, and whether the area surrounding the court is clear for the players.
- Open Chapter
Chapter 3. Financial Considerations 37 results (showing 5 best matches)
- One other option is a pension plan that is available to the athlete who does not participate in team or league plans. These plans usually cover non-team sports, such as tennis or golf, and allows the athlete as a self-employed person to be treated as both employer and employee for pension plan purposes.
- Another form of temporary tax planning is to create a personal services corporation based on the athlete’s athletic participation, commercial endorsements, etc. This type of corporation is organized for the purpose of using the athlete’s abilities. The athlete will form the corporation and then become its major shareholder. He is obliged to perform specialized services with the corporation which would then contract with the sports team. This type of corporate structure allows a deferral of income by the adoption of a corporate pension and profit sharing plan along with a corporate fiscal year.
- In , 15 current and former NFL players entered into separate “Client Service Agreement” with sports agency under which the agency would provide each player with tax planning and counseling. The agency deposited tens of millions of dollars of plaintiffs’ money into defendant’s bank, however, some of these accounts were illegitimate, and some were opened using forged signatures. Plaintiffs’ claims for refund of unauthorized and ineffective funds transfer survives defendant’s motion to dismiss.
- The number of years the average professional athlete can compete is extremely short: for example, approximately 3.5 years in football and 5.6 in baseball. Since the athlete will probably have 40 or so years until retirement age it is imperative that a strategy be adopted to maximize his investment portfolio. There are many products that can assist in achieving the goal of capital preservation such as certificates of deposit, common stock and annuities. An annuity is a contract between the athlete and an insurance company for fixed payments at regular intervals over some period of time. An example would be a 30-year-old athlete who purchases an annuity for $100,000 with payments of money per month beginning at age 45.
- Another aspect of estate planning is the creation of a revocable trust. A trust takes effect at the time of its creation and operates as a will substitute. A trust is an agreement between grantor and trustee which contains instructions to the trustees so as to assist in the disposition of the property that is transferred to the trustee. Revocable trusts seldom establish a workable asset management arrangement during the athlete’s life; a durable power of attorney provides for continued action on behalf of the athlete upon disability that renders him incompetent. An added advantage of a trust is that trust property is not subject to probate upon the owner’s death. The trust can be freely revoked or amended during the owner’s life and the cost and delays are less than those in an administration of a will.
- Open Chapter
Acknowledgments 5 results
- A good book needs good people behind it, and that we have in abundance. Special thanks goes to my students: Mike Warner, Tre Meredith, Jayne Griffin, Mary Helen Rigney, and Aljosa Anthony Dvizac. Many great professionals have assisted me throughout the years in popularizing the Good News of Sports Law. They are, in no particular order: Ricky Anderson, Oliver Luck, Steve Underwood, Bill Frizzell from Tyler, Texas, Kary Wilson from Sweetwater, Texas, Steve Patterson, Nick C. Nichols, the Hon. Harold Dutton, Randy Hendricks, Gregory “Scrap” Simmons, and Peter Schaffer.
- Another sincere acknowledgement goes to George Foreman, who has the foresight to use his position to improve the field of Sports Law.
- A good book needs good contributors. To begin with, I was lucky enough to have coerced four exemplary sports professionals to write introductions for the first four editions, namely, Steve Patterson, Nick C. Nichols, Oliver Luck, and George Foreman, boxer, preacher, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, by way of his letter to Michael Vick’s sentencing judge. This edition is introduced by Peter Schaffer, an outstanding sports agent.
- I’d like to also thank Dr. Reginal D. Harris, a 2nd-year law student, for his scrutinizing eye in updating the index of this book.
- I was also lucky to secure contributions, advice, revisions, and consultations from several outstanding legal scholars, namely: I. Nelson Rose (gaming law), McKen Carrington (financial considerations), and Danyahel Norris (intellectual property).
- Open Chapter
Outline 44 results (showing 5 best matches)
Center Title 2 results
Table of Cases 31 results (showing 5 best matches)
Chapter 9. School Liability 33 results (showing 5 best matches)
- In the past, courts were reluctant to hold school systems liable in ordinary negligence because the courts felt that a teacher could not give personal attention to every student all of the time. There were also a number of powerful defenses at the service of the school districts which helped to create a dearth of actions against schools; these defenses included sovereign immunity, assumption of the risk, etc. Today, there are many negligence actions against schools, school employees, school districts and school boards. A majority of these actions involve either participant injuries in interscholastic sports or injuries that occur while participating in mandatory physical education courses. These actions center on the following acts of alleged negligence on the part of various school officials: failure to warn, failure to instruct, failure to supervise, failure to hire and train competent coaches and staff, and the failure to provide adequate equipment and safe facilities.
- A high school student was injured when he fell into a large hole while he was playing touch football. Plaintiff alleges negligent supervision even though the hole was open and obvious. Regardless, his long-standing knowledge of it did not bar an inquiry into whether an allegedly dangerous condition resulted from the school’s negligent maintenance of its property. But, factual issues existed as to whether school’s maintenance of the bus circle created a dangerous condition over and above the usual dangers that were inherent in sport of touch football; and whether the school’s supervision was inadequate and resulted in failure to exercise reasonable care to protect student from unreasonably increased risk.
- Certain sports demand a very particular type of protective equipment, for example, football and hockey. It will be a breach of duty if the schools do not provide and maintain appropriate protective equipment. Schools also have a duty to inspect and maintain the equipment that they already possess. In fact, there is a duty of reasonable care to protect students from unreasonable risks even when that harm was a prevailing custom if that custom fell below the reasonable care standard. ( ; student injured during physical education gymnastics instruction on a pommel horse with exposed holes.)
- A school district can also be liable for injuries that occur during a non-sponsored athletic event if the event is conducted by the student body under school district auspices, is encouraged by the district, and held on school property. Questions of contributory negligence are always for the jury, whereas assumption of the risk has been disposed of as a matter of law in a number of cases.
- , discusses the question of whether a school has a duty to provide emergency medical services for athletes. In , the question is whether the unavailability of an automated external defibrillator (AED) is negligence. Abel Limones was playing in a high school soccer game when he collapsed. The court held that the school board’s common law duty to use appropriate post-injury efforts to protect his injury against aggravation did not include a duty to maintain, make available, or use an AED, nor did the school board voluntarily undertake the duty to use as required by
- Open Chapter
WEST ACADEMIC PUBLISHING’S LAW SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD 11 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Distinguished University Professor, Frank R. Strong Chair in LawMichael E. Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University
- Robert A. Sullivan Professor of Law Emeritus,
- Professor of Law Emeritus, University of San Diego Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Michigan
- Professor of Law, Chancellor and Dean Emeritus, University of California, Hastings College of the Law
- Professor of Law, Yale Law School
- Open Chapter
- Publication Date: February 24th, 2017
- ISBN: 9781634605809
- Subject: Sports Law
- Series: Nutshells
- Type: Overviews
- Description: This book contains the elements of sports law explained in an organized, coherent manner. It simplifies the complex world of sports law and provides a road map to all of its intricacies from contracts, torts, antitrust, liabilities, constitutional implications, labor law, taxes. The Fifth edition continues to update the material with a focus on important recent legal developments, such as O’Bannon v. NCAA, the Northwestern University Football union petition, Jenkins v. NCAA, NFL concussion litigation, and the FIFA corruption case.
