National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Region 4 Regional Director Dennis Walsh recently dismissed Section 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) unfair labor practice charges filed by mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Leslie Smith against ZUFFA, LLC d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Championship (‘UFC”) alleging that her contract to fight was not renewed in retaliation for her union organizing efforts and … Continue Reading
The controversial NBA rule that keeps basketball players from beginning their professional careers until they’ve completed one year of college play may soon be history. The NBA has formally announced that “elite” 18-year-old basketball players will be able to move forward with their professional careers beginning with the 2019-20 season, skipping the current mandate that … Continue Reading
One of the NCAA’s strongest penalties has been declared illegal in California. California Superior Court Judge Frederick Shaller issued a final decision finding NCAA “show-cause” penalties to be a violation of California state law. Arising from a lawsuit filed more than seven years ago by former USC assistant football coach Todd McNair, Judge Shaller, confirming … Continue Reading
Following a February 2018 Sports Illustrated article regarding alleged sexual harassment and misconduct within Dallas Basketball Limited, the Dallas Mavericks basketball organization (“Mavericks”), the Mavericks commissioned an independent investigation into the claims. The investigators, comprised of two outside law firms, interviewed 215 witnesses and analyzed 1.6 million documents. The investigation report was publicly released on … Continue Reading
U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson has denied the class-action status sought by a potential class of several thousand current and former players suing the National Hockey League (NHL) alleging that the league was negligent in its care and prevention of head trauma and that it fraudulently concealed the long-term impact of head injuries … Continue Reading
The Seventh Circuit has rejected antitrust claims filed against the NCAA by former Northern Illinois University student-athlete Peter Deppe and upheld the NCAA’s rule delaying the athletic eligibility of student-athletes who transfer to alternate schools without serving a “year in residence” at their new school before becoming eligible to resume their collegiate career. The Circuit … Continue Reading
The NCAA Division I counsel has acted to formally adopt the highly anticipated proposal that modifies the requirements for an athlete to transfer and to eliminate the NCAA “Permission to Contact” process for Division I athletes. Currently, student-athletes must seek their current NCAA institution’s permission prior to engaging in recruiting contact and subsequently transferring to … Continue Reading
New Jersey is considering a bill that would establish the framework of operation and regulation for wagering at casinos and racetracks on the results of certain professional, collegiate sports, or athletic events. The Garden State has long been at the forefront of advocating for state autonomy and discretion regarding sports wagering. State legislators introduced Assembly Bill No. … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down the federal law known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) that bans states from permitting gambling on sporting events. Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Assn., No. 16-476 (May 14, 2018). This decision effectively ends Nevada’s long-time monopoly in this arena and opens the … Continue Reading
As part of $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill signed by President Donald Trump in March, section 13(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act is amended to exempt minor league baseball players from a class of workers entitled to certain minimum wages and overtime pay under the FLSA. The amendment, known as the Save America’s Pastime … Continue Reading
As high school students end their winter sports schedules and spring sports participants begin play across the country, the role and significance of agents and their use by amateur athletes as they prepare for possible selection in the upcoming Major League Baseball (MLB) amateur draft and the NHL Entry Draft is once again front and … Continue Reading
President Donald Trump has suggested that the National Football League’s television ratings decline was caused by “fans seeing those people (players) taking the knee when they’re playing our great national anthem.” Trump has urged fans to “leave the stadium” when players kneel during the national anthem and suggested that NFL team owners fire players who … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board has found the individuals who produce electronic content for viewing during professional basketball games are employees, rather than independent contractors. Minnesota Timberwolves Basketball, LP, 365 NLRB No. 124 (2017). The Board reversed the decision of an NLRB regional director and reinstated a representation petition filed by the International Alliance of … Continue Reading
On the heels of the NCAA’s Board of Governor’s recent policy announcement requiring college coaches, athletics administrators and student-athletes to be educated in sexual violence prevention, eight United States Senators have forwarded a letter to the NCAA’s Commission to Combat Campus Sexual Violence. The letter from Richard Blumenthal, Robert Casey, Jr., Al Franken, Kirsten Gillibrand, … Continue Reading
Coaches, athletics administrators, and student-athletes must be educated in sexual violence prevention under a policy adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Board of Governors on August 8, 2017. The new policy provides that annually, every member institution’s president or chancellor, athletic director, and Title IX coordinator will be required to attest that the … Continue Reading
A New Jersey jury in the Superior Court of New Jersey for Camden County has awarded former Major League Baseball pitcher Mitchell Williams $1,565,333 in a wrongful termination action he filed against MLB Network, Inc. Mitchell Williams v. The MLB Network, Inc., et al., No. L-3675-14. Williams, nicknamed “Wild Thing,” played professional baseball from 1986 … Continue Reading
NFL agent Don Yee, longtime representative of Tom Brady, and a list of football notables including ESPN’s Adam Schefter and two-time Super Bowl winning coach Mike Shanahan intend to form the Pacific Pro Football League (“PPFL”) with four teams in the Southern California region and commence league play in the summer of 2018. Not seeking to … Continue Reading
The College Athletes Players Association (CAPA) and Executive Director Ramogi Huma’s (Huma) efforts to unionize the Northwestern University football team failed when the National Labor Relations Board refused to rule on the legal ability of these student athletes to form a union. Huma has now shifted his focus to working with the National College Players … Continue Reading
In these days of “extreme vetting,” entering the United States as a business visitor (B visa or Visa Waiver status, with an ESTA approval) can have its hazards – especially for athletes who need to enter the United States quickly and have no time to spare. [Link to blog on extreme vetting: http://www.globalimmigrationblog.com/2017/05/state-department-proposes-supplemental-questions-for-visa-applicants/ ] Earlier this … Continue Reading
Alabama baseball coach Greg Goff was fired after one season at the helm of the Crimson Tide baseball program after a disappointing 19-34-1 overall record and a 5-24-1 record against Southeastern Conference competition. However, despite the team’s poor performance and lowest overall win total since 1980, it is believed that Coach Goff’s reported decision to … Continue Reading
Jackson Lewis attorneys Gregg Clifton and Paul Kelly, leaders of our Collegiate and Professional Sports Practice Group, will be guest panelists at the Sports Lawyers Association’s 43rd Annual Conference in Denver from May 18-20. Gregg is speaking on the panel “TMZ Posted What!? Sports Crisis Management in the Age of Social Media” and Paul on … Continue Reading
Former NHL player Kevin Stevens avoided a federal prison sentence following a hearing this week in U.S. District Court in Boston. Stevens, who played in the NHL for 16 years (1987-2002), including parts of 11 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, also starred at Boston College and for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. In the early … Continue Reading
The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) has released a White Paper on Campus Sexual Assault Investigations aimed at improving the process employed by universities to address campus sexual assaults. Concerns over sexual assaults on college campuses had prompted the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to issue a Dear Colleague Letter, … Continue Reading
Landmark reform to restrict colleges’ aggressive early recruiting tactics of student-athletes is on the agenda at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Council April 12-14 annual meeting. One item, Proposal 2016-26, could make lacrosse the pilot program for creating specific restrictions for the recruiting of high school athletes prior to the beginning of their … Continue Reading
