Sports Litigation Alert Current Issue

By Nicole Bryson, J.D. and Jeff Birren, Senior Writer...

By Anna Christine Zorn In Sobotka v. Olympia Ent., Inc., the Michigan Court of Appeals addressed a wrongful termination action brought on by Plaintiff Albert Sobotka, against his employer, Defendant Olympia Entertainment, Inc. Olympia Entertainment manages Little...

By Michael G. McLendon Background The case, Ben-Oni v. Wood, is between Plaintiff Josiah Malchiel Israel Ben-Oni, representing himself against Defendants Jonathan Luke Wood, and the Associated Students Incorporated (“ASI”) of the University of California Sacramento....

By Robert E. Freeman with Meredith A. Lipson, Sabrina Palazzolo and Alexander J. Amir, of Proskauer Snowboarder John Litterer (“Litterer”) faceplanted in a Colorado state appeals court which affirmed a lower court ruling that found Breckenridge Ski Resort’s (the...

By Alex M. Bulte and Ryan M. Rodenberg Introduction On March 18, 2025, a dozen professional tennis players and a non-union group called the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) filed a 163-page complaint in federal court against the four leading tennis...

By Katelyn Kohler This update expands on the initial complaint outlined in the Sports Litigation Alert article "Analyzing Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing Antitrust Lawsuit Against NASCAR," published on December 13, 2024, by Gigi Wood.[1] Founded by NBA legend Michael...

By Charlotte Smith, Partner, and Adam Melling, Associate, in the Employment & Sport teams at Walker Morris In October, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its much-anticipated ruling in the case of FIFA v Lassana Diarra [1]. The...

By Jeffrey Levine, JD, PhD, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Sport Business, Esport Business Program Lead, Drexel University (Editors’ Note: The following appeared in Esports and the Law, a complimentary periodical produced by Hackney Publications.) In a...

By Brandon M. Ballard & Michael S. Carroll In July of 2024, Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc. and other music companies filed suit against 14 NBA teams in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, in the latest ongoing battle between music...

A college football player, who suffered a catastrophic injury on the field, sued an insurance company for breach of contract, violations of the Texas Insurance Code, and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act after the defendant, Certain Underwriters of...

By Ellen J. Staurowsky, Ed.D., Senior Writer and Professor, Sports Media, Ithaca College, staurows@ithaca.edu In the aftermath of University of Pennsylvania swimmer, Lia Thomas, becoming the first and only transgender woman athlete ever to win an NCAA Division I...

By Christopher R. Deubert, Senior Writer Major League Baseball’s (MLB) collective bargaining agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) does not expire until after the 2026 season.  Nevertheless, the rhetoric is heating up in advance of...

By Rob Dickson and Joshua D. Nadreau, Fisher & Phillips Another day, another settlement impacting college athletics. The NCAA and the states of Tennessee and Virginia recently announced a settlement that essentially ends the NCAA’s rules prohibiting name, image...

By Jack Ladgenski, 3L at Santa Clara Law Issue Whether the practice of “investing” in potential professional athletes’ future career earnings in exchange for a present, relatively marginal, cash sum is unconscionable and qualifies as unjust enrichment; especially when...

By Stephanie Barnes In March 2022, during the second day of the Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Swimming & Diving Championships held at Georgia Tech University, Kentucky's All-American Riley Gaines tied with the University of Pennsylvania's...

Amended Complaint Details Market Manipulation & Anti-Competitive Practices That Restrict Industry Competition SportsCastr Inc. (D/B/A PANDA Interactive), a sports streaming and betting technology company, has announced that it has filed amended complaints against...

BakerHostetler’s sports practice group represented Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida in negotiating a sponsorship and medical services agreement with Unrivaled LLC, the privately held company that developed, owns and operates a newly formed, professional,...

After spending 15 years, including the last 14, with the Detroit Lions organization, working with contracts, negotiations and salary cap structure, Jon Dykema has been hired by Michigan State as Executive Senior Associate AD/Student-Athlete Management and Assistant...

Robertson began Mariners career in 2008, and was serving as VP and Deputy General Counsel; Fred Rivera transitions to Special Advisor role with club Seattle Mariners President of Business Operations Kevin Martinez has announced that Melissa Robertson has been promoted...

International law firm RPC has been appointed as the exclusive legal services provider to Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), the top tier of women’s club rugby in England, for the next two seasons. The appointment builds on the firm's longstanding collaboration with...

Peter Goplerud co-authored the recently released textbook Sports Law for Sport Management. Published by Carolina Academic Press, the book features the knowledge of five industry thought leaders and covers amateur sports, professional sports, and their common issues....