Sports Litigation Alert Current Issue

By Jeff Birren, Senior Writer In August 2023, the New York Knicks, LLC sued the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment LTD, d/b/a Toronto Raptors, alleging that the Raptors lured a Knicks employee to jump to the Raptors, absconding with trade secrets. Additional...

The Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the ruling of a district judge, finding that the appellant, a high school athlete, failed to make a prima facie showing of sex-based discrimination. The underlying dispute centered on a student at Pecos Independent...

By Christopher R. Deubert, Senior Writer In a May 14, 2024 Order, the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada ordered former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden to arbitrate his claims against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell arising out of his October 2021...

A tennis prodigy, who accused the United States Tennis Association of failing to protect her from a coach, who she claimed sexually abused her, has been awarded $9 million by a jury. Hackney Publications Senior Writer Gary Chester wrote about a federal judge’s ruling...

By Caleb Diaz The possibility remains that college athletes could be considered employees under federal minimum-wage laws, following a U.S appeals court ruling last week. The NCAA had sought a definitive ruling to prevent athletes from claiming employee status, but...

By Rob Lang and Scott Goldschmidt, Thompson Coburn LLP In Shannon v. Bd. of Trustees of the Univ. of Illinois, (C.D. Ill. Jan. 19, 2024)[1], the court enjoined the University of Illinois from continuing its suspension of the best player on its basketball team. A...

By Robert J. Romano, JD, LLM, St. John’s University, Senior Writer The Cardiac Pack is back together again and wants to take your breath away like it did during it sensational and drama-filled 1983 college basketball season. That’s right, ten members of that North...

By Prof. Gil Fried, University of West Florida The championship match between Argentina and Columbia started more than an hour late at Hard Rock Stadium, one of the host sites for the 2026 World Cup, because of crowd issues, including fans breaching security...

By John Wendt Brazilian soccer player Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior, who is known as Vinícius Júnior or Vini Jr. plays for Real Madrid and is one of the best players in the world. His accomplishments are many including being named the 2023/24 UEFA Champions...

By Gil Fried, Professor/Associate Dean, Lewis Bear Jr., College of Business, University of West Florida Las Vegas Athletic Clubs (LVAC), with seven locations serving southern Nevada, is suing the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) after its lifeguard waiver was...

A female Denver Nuggets fan who was attending a 2023 playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers when she was assaulted in the bathroom by two other women in a case is mistaken identity has sued the women, the owners of Ball Arena (Kroenke Sports & Entertainment)...

By Christopher Deubert, Senior Writer Last week, after a four-week trial, a Los Angeles jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to fans who had purchased the NFL’s out-of-market Sunday Ticket package between 2011 and 2022. An additional $96 million was awarded to bar and...

By Charles Anzalone Last month’s U.S. District Court ruling ordering the NFL to pay more than $4.7 billion in damages after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service known as...

Edward R. Policy, the Green Bay Packers' chief operating officer and general counsel as well as a member of the Sports Lawyers Association, has been elected as the organization's next Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, a position he will formally assume in July...

Timothy D. Cedrone, who has worked as a sports lawyer in private practice, for the National Football League, and for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, has joined Lafayette as the college’s General Counsel. Since 2018, Cedrone served as Associate...

A new sporting federation hoping to facilitate boxing’s long-term primacy within international sport has appointed Melbourne Law School Professor Jack Anderson to its inaugural ethics leadership position. Professor Anderson, Melbourne Law School’s former director of...

Johnson’s practice spans transactional matters in entertainment and sports, intellectual property, and commercial litigation. Hackney Publications (HP) has announced that Ahmand R. Johnson...

The Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC are seeking a Chief Legal Officer.A description of the position follows: POSITION SUMMARY The Chief Legal Officer (CLO) for Seattle Sounders and Reign FC, will serve as an critical member of the executive leadership...

The legal technology landscape has recently become a sea of noise filled with point solutions and private practice applications that don’t fit the true needs of the in-house legal department. In-house legal teams manage a variety of work, and to carry out the job...

Texas Tech Athletics announced last month a sponsorship agreement with Two Docs Brewing Co. to launch Raiderland Red Pale Ale as the official NIL beer of the Red Raiders. With the agreement, a percentage of every sale will support NIL funding for Texas Tech...

As part of the NFL’s Inspire Change social justice initiative, the league today announced grant renewals for 10 partners who are working to enact positive change in communities across the country. These grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations creating measurable...