Sports Litigation Alert Current Issue
Here’s the latest issue of Sports Litigation Alert, the nation’s only subscription-based periodical reporting on the intersection of sports and the law. We also publish 11 other sports law periodicals. Visit hackneypublications.com to learn more.

Case Summaries
Youth Basketball League and Its Director Beat Back Injured Referees’ Negligence Claim
Jeff Birren, Senior Writer Sometimes good deeds lead to bad results and the law provides no relief. This happened to Kent Culp. Culp was hired to referee in a youth basketball tournament in McCracken County, Kentucky. After a game, the losing coach “struck” Culp “from...
A High School Football Star’s Racist Rant Spurs a Lesson in The Limits of Free Speech
By Gary Chester, Senior Writer UCLA’s John Wooden may have been the greatest college coach ever because he won championships and taught his players solid values. The second accomplishment is all too rare in an era of sore losers and sore winners. In 2019, Bronson...
Limestone College SaintsLook Like Sinners in a Federal Lawsuit Brought by Former Student-Athletes
By Dr. Robert J. Romano, St. John’s University, Senior Writer On or about March 4, 2020, due to some alleged criminal activity that occurred in the fall of 2012, nine unidentified former student-athletes from Bellarmine University and the Indiana University of...
Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Release for a Minor Who Was Injured as a Student Athlete at a Private College
By Jim Moss Age of majority is 19 in Nebraska. Student athlete was 18 when he, and his mother signed release. Release was used to stop lawsuit over injuries received as a student athlete. Sinu v. Concordia Univ., 313 Neb. 218 (Neb. 2023) State: Nebraska, Supreme...
Washington Court Reaffirms Tribal Sovereignty in Sports Betting Case, But Differences Among Courts Begin to Emerge
By Blaine I. Green, Emily Harwell, Allan C. Van Vliet, of Pillsbury Takeaways The Supreme Court’s overturning of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018 has led to renegotiations of tribal-state gaming compacts to allow tribes to offer sports...
Articles
Bond, Schoeneck & King Hires John Long, Strengthening NCAA Compliance Practice
Sports Litigation Alert has learned that John Long, a seasoned sports lawyer specializing in NCAA compliance matters, has joined Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, a high-profile leader in that sports law niche for more than two decades. Long was previously at Lewis...
Ten Possible Candidates for the Next NFLPA Executive Director
By Christopher R. Deubert, Senior Writer The NFL Players Association’s (NFLPA) Board of Player Representatives will reportedly be meeting in June to consider and potentially vote on a new Executive Director to replace DeMaurice Smith, who has held the position since...
How Global Sports Investments Are Changing the Way Private Equity Funds Operate
By Andrew Rocks, Ben Stein, Andrew White, and Kelly Cooke, of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Sports franchises and other sports-related businesses have emerged as a legitimate and rapidly growing asset class. In recent years, sports franchise values have continued to...
Secretariat: A Study in Administrative Law
By Bruce C. Spizler, Esquire[1] Background When SECRETARIAT won the 1973 Kentucky Derby – the first “jewel” of the coveted, but elusive, Triple Crown – contested over a mile and a quarter at Churchill Downs (Louisville, KY), he broke both the stakes...
No Foul – No Ban; A Soccer Referee – Player Incident
By John T. Wendt, J.D., M.A., Professor Emeritus, Ethics and Business Law, University of St. Thomas Premier League Soccer in England may be the best in the world, with the best players, managers, stadiums, revenue, and overall depth and competitiveness.[1]...
Is It Time to Ban Handshake Lines?
By Joshua Winneker, Associate Professor, Misericordia University What was once supposed to be a sign of sportsmanship at all levels of sports has reached its violent crescendo during the women’s NIT basketball game, University of Memphis versus Bowling Green State...
Balancing Risk and Opportunity: What Athletics Departments Need to Know about the College Sports Betting Regulatory Climate
LEAD1 Association, which represents the athletics directors of the 131-member institutions of the Football Bowl Subdivision, recently prepared this summary of a recent webinar on legal sports betting. The U.S. is the only country in which widespread sports betting...
Sports Lawyer Thomas Samuel Promoted to Deputy Commissioner of the Southland Conference
Thomas Samuel has been promoted to Deputy Commissioner of the Southland Conference after serving as Senior Associate Commissioner for Compliance Services since 2018. "In the world of college athletics, we have been so fortunate to already have a diligent leader on our...
The Drake Group Expresses Opposition to Calif. Bill 252 To Pay College Athletes
Andrew Zimbalist, President of The Drake Group – the mostly academic organization striving to reform collegiate athletics, issued the following statement on California Assembly Bill 252, a proposal to pay college athletes: "While there are many elements in the...
News Briefs
CCHA Law Sports Lawyer Named in IBJ’S Forty Under 40
Kelleigh Irwin Fagan, of Church Church Hittle + Antrim, has been recognized as one of Indianapolis Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 in the Class of 2023. Fagan is a partner in the firm’s sports law and business services sections. Each year, the Indiana Business...
University of Iowa Announces Sports Wagering Investigation into Activities Involving College Athletes
The University of Iowa and the Department of Athletics has announced that they “are aware of the sports wagering investigation and are fully cooperating. We have alerted the NCAA of the potential violations and we have hired outside counsel to assist in the...