top of page

Search Results

983 results found with an empty search

  • What’s Next? Drake Inks Partnership With NFL

    BY: BRENDAN DUGGAN If the start of the NFL season wasn’t enough for you, Monday Night Football just got a little bit more exciting. Last week, ESPN announced a deal to make Drake the music curator for ten Monday Night Football games this season. Drake will select music for the NFL season’s “promotional spots, live telecasts and pre-game shows,” that will include Drizzy’s latest music, some of his classics, along with music from selected artists who capture the “energy and mood” of MNF. The announcement comes a week after Drake released his highly-anticipated sixth studio album, Certified Lover Boy. The Canadian rapper revealed the release date on an episode of SportsCenter on August 27, exactly one week before the album dropped. Since then, Drake made Billboard 100 history as the first artist to own nine of the top ten positions in the company’s 62-year history. Drake’s vast relationships with professional athletes span several sports and generations. Drizzy has long-tenured friendships with top athletes like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, as well as young prodigies like Bronny James and Mikey Williams. A courtside season ticket holder in Toronto, Drake and his contagious energy helped bring the Raptors their first-ever championship in 2019. As far as the NFL, Drake’s relationship with Odell Beckham Jr. landed the Cleveland WR in his 2020 music video, “Laugh Now, Cry Later,” which took place at Nike’s HQ in Oregon. Perhaps an MNF partnership will bring more NFL athletes Drake’s way, and his influence could one day bring an NFL team to Toronto. From ESPN’s perspective, Vice President of Sports Marketing Emeka Ofodile credits Drake as an artist who “sits firmly at the intersection of music and sports.” As far as the deal itself, the one-year, ten-game partnership comes after ESPN hired artists Diplo and DJ Khaled in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Although the announcement did not include details of the contract, both Drake and ESPN will benefit from this partnership. For ESPN, Drake’s Certified Lover Boy sold 604,000 copies in the first week, the most commercially successful album since Taylor Swift’s 2020 album Folklore. Additionally, Drake’s presence as an artist and entertainer brings excitement to the start of the NFL season. Lastly, Drake’s connections and musical expertise brings NFL fans closer to the cultural experience of watching MNF. For Drake, ESPN’s Monday Night Football is one of the most-watched programs in the country. Monday’s Ravens-Raiders matchup brought in 15.3 million viewers, the most MNF viewers since week one of 2013. Drake’s album will continue to be played and associated with the start of the season, which fans have been patiently waiting seven months for. As Drake continues to bridge the gap between music, sports, and culture, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the chart-topping rapper in the booth for special guest appearances. With the NFL back in action with packed stadiums full of excited fans, a partnership with #1 artist Drake is a mutually beneficial match made in heaven. Brendan Duggan is a 1L at Brooklyn Law School. He is also the founder of Sideline Views, a sports and entertainment multimedia brand. You can follow him at @SidelineDuggs.

  • Starting the Clock on Basketball Whistle Patent Infringement

    A recent patent infringement complaint in North Carolina illustrates how patents cover and help sporting events. While golf is the undeniable king of patents in the sports realm, with over 22,000 patents since 1976, other sports do see innovation and patenting as well. Take, for example, Michael J. Costabile’s inventions captured in U.S. Patent Nos. 7,920,052 and 10,504,300 (the “’052 and ‘300 patents”). Mr. Costabile is a formed NBA referee who alleges that his claim to fame is blowing “a whistle on a foul in the last moments of an NBA game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers that resulted in Charles Barkley making two free throws and winning the game for the 76ers by a single point”, which was highly contested due to the timing of the whistle and uncertainty if it was blown before or after the end of game buzzer. Using this as an origin story, Mr. Costabile claims he had an epiphany to invent, and came up with a system in which stopped a clock upon a whistle by a ref, and which started a clock by a button on the ref’s belt. This was used by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association for years. As is done, the system was fine-tuned, and additional patent applications were filed, which resulted in the ‘052 and ‘300 patents. In addition, a company, Precision Times System, was created to market and sell products covered by the ‘052 and ‘300 patents (http://precisiontimesystem.com/). Enter Keith Fogleman and his company, USTOPIT, LLC. In a recently filed complaint for patent infringement, Mr. Costabile alleges that Mr. Fogleman has infringed the ‘052 and ‘300 patents. The complaint alleges that Mr. Fogleman, with knowledge of the Precision Times System products and patents, reached out to multiple entities in order to reverse engineer the inventions. The complaint goes so far as to state that one engineer even stopped the process when he learned of the existing patents. Mr. Fogleman did end up offering a competing product, which led to the filing of the infringement complaint. While this is at an initial stage, there are a couple key issues and reminders to take from the allegations in the complaint. For one, patent damages are predicated on knowledge of patents, and the date of knowledge can be very important as to when infringement begins. The complaint states that Mr. Fogleman knew of the patents through his previous employment as a basketball referee himself and also as an employee of Major Display Scoreboards, who may or may not have had possession of an early version of Precision Time System’s products. Still further, patent statutes give courts authority to increase the damages in patent infringement lawsuits up to three times the amount found or assessed. This is known as the “treble damages” award. The trebling of damages is discretionary, and usually only done in cases of willful or wanton infringement. In the complaint, there is allegation that Mr. Fogleman attempted to reverse engineer products covered by the ‘052 and ‘300 patents, and was even told that one party would not do so due to the patents. If true, this may raise the case to be a willful or wanton infringement. However, the complain also acknowledges that a notice letter was sent to Mr. Fogleman’s patent attorney, who replied that he believed that Mr. Fogleman’s product has designed around the ‘052 patent. This last part is important. Having valid opinion of patent counsel can aid in limiting damages in a patent infringement suit, such as by indicating that there was no willful infringement. However, there are requirements. There would need to be a formal and signed opinion of non-infringement. In addition, such an opinion is not binding on any court, and there could still be a finding of infringement with damages. The opinion could potentially limit the damages, and preclude the court from trebling the damages. This will be an interesting case to follow, and it will be seen if Mr. Costabile has blown the start whistle too soon. However, the complaint does offer some reminders that it is always good to talk to a patent attorney when being accused of infringement, as there are many factors to consider for moving forward with a proposed product. These can result in moving forward with caution, waiting for an official analysis and opinion, or blowing your own whistle to stop everything. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-mohrhauser-988a3010/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/patentluke Luke T. Mohrhauser is a Patent Attorney and Chair of the Mechanical and Electrical Practice Group at McKee, Voorhees & Sease, PLC. For additional information please visit www.ipmvs.com or contact Luke directly via email at [email protected].

  • An Update on the Western Michigan University Vaccine Mandate Case

    When I previously wrote about the lawsuit being brought by four Western Michigan University soccer players for Conduct Detrimental – Western Michigan University Soccer Players Strike Back at School’s Vaccine Mandate (conductdetrimental.com) – the lawsuit was still very much in its beginning stages. I believed then, and still believe now, that the case would be important in a broader sense because of its implications on the permissibility of vaccine mandates and on how the court would reason through the freedom of religion issue that it would be faced with. As a quick refresher, the lawsuit was brought by four soccer players at Western Michigan University who claimed that the school’s requirement that athletes be vaccinated against COVID-19, or be removed from playing sports for the university, violated their constitutional rights to freedom of religion under the First Amendment. Scanning over news headlines regarding this case, it would appear that the soccer players have already won the lawsuit. Most of the headlines I found stated in some form that a judge determined that Western Michigan University could not mandate the vaccine for its student-athletes. The attorney for the plaintiffs even referred to it as possibly being the first case in the country “where the court has blocked a mandated vaccine for athletes.”[1] But that is not quite right – the actual rulings in the case so far are a bit more nuanced. Any determination that the university could not mandate the vaccine, however, is only temporary as the actual legal ruling in the case was for a temporary restraining order. Under the terms of the temporary restraining order, the student-athlete lawsuits in the case will be able to remain on the soccer team at Western Michigan University, despite the university’s vaccine mandate on student-athletes, pending resolution of the matter in court.[2] So, yes, the university cannot mandate the vaccine for its student-athletes, but the court may ultimately find that it can. In granting the temporary restraining order, Judge Paul L. Maloney stated that the burden would be on the university to “establish the compelling reason for its actions” and also to “explain why the decision to remove the unvaccinated players from intercollegiate competition is narrowly tailored” to achieve the aforementioned compelling reason for the vaccine mandate.[3] Administratively, as discussed in the prior article on Conduct Detrimental, it appears that Western Michigan University anticipated the possibility of such a challenge on the student-athlete vaccine mandate. In denying the religious accommodation requests to the vaccine mandate made by the soccer players, Western Michigan University stated: The University has a compelling interest in taking action to avoid the significant risk posed to the intercollegiate athletic programs of a COVID-19 outbreak due to unvaccinated participants. Prohibiting unvaccinated members of the teams from engaging in practices and competition is the only effective manner of accomplishing this compelling interest.[4] [Emphasis my own] Now will they be able to get a court to uphold their mandate? Is mandating that student-athletes be vaccinated or be removed from their teams the “only effective manner” of avoiding the risk of COVID-19 being spread through intercollegiate athletics? That question remains to be answered. Interestingly enough, Judge Maloney also oversaw a case brought by an administrative assistant at Michigan State University based on its vaccine mandate and denied a temporary restraining order because he felt that the plaintiff in the case was unlikely to show that Michigan State University vaccine mandate was not “rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest, i.e., the health and safety of the public.”[5] Michigan State University vaccine mandate applied to all students, staff, and faculty unlike Western Michigan University’s vaccine mandate that only applied to student-athletes – I think that distinction is key in understanding why Judge Maloney granted a temporary restraining order in one case and not in the other case. For now, the student-athletes will be exempted from the vaccine mandate pending trial and will remain on the soccer team at Western Michigan University. And to raise the stakes just a little more, twelve more student-athletes at Western Michigan University have joined the lawsuit since it was first brought.[6] [1] Court blocks mandated vaccine for WMU soccer players, MSU employee loses natural immunity argument (fox2detroit.com). [2] Judge: Western Michigan can't mandate vaccine for all student athletes (yahoo.com). [3] Judge: Western Michigan can't mandate vaccine for all student athletes (yahoo.com). [4] Vaccine mandate lawsuit: Western Michigan University soccer player defends decision to fight school's COVID policy - ABC7 Chicago. [5] Court blocks mandated vaccine for WMU soccer players, MSU employee loses natural immunity argument (fox2detroit.com); Judge blocks WMU from mandating COVID vaccine for athletes (freep.com). [6] Lawsuit claims WMU vaccine mandate for athletes violates medical, religious freedoms | WWMT.

  • Enough with the Apologies; It’s Time for Accountability in the Nassar Case

    BY: MORGAN FRAZIER How much is a little girl worth? According to the FBI, absolutely nothing. After receiving a credible compliant from USA Gymnastics about Larry Nassar sexually assaulting gymnasts, the FBI’s Indianapolis field office effectively did nothing and allowed Nassar to continue assaulting girls for nearly a year. According to a scathing report released in July by the Department of Justice, the FBI did not undertake any investigative activity for 5 weeks after meeting with USAG. Even then, the FBI only interviewed 1 victim. Following that interview, the FBI conducted “no investigative activity in the matter for more than 8 months,” they did not advise authorities about the allegations, nor did they take any action to mitigate the risk to gymnasts that Nassar continued to “treat.” During that period, it is alleged that Nassar assaulted at least 70 girls. This terror could have been avoided if the FBI simply did its job. This past Wednesday, four of America’s most decorated gymnasts delivered powerful testimonies at a Senate hearing detailing the abuse they suffered from Nassar. One of the more gut-wrenching claims came from 2012 Olympic gold-medalist McKayla Maroney. She stated: “After telling my entire story of abuse to the FBI in the summer of 2015, not only did the FBI not report my abuse, but when they eventually documented the report 17 months later, they made entirely false claims about what I said." Furthermore, she alleged that the FBI, USAG, and the U.S. Olympic Committee of working together to conceal the allegations against Nassar. The DOJ concluded that the FBI “failed to respond to the Nassar allegations with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required, made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond to them, and violated multiple FBI policies.” At the Senate hearing, all FBI Director Christopher Wray could do was apologize to the survivors for the FBI’s failure to stop the “monster” back in 2015 when the FBI had the chance. For his part, Wray has implemented new training protocols and procedures which have been impactful. However, apologies and new reforms are not enough. The truth of the matter is that only a few individuals besides Nassar have been held accountable for their actions – and none of those individuals are the FBI special agents who botched the investigation that allowed Nassar to continue to sexually assault girls. Enough is enough. There needs to be more investigation into how the Nassar case was mishandled, as well as answers as to why the DOJ refused to prosecute Jay Abbott and Michael Langeman – the FBI agents who (mis)handled the case. Langeman was a supervisory special agent in the FBI’s Indianapolis field office when he interviewed Maroney in 2015 about her allegations of abuse by Nassar. The DOJ report said that he and Abbott lied to investigators from the inspector general’s office about their actions and that they never officially opened an investigation. Langeman was recently fired by the FBI, and Abbott retied several years ago. As 8x NCAA Champion Maggie Nichols said, the survivors do have a right to know why their well-being was placed into jeopardy by these agents who chose not to do their jobs. Hopefully more questions will be answered when Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco appear before the Judiciary Committee in October.

  • History Made as Bucks Hire Lisa Byington as First Female TV Play-By-Play Announcer

    The Milwaukee Bucks, the 2021 NBA Championships, made history yet again on Wednesday, when they announced the hiring of Lisa Byington as the first female full-time play-by-by-play broadcaster for any major men’s professional sports team. The Bucks and Fiserv Forum President Peter Feigin announced in a press release, “Lisa’s extensive television broadcasting background, including her play-by-play work for high-level NCAA basketball on several national networks, makes her the perfect choice to take on this major role. While we appreciate the significance of selecting Lisa, and we celebrate this historic moment, Lisa earned this position based on her extraordinary skills and experience. We look forward to Lisa becoming the voice of the Bucks.”[1] Byington is a trailblazer for women in sports broadcasting and is no stranger to making history in this industry. This past March, Byington became the first female play-by-play broadcaster to work the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Back in 2017, she became the first female play-by-play voice for a college football game, and later that year, was also part of the MLS all-female broadcast team, a first of its kind in any major men’s professional sport. Byington has quite the resume and has most recently worked the 2021 Olympic Games held in Tokyo as the men’s and women’s soccer play-by-play announcer. She also worked as a play-by-play announcer for the 2019 women’s World Cup. Byington also has experience working as a sideline reporter for the NCCA, the NBA, and the WNBA. [2] Byington, a Michigan native, was two-sport athlete, playing soccer and basketball player at Northwestern University before beginning her career in broadcast for a local television station in Michigan. She quickly rose through the ranks and then accepted a job with Fox Sports, and then the Big Ten Network, where she has served as both a play-by-play announcer and a reporter for both soccer and basketball. Byington certainly recognizes the impact of this history-making contract stating, “Finally, I understand the groundbreaking nature of this hire, and I appreciate the fact that during this process that aspect was addressed, but never made a primary focus. In fact, I applaud the Bucks for taking the first steps toward making hires like this more of the norm in the NBA. Because it’s time.”[3] Congratulations to Lisa Byington for being the first, but certainly not the last! Hannah is a 2L at Elon University School of Law and host of Podcast “Bars to the Bar” from Hoboken, New Jersey. Hannah graduated from Providence College where she was a four-year manager for the Men’s Basketball Team. [1] Id. [2] https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/bucks-lisa-byington-tv-play-by-play [3] Id.

  • The Tennessee NCAA Case Has No Shortage of Interesting Storylines

    Last week, the NCAA issued a notice of allegations to the University of Tennessee for recruiting violations that occurred within the football program during Jeremy Pruitt’s tenure as head coach. If you’ve followed college football for any part of its history, recruiting violations have always been a part of the sport. From the “Pony Excess” scandal that cratered the SMU football program back in the late 1980s to the penalties that halted USC’s run as one of the top programs in the country around a decade ago, the NCAA has always tried to preserve its model centered around amateurism via fines, scholarship reduction, show-causes, postseason bans, and in one case, the “Death Penalty.” However, as the college sports world has experienced no shortage of change in the past few years, the NCAA has launched a Transformation Committee consisting of an executive group of university presidents and athletic administrators to reimagine the future of college sports. Among the issues they have discussed is altering the infractions process when schools violate NCAA rules. Among the rumored goals of the committee is for investigations to conclude in a more timely manner and to not punish players, coaches, and administrators who had nothing to do with the violations committed by their schools. In the past, it’s been common for a school to receive a postseason ban even when none of the current roster or coaching staff was responsible for any wrongdoing. But with the Transformation Committee's apparent goals, hopefully, we won’t see this moving forward. The first test case might be their handling of Tennessee football. In the notice of allegations, Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt was charged with failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance and failing to monitor his staff. In the long, 51-page document that was released, the NCAA alleges Pruitt and his staff provided $60,000 in impermissible benefits and hosted recruits on campus during the imposed dead period amid the pandemic in 2020. While college athletes are now able to profit off their name, image, and likeness currently, what Tennessee was doing under Jeremy Pruitt would still mostly be illegal under today’s rules. Direct payments from a coaching staff are still a no-no even with today’s NIL rights. In reading through the notice of allegations, Pruitt and his coaching staff not only broke the rules but did so in ways that really wouldn’t benefit the program in any way, especially during a pandemic when on-campus recruiting was barred by the NCAA. All in all, there were 18 alleged Level I violations. How the NCAA handles this case will be interesting because according to the NCAA, the athletic department and administration at the University of Tennessee did their best to mitigate their punishment by the NCAA. The notice of allegations stated that “The actions taken by the institution during the investigation should be the standard for any institutional inquiries into potential violations.” In NCAA scandals, the key charge that no school wants to receive is a “lack of institutional control. Despite 18 Level I violations, Tennessee avoided said charge, which bodes well for the Vols avoiding further punishment down the road. While one could argue that Tennessee should be applauded for their swift action and doing the right thing by alerting the NCAA of these violations as soon as they took place, others will argue they were so cooperative in order to fire a struggling Jeremy Pruitt for cause and not have to pay his $12.6 million buyout. Since the end of the Phillip Fulmer era in 2008, Tennessee has struggled to find consistent success on the football field. Many coaches have come through Knoxville in the past 15 years only to disappoint Vol Nation, and Pruitt fell into that category. As the 2020 season neared its conclusion, there was chatter about Jeremy Pruitt’s job being in danger for football reasons. After starting 2-0, Tennessee lost seven of its last eight games to finish 3-7. The only problem was that at the start of the season, Pruitt received a contract extension. After their 34-13 home loss to Texas A&M in the final game of the season, that’s when the Tennessee administration launched an in-house investigation into Jeremy Pruitt’s alleged recruiting violations. The next month, Pruitt was fired presumably for cause along with some of his assistant coaches. According to the recently released notice of allegations, it’s clear that Jeremy Pruitt and his coaching staff were violating NCAA rules. But the $12.6 million dollar question is whether Tennessee would’ve launched an internal investigation into Pruitt if his Vols were winning ten games a year and competing for SEC titles. Cheating has always been a part of college football, and in many cases, schools have swept it under the rug or even embraced it in a covert way. We’ll never know the real answer to that question but avoiding paying a coach a hefty buyout is a tremendous incentive to cooperate with the NCAA. It’s worth noting that in the past few days, Pruitt has come out and expressed his desire to tell “his side of the story'' at some point. I’m sure he feels like Tennessee wronged him and opened the door for the NCAA to find dirt on him. As far as punishment goes, he’ll probably be the one that pays the price for all this. A potential show-cause penalty will all but end his college coaching career, while Tennessee and their current athletes and coaches will likely avoid anything significant imposed on them. Pruitt and his lawyer have threatened legal action against Tennessee in the past, but it's yet to be seen if he’ll follow through. The Tennessee situation has no shortage of fascinating storylines ranging from future handling of NCAA infractions to an ugly school-coach breakup. Hopefully, head coach Josh Heupel, his current roster, and the current coaching staff don’t have to pay for the sins committed by a previous regime. In following the Transformation Committee’s objectives, it’s likely they will avoid any serious punishment like a bowl ban. For Pruitt, who spent 2021 coaching in the NFL, it will be interesting to see what he does and says in response to these allegations. If he sues, will Tennessee offer a settlement, or will this get dragged on in court? It will be interesting to follow what happens next with this situation for sure. Brendan can be found on Twitter @_bbell5

  • Ireland Moves Toward Closing Gender Wage Gap: USWNT’s Glimmer of Legal Hope

    BY: EMILY COSTANZO Last week, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) reached a monumental agreement to pay their senior men’s and women’s teams equal match fees.[1] Logistically, this means that the men’s team will be required to accept a reduction in their usual match fees, with the FAI matching that amount to “level” the payments for the women.[2] Although it may be reasonable to assume that the men’s side is frustrated with this cut in their pay, it is one the team readily embraced. Katie McCabe, captain of the women’s squad, said of her male counterparts, “Seamus Coleman and his team-mates in the men’s squad also deserve credit for being brave enough to support us in such a progressive way on this issue.”[3] The way in which these two teams banded together with the shared goal of equal pay in mind is something that many professional leagues across the world have considered pursuing, but few have actually pursued. Prior to the deal, the men received €2,500, with the women receiving €500. For reference, that is $2,956.13 and $591.25 USD, respectively.[4] “It really sends out the message that ‘we are one’ and it is a great time because both teams are embarking on a big qualifying phase,” said McCabe.[5] Despite this giant leap forward for Ireland, it is important to note that the FAI will still not be responsible for payments made on the world stage. Prize money awarded to the World Cup champions, for instance, will still be dispersed under the authority of FIFA. Unfortunately, the disparity between prize monies awarded to the men and women at this stage is drastic. The French national team, champions of the 2018 FIFA Men’s World Cup, received $38 million in prize money.[6] Conversely, the United States, as champions of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, received $4 million.[7] This mind-boggling difference in awards, in part, motivated the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) to file their first lawsuit in the fight for equal pay amongst the men’s and women’s national teams. In 2019, 28 members of the USWNT officially filed a federal lawsuit, alleging violations of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[8] The athletes went after U.S. Soccer, as their governing body, for gender-based discrimination. Fast forward to July 2021 and one year after Judge R. Gary Klausner dismissed the lawsuit, the USWNT and their legal team announced that they would file an appeal of the decision.[9] The dismissal, in part, relied upon the court’s finding that the women received more than the men per match, with the former receiving $220,747 and the latter receiving $212,639 per game.[10] These figures were analyzed and provided by U.S. Soccer. On their face, these statistics are confusing—are the women actually being paid more? Is the gender gap the opposite of what most of society assumes it to be? The USWNT and their legal team offer one answer and one answer alone: no. According to them, this conclusion ignores the success of both teams on the pitch.[11] To return to the aforementioned example of the World Cup—and while examining only the five years covered in the lawsuit—the women’s squad has won the tournament twice. The men, on the other hand, have failed to even qualify. According to the appeal, “The court did not account for performance—specifically, that the women had to be the best in the world to make the same amount per game as the much less successful men.”[12] Although this fight is far from over, witnessing progressive steps forward in other countries’ soccer programs offers a glimmer of hope for the USWNT. Ireland’s decision to pay their men’s and women’s senior teams equal match fees demonstrates that the same payment structure is possible elsewhere, and hopefully, it is not long before “elsewhere” is the United States. [1] https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/fai-reach-agreement-on-equal-international-match-fees-for-senior-men-and-women-1.4660146 [2] https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58385989 [3] https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/fai-reach-agreement-on-equal-international-match-fees-for-senior-men-and-women-1.4660146 [4] Id. [5] Id. [6] https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/world-cup-prize-money-how-much-do-the-mens-team-earn-compared-to-/1wk1f3wl235ug136bxwo721wmk [7] Id. [8] https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/world-cup-prize-money-how-much-do-the-mens-team-earn-compared-to-/1wk1f3wl235ug136bxwo721wmk [9] https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-usaw/story/4437227/uswnt-to-fight-us-soccer-in-equal-pay-row-appeal-judges-decision-as-it-defies-reality [10] Id. [11] Id. [12] Id. (emphasis added)

  • THE CASE: St. Louis v. Silent Stan and the NFL

    As the owner of an NFL franchise located in beautiful Los Angeles, California whose team just debuted a brand new $5.5 billion dollar stadium that looks like a spaceship from the Jetsons cartoon, it’s hard to imagine Stan Kroenke ever having a bad day. He has a young head coach, a brand new quarterback to lead an already talented offense and a menacing defense. Everything seems positive on the field. However, in a small circuit court room nearly two thousand miles east in the club's former home city of St. Louis, Missouri a legal battle as scary as Aaron Donald bull-rushing up the middle is beginning to gain traction. An overhead shot of the brand new Sofi Stadium in Englewood, California (Patriot Post) On Monday, St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Christopher McGraugh denied all legal arguments made by the LA Rams, NFL and Kroenke to dismiss a civil lawsuit that was filed back in 2017 by St. Louis, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority. According to The St. Louis Business Journal, the plaintiffs are seeking more than $1 billion in punitive damages. The tent pole of the lawsuit is the complainant’s claims that Kroeneke and the league broke their own precedents for franchise relocations and did not negotiate in good faith when considering a move back to Los Angeles. The team had originally called the ‘City of Angels’ home from the years 1946-1995. Following the 94’ season previous owner Georgia Frontiere decided the team needed a change of scenery following several losing campaigns in a row during the early 90’s. The Rams struggled to gain fan attention in Southern California as well as a lucrative television contract, having many of their games “blacked out” because they could not get enough fans to attend games. The team arrived in St. Louis and began to find their new identity. They added dynamic wideout Issac Bruce and drafted eventual All-Pro offensive tackle Orlando Pace. The seasons from 1999-2003 could be considered the “heyday” of the Rams tenure in St. Louis as they appeared in two Super Bowls, 2000 and 2002 winning the former 23-16 against the Tennessee Titans. Those golden years were short lived and the team quickly fell into the basement of the league. Frontiere passed away following the 2007 and her successors put their stakes for sale in 2009. The reign of Stan Kroenke began on August 25, 2010 when the league unanimously approved his purchase of the club. When Kroenke purchased the team it became apparent that some major changes were soon to come. A critical piece of the lawsuit that could aid Kroenke and the NFL’s argument, would be the poor condition and atmosphere that was provided at the Edward Jones Dome, the Rams home turf. Per the contract between the franchise and the Sports Complex it was required that the stadium be in the “top tier of NFL stadiums” through the 2015 season. Multiple polls and reports showed failure of that standard with a last place ranking in a 2008 Sports Illustrated poll of all 32 NFL venues. With no solution reached in solving the ‘top tier’ issue of the team’s stadium, Kroenke called for the club to pack it’s bags and head West. They were in sunny LA for the start of the 2016 season but anger and heartbreak in the Midwest remained. Kroneke had been nicknamed “Silent Stan” by the St. Louis faithful after he refused to speak about the team’s relocation. Chet Pleban, an attorney with extensive knowledge in breach of contract negotiations, was recently quoted in an article by KSDK.com describing the argument for the defendants. “They lied. There's no other way to describe it. You talk about a nice phrase, 'fraudulent misrepresentation', I call it lying. And now they'll testify under oath, are they really gonna say the same thing? Under oath are they really going to deny they did and said these things? I doubt it." If the plaintiffs can prove this statement true, the case would be all but closed and the city of St. Louis and the state of Missouri would begin to count their money in the courtroom. No matter what the outcome, the case is groundbreaking and will be followed closely by every NFL executive. I can even imagine some owners making the trip to the ‘Gateway City’ much like the finale of Seinfeld where all the characters find their way to Latham, Massachusetts. Jerry Jones as Uncle Leo, Art Rooney could be J. Peterman, Kenny Banyan of course is Jets owner Woody Johnson. Seinfeld Finale - Characters Leaving New York Montage

  • The Other Violence Case Involving an MLB All-Star

    BY: ANDREW COHEN While the sports world has heard about Trevor Bauer's case, many are unaware that his story was not the first domestic violence incident by an MLB All-star this season. That belonged to two-time all-star, Atlanta Braves outfielder, Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna, is in his first season of his fully guaranteed 4 year/$65 million dollar contract he signed with the Braves this past off-season. Amid playing the best baseball of his career, his season has been halted since Sandy Spring Police Officers were alerted to respond to a residence regarding an assault in progress on the night of May 29, 2021. Once they arrived at the residence, the police witnessed Ozuna grabbing the victim by the neck and throwing her against the wall. Ozuna was then charged with both Aggravated Assault by Strangulation and Battery under the Domestic Violence Act. These are felonies that range from 3 to 20 years in prison. Ozuna was released from jail shortly after paying a $20,000.00 bond. What happened next? The Braves have kept him away from all team activities, similar to how the Los Angeles Dodgers handled the Trevor Bauer situation. However, unlike Bauer, the aggravated assault charges against Ozuna were dropped in July. On September 9, 2021, Ozuna agreed to enter a diversion program that could result in his entire domestic violence case being dismissed. Ozuna is required to undergo a six-month family violence intervention program, 200 hours of community service, refrain from illegal drug use, and avoid any contact with his wife. However, if Ozuna completes all of these requirements within his first three months, the original six-month supervision requirement will be terminated immediately. While he may have legally been off the hook, the MLB placed Ozuna on administrative leave as they continue to investigate the situation and continue to extend his leave, as they did most recently on September 18th. There seems to be no indication of when we will see Ozuna back on the diamond. Can the Braves find a way to void their contract with Ozuna? If the felony charges had not been dropped, the Braves would have a strong case to escape the remainder of their contract with Ozuna (around $61,000,000.00) and place Ozuna on the restricted list. If Ozuna went to jail, the Braves may have had a strong case for a breach of contract claim. However, even if the Braves attempt to act, they will likely wait until the MLB conducts their investigation on the manner. The Braves are hoping that the MLB places a lengthy suspension on Ozuna as they would have a better case for saving a few bucks. Being that the remaining charges are most likely to be dropped, it seems extremely unlikely that the Braves would be able to recoup any amount of money contracted to Ozuna. Takeaway? While we can all agree that Ozuna’s actions are unacceptable in any situation, many have different opinions regarding the correct way for the MLB and the Atlanta Braves to handle this situation. In my opinion, the MLB should handle these situations better than they currently are. Although, we can all agree that it is the best move to hold Ozuna out of all team activities, the matter seems to be settled. This case is similar to Bauer’s case because the MLB is not taking any disciplinary action besides extending the administrative leave of the player, which does not solve anything. Both players are not currently charged, as Bauer has not been convicted of any charges and Ozuna had his charges dropped. As a result, the MLB should either let both players play if they are cleared under the law or enforce a strict/bright-line rule around domestic abuse like many other leagues have enacted. Instead, it seems that they are not taking any action while keeping the players away from the sport until the story cools down. As a result of not having a firm disciplinary rule around domestic related instances, it is tough to know how much longer this story will go on for. The ball is in the MLB’s court on whether Ozuna will be subject to discipline... and if he is, how harsh will it be?

  • FIFA Restructuring: A World Cup Every Two Years?

    The allure of the World Cup is that once every four years, people from all walks of life get together to cheer on their national team in the World Cup. FIFA is now looking into a change to the format of every four years to every two years starting in 2028. It would change the schedule of intercontinental tournaments like the Euro or Copa America to occur every two years as well. The study is being led by legendary Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who is now FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development. The study is being held after the Saudi Arabia Federation sent a request in May. Along with Wenger’s approval, 166 out of the 210 national associations in FIFA have given their backing for the study. Wenger believes that this would give clubs more control over their players as this proposed change would give only two international breaks each year. This would limit the amount of time that players would be on national team duty along with limiting the travel that they do. Currently, there are multiple international breaks throughout the year in which clubs release their players to their respective national teams. Wenger’s proposal would mean that national teams have even less time to build out a squad and to call up different players. Of course, club coaches will be happy since they will have their team around for most of the year and will have less to worry about players picking up an injury while on international duty. Wenger sees the current global landscape as being too cluttered and believes fans want more meaningful matches. Although club managers will have their players around for longer, this will mean that players will have to play even more matches. With a World Cup or intercontinental tournament being played every summer, this would mean that players would be playing in more matches. Along with the tournaments, you would need to fit in games to qualify for these tournaments too. These extra games will inevitably lead to more injuries across the sport as we’ve seen during and after the pandemic as leagues and nations have scrambled to fit in too many games in small windows to make up for the lost time. We’ve already seen the field expand from 32 to 48 for the 2026 World Cup in North America. Changing the World Cup to every two years may not be a positive innovation. The World Cup is heralded as the biggest trophy one can win in the sport. Part of that is since it is every four years, not many have had the chance to win a World Cup. Some of the game’s greatest players ever like Messi, Ronaldo and Cruyff have never lifted up a World Cup. For FIFA, making it every two years would certainly bring in more revenue as you see the world’s biggest stars battle it out for the biggest trophy more often. For smaller countries, it may give them a better chance to host a World Cup since you will need more host countries and it would bring more revenue to those countries. While Wenger is a fan of this change, UEFA President Aleksander Çeferin opposes the plan. Çeferin believes that making the World Cup every two years would undermine the intercontinental championships like Gold Cup and Euros. He believes it would dilute the World Cup along with giving players even less time to recover in the off-season. Although Wenger proposes a 25-day break after the international tournaments, this is still not enough time for players to recover. Of course, as time goes on the game needs innovation. For many, international football is a time where they were wishing that club football is back. Fans find that there are too many “boring” games as they would prefer not to watch England face a small country like Andorra. Since the introduction of Nation League, it’s certainly been a positive substitution for the countless friendlies that national teams would play. A Nations League trophy cannot be compared to a trophy like Copa America and definitely not the World Cup, but it’s still a trophy to play for. A change to every two years would change the World Cup forever, maybe for the better, maybe for the worse. Greg Termolle is a 2L at Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. You can follow him on Twitter at @GregTerm.

  • The Ongoing Ripple Effect of NIL Laws

    BY: JOHN AZZATO Name, image, and likeness. Three words that, in just a few months, have changed the landscape of sports forever. NIL laws will have an obvious effect on NCAA student-athletes, but the effect that these laws will have on college recruitment and even high school sports must not be forgotten. College Recruitment It is clear that NIL laws will change the way college recruitment is handled. Colleges residing in states with permissive NIL laws will likely see improvements in recruitment. By contrast, those residing in states with strict NIL laws may be at a disadvantage. State governments around the country see NIL legislation in their respective states as a pressing issue, as a blow to recruiting could have consequences that would be difficult to rectify. It is also important to note that for the first time, money is finally on the table for student-athletes. Recruits with big followings will surely look to take advantage of the popularity that surrounds them, and if they go to school in a NIL-friendly state, they will be able to profit in ways never thought possible. Tennessee State incoming freshman Hercy Miller, son of rapper Master P, signed a $2 million deal with Web Apps America. The four-year contract was signed just a day after NIL laws went into effect. Tennessee developed a state law, with many provisions matching those in neighboring states, allowing compensation for athletes like Hercy Miller. Deals like this will continue to rise as NIL legislation continues to evolve throughout the country. High School Sports Even high school sports have been affected by the recent NIL rules. Mikey Williams, an explosive shooting guard ranked in the top 10 of the Class of 2023, has signed with Excel Sports Management for the pursuit of NIL opportunities. As a junior in high school, and a prolific star with over three million Instagram followers, Williams can expect to cash out when he starts playing college ball. The very idea that popular players can cash out when it comes time for college could be the reason that high school sports will forever change. At the least, we can expect a slight uptick in student athletes reclassifying to become part of an earlier college class. If a student-athlete can fast track their education to a point where they can make NIL money, why wouldn’t they? Quinn Ewers is a prime example. Ewers was a top-rated quarterback prospect of the Class of 2022, playing for Southlake Carroll High School in Texas. However, Ewers elected to reclassify to the 2021 class and enroll at Ohio State. At the time of his reclassification, NIL legislation in Texas did not allow any high school players to profit from their name, image, and likeness. However, by reclassifying to the incoming class of 2021 and enrolling at Ohio State, Ewers is set to make big money. It was reported that he reached a three-year, $1.4 million autograph deal with GT Sports Marketing. In addition, he was given a fully loaded F-250 truck from Ricart Automotive as part of an NIL deal. He even signed a deal with Holy Kombucha. That’s quite a change of events for someone who was expecting to play high school football for free. Bottom Line Hercy Miller, Mikey Williams, and Quinn Ewers are just some examples of a trend that we can expect to see across all sports. Through NIL legislation, these student-athletes can finally capitalize financially on their own skill and popularity, as they continue to grow en route to what they hope will be successful professional careers. Each student-athlete will have a different path when pursuing NIL compensation, but one thing is certain. Whether it be high school or college, NIL laws are bound to have a ripple effect that we all should be ready for.

  • The People v. Trevor Bauer Part II: The Decision

    As seen a few weeks ago, the Petitioner’s (victim’s) motion for a five-year restraining order was denied by the Judge. That means that in the Judge’s opinion, Trevor Bauer is highly unlikely to abuse and/or contact the victim in the future. What does it mean for the pending criminal investigation? For one thing, the pending criminal investigation doesn’t simply disappear. The Pasadena Police Department has chosen to present their findings to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and allow the DA’s Office to make the final decision. With Mr. Bauer being a high-profile public figure, the Police and District Attorney’s Office are going to take as much time as possible. The thinking being, that either way the ramifications will be huge. With one decision, you just charged the reigning Cy Young winner with a serious felony, or you declined to prosecute the case despite the horrific photographs that exist everywhere. What actual conversations go on behind the scenes when making a charging decision on a serious case and what viewpoint angles do the people who make the decisions take? The Political Angle The first thing one needs to understand that the District Attorney is unlikely going to able to defer the decision to charge to his subordinate. The DA needs to be behind this decision 110%. That is because the current District Attorney, George Gascon is currently amid a recall situation. That means if opponents of the District Attorney collect signatures from 10% of LA County voters (approximately 579,000 signatures) then a recall election would be held, and he could be voted out of office in under one year. If the decision was made not to charge Trevor Bauer, an argument would be made the DA’s office made that decision based on his socioeconomic status and possibly his race. That would anger a significant number of voters many of whom are unlikely to be as wealthy as Mr. Bauer is and would feel that the decision would have been different if Trevor Bauer was not Trevor Bauer. The DA has an obligation to set politics aside and decide to charge based on the evidence presented. The Evidentiary Angle The only way to make any charging decision is the based on the evidence presented. Does the prosecutor have a good-faith basis that they believe that they can prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt? If the answer is no, then the case should decline the case. A case should never be filed simply because the prosecutor believes that this prospective defendant might have committed the alleged crime or worse this Defendant is incarcerated, and it makes for a quick and quiet conviction. When making the charging decision, the prosecutor will have likely spoken with the alleged victim on several occasions. If he/she is seasoned, they will likely speak with the alleged victim at multiple points of the day. Are they a morning person? How do they dress when they come to speak to the prosecutor? How does the victim react when they are asked potentially unfair questions? Will this victim present well to a jury, or will she turn them off? Rarely is a jury going to believe a victim and sympathize with that victim if the jury doesn’t like them. It is a harsh truth. The prosecution will also need a good answer to as to why the victim went back to Trevor Bauer’s house a second time. That is because the defense will certainly try to introduce text messages where it appeared as though the victim was looking for a payoff. There is nothing a trial jury hates more than being used. If it appears that she is only cooperating now because Bauer wouldn’t pay, a jury is not going to sympathize with the victim. The prosecution’s theory of the case is that she wanted it rough, but she never consented to being choked unconscious. As stated in my previous article, the alleged crime occurs once the victim is unconscious. That is because if the victim is unconscious during sex for even a few moments, that victim has lost to her ability to withdraw consent. The prosecution wants a jury who will sympathize with the victim and apply that law as it is written. That is because juries almost always do what they think is right and that is often in conflict with the law actually is. Would I charge Trevor Bauer with sexual assault? The honest answer is I don’t know. That is because, I do not have all the facts and evidence. I only have second-hand information reported by news outlets. However, once a decision is made you might just have a better understanding as to why it was made. Matthew F. Tympanick is an Attorney in Sarasota, Florida. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts School of Law where he served as a Public Interest Fellow and as a Staff Editor on the UMass Law Review. He was previously a felony prosecutor in Sarasota, Florida. In over three years as a prosecutor, he prosecuted thousands of domestic violence cases. You can follow him on Twitter @Tympanick20.

bottom of page