Sports Law Links

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It has been a busy couple of weeks in the world of sports law. The Sports Esquires round up the top stories in sports law as part of our effort to keep you informed about all that is happening behind the scenes of your favorite leagues and teams.

NCAA

• On Friday August 8, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled in favor of the O’Bannon plaintiffs in their antitrust suit against the NCAA for not allowing member schools to compensate players for their name, image and likeness rights.
  • Read the opinion;
  • Michael McCann explains what the decision means going forward;
  • The NCAA plans to appeal the decision, and even the O’Bannon plaintiffs may appeal;
  • The decision may help clear up the cost-of-attendance scholarship debate.

• The NCAA agreed to settle a class-action head-injury lawsuit by creating a $70 million fund to diagnose thousands of current and former college athletes to determine if they suffered brain trauma playing football, hockey, soccer and other contact sports. Read the full settlement here.

• Also on Friday August 8, the ACC and the University of Maryland settled their dispute regarding Maryland’s exit fee to leave for the Big Ten. The ACC will keep the sum of $31.3 million previously withheld from Maryland.

• The NCAA Division I board of directors approved a new governance model which will give the Power 5 conferences more autonomy. A thorough explanation of the new governance model.

• BYU dropped its marketing campaign for “Rise as One” because the slogan is already trademarked by Budweiser.

MLB

• The Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles are more than rivals on the field; they are embroiled in a fierce battle over television broadcast fees. Last week, a New York court temporarily blocked a recent Major League Baseball decision that would have diverted tens of millions of dollars in profits from the regional network MASN to the Nationals instead of the Orioles. The Commissioner’s Office filed this response to the New York Court’s order to show cause.

• A federal judge has ruled that Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption does not extend to contracts for television broadcasts. Read the decision here.

NFL

• The University of Minnesota is seeking to block use of the name “Redskins” at its stadium when the Minnesota Vikings host Washington on November 2^nd.

NBA

• Donald Sterling lost his battle to prevent the sale of the Clippers.

Soccer

• A group of top international soccer players has retained legal counsel in the fight to have the playing surfaces of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup changed from artificial turf to natural grass.