Sports Law Links

Each week The Sports Esquires keep track of the sports law headlines so you don’t have to.  In this week’s Sports Law Links: NFL scandals proliferate, sports gambling is at a tipping point, and golf caddies fight back.

NFL

• Judge Brody rejects the NFL concussion lawsuit settlement again. Brody asked for the settlement to be expanded in five ways to accommodate more former players.  Patrick Hruby looks at what’s next after the decision.
• The National Felony League: Warren Sapp arrested for solicitation and assault. NFL Network terminated Sapp’s contract following the arrest.  Terrence Cody indicted for animal cruelty.  Sam Adams faces tax charges.  Greg Hardy’s domestic violence trial begins.  More congressional pressure on the league’s domestic violence issues.  Here’s a searchable database of NFL arrests.
• Falcons owner Arthur Blank admits the team pumped in artificial crowd noise during games.
• Marc Edelman on Roger Goodell’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Andrew Brandt agrees that the scrutiny will only grow.
• Catch up on the Aaron Hernandez trial with Michael McCann’s daily updates: Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6. Hernandez’s attorney apologized for a Deflategate joke.  Similarities to O.J. Simpson’s trial?
• The first hearings on Adrian Peterson’s lawsuit have begun. The two sides’ legal arguments.
• The latest court filings in the Benson ownership saga. The lawyers trade barbs.
• A new House bill would revoke the Redskins’ trademarks.
• The Raiders have won an age discrimination lawsuit brought by ex-scouts.

NCAA

• NYT: The fraud of the student-athlete claim.
• Sanderson & Siegfried: The Case for Paying College Athletes.
• Why the Iowa field hockey Title IX complaint is a huge deal. More Title IX problems with scholarship distribution at Big 12 schools.
• O’Bannon appeal panel is the same as the panel in the Keller case. The NCAA seeks a reduction in attorney fees.
• NCAA opinions on the future of the early signing
• A federal district judge has recused herself from an NCAA antitrust case.
• Majoring in sports: the debate over a sports education.
• Syracuse self-imposes a postseason ban due to an NCAA investigation.
• The Paterno family suit goes to trial.

Sports Gambling

• Legalize sports gambling. The benefits in Florida.
• Wagering on the future: a round table of opinions on the issue.
• “I’m just a realist.” Inside Adam Silver’s rationale for sports gambling.
• Rob Manfred signals a potentially huge policy shift by saying MLB could be open to sports gambling.

Golf

• Darren Heitner and Michael McCann on the PGA Tour caddies’ class action advertising lawsuit. Stephanie Wei has more.  The full complaint.
• Rory McIlroy settled his dispute with former agency for more than $25 million.

MLB

• The emergence of the qualifying offer as a legitimate roster building tool and salary constraint.
• Nathaniel Grow: Judge Landis, the Federal League, and Baseball’s First Antitrust
• The Second Circuit has denied MLB’s interlocutory appeal in the broadcasting rights antitrust suit.

Best of the Rest

• A German decision ia making waves and could end CAS arbitration.
• Eugene Volokh on freedom of speech vs. the right of publicity in sports video games.
• How FIFA killed the Women’s World Cup lawsuit.
• Can boxing be saved? Plans to revolutionize the sport.
• How to fix a tennis match.
• A short guide to changes under the new WADA code.
• The growth of sports law in the UAE.
• Pop Warner sued for failing to warn about head trauma.
• Sports associations pressure human rights