Sports Law Links

Each week The Sports Esquires keep track of the sports law headlines so you don’t have to.  This week’s edition covers the Cardinals hacking the Astros, new sports betting laws, and the conclusion of the Benson competency trial.

MLB

• Avi Sommer on the real case of service time manipulation.
• The FBI and the Justice Department are investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking into the Houston Astros’ network to steal information about players. Nathaniel Grow on the legal implications of the hacking.  Michael McCann’s thoughts on the investigation.  How high could the investigation go?  The case shines a light on an emerging issue in sports law: the fight over intellectual property.  In a sport rich with cheating history, the Cardinals have broken new ground.
• Royals found not guilty for a mascot’s hot dog toss which hit a spectator in the head.

NFL

• What will happen at Tom Brady’s appeal hearing? Brady seeks to have his suspension lifted.
• A new class action lawsuit accuses the NFL and DirectTV of violating antitrust laws with NFL Sunday Ticket policies. The full complaint is here.
• What’s at stake in Junior Galette’s disciplinary meeting with the league.

Sports Betting and Fantasy Sports

• NBA withdraws its opposition to the Canadian sports betting bill.
• Kansas lawmakers pass a bill legalizing fantasy sports.
• Changing the game in Nevada: lawmakers permit business entities to place bets in Nevada sports books.
• A look at the pending New Jersey sports betting decision and how it will define the fight to come.

Soccer

• The FIFA investigation continues – Swiss prosecutor finds 53 possible money laundering What can the investigations achieve?
• Justin Fielkow examines Clint Dempsey’s “referee abuse” and suspension.

Best of the Rest

• Judge Kern Reese denied the Benson heirs’ petition to interdict New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson, ruling that Benson was mentally competent at the time he disinherited them. The full decision is here.  Benson’s lawyers also argued that a separate federal lawsuit dealing with non-voting shares of his sports teams should be heard in New Orleans.
• Five myths about Title IX.
• Peter Carfagna weighs in on a variety of sports law issues.