Sports Law Links

Each week The Sports Esquires keep track of the sports law headlines so you don’t have to.  It’s been a busy year in the world of sports law, and we hope that our weekly links roundup helps you keep up with all the latest news.  Before you get to the last week of 2015, check out our Sports Law Year in Review for a look back at some of the legal issues that dominated sports headlines this year.

Thanks again to everyone for reading and sharing our Sports Law Links.  See you in 2016!

NFL

• An Al Jazeera report implies that Peyton Manning covertly received HGH from a doctor through his wife. Dan Werly provides the full documentary and summarizes it.  Michael McCann: how the NFL and Peyton Manning could respond to the accusations.  Manning has indicated a willingness to sue over the allegations, and Dan Werly examines a potential defamation  The NFL and MLB will investigate the players named in the report.  Clay Matthews denied the allegations as well.
• The NFL filed its Deflategate reply brief to the Second Circuit. Here’s the full brief.  I analyzed the brief on Twitter.  I also looked at the NFL’s surprising new argument and explained why it’s unlikely to affect the appeal.  Michael McCann’s take.
• The NFL affirmed the one-game suspension of Odell Beckham, Jr. Here’s Beckham’s statement.
• A lengthy look at how the Federal Circuit’s recent In re Tam decision could impact the Redskins’ trademark. If you want a quicker summary, Andrew Sensi updates you on the situation in a two minute audio clip.
• A look at the NFL’s domestic violence policy after Ray Rice.
• Not quite sports law, but sports-related: how U.S. marshals used Redskins tickets to bust fugitives in 1985 sting.

Sports Gambling and Fantasy Sports

• Illinois AG declares that DFS is gambling; expects FanDuel and DraftKings to leave the state. Here’s the AG’s opinion.  Steve Silver breaks down the opinion.  DraftKings and FanDuel sue to keep operating in Illinois.
• New York AG fights DFS reprieve. Dustin Gouker looks at the AG’s latest filing.
• Missouri’s AG is monitoring the New York DFS fight.
• Navigating the legal risks of DFS.
• What’s the state of the DFS industry in California?
• Gambling scandal hits Boston University hockey.
• Adam Silver still supports legalized sports gambling and regulating daily fantasy.

MLB

• Nathaniel Grow: an end of the year MLB legal update.
• MLB filed a motion to dismiss the scout lawsuit against the league. Here’s the plaintiffs’ opposition, and here’s MLB’s reply.
• How free agency changed the course of baseball’s labor history.
• How the influx of Cuban players could affect labor relations in MLB.

Soccer

• Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini get eight-year bans from FIFA. The rise and fall of Blatter.  Dave Zirin: Blatter is best at hogwash.
• CONCACAF sues to recover travel money.
• Sports Integrity: detecting match-fixing in soccer.

NCAA

• Jerry Tarkanian and Walter Byers: adversaries who left their mark on the NCAA.
• O’Bannon and alternative forms of injunctive relief.

Best of the Rest

• Gaming the System: the exemption of professional sports teams from the Fair Labor Standards Act.
• Paralyzed teen football player’s case against Pop Warner proceeds to trial.
• Podcast: Peter Ott and Kelly Jones discuss morals clauses in endorsement contracts.
• Donald Sterling drops his privacy lawsuit against Vivian Stiviano.