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 features the NFL again, including the league’s PED investigation, the end of Deflategate, and the Hall of Fame suit.

NFL

• The NFL set a deadline for players named in the Al Jazeera PED report to give interviews. The league threatened to suspend the players for refusing to cooperate.  Michael McCann explains why the failure to negotiate express CBA protections left players vulnerable to this threat.  Albert Breer: if these guys can’t go to war with the NFL, who can?  The NFLPA responded and three of the four players will meet with the league.
• Dan Werly explains what Deflategate means for dispute resolution in the NFL. The verdict on Deflategate: nobody won (except Michael McCann).
• Lawyer offers to settle Hall of Fame Game lawsuit without legal fees. Here’s his letter to Goodell.  With the NFL unlikely to settle, Goodell should make sure to preserve his cell phone.
• Blake Yagman examines the evolving legacy of Ricky Williams, marijuana, and the NFL.
• Le’Veon Bell’s suspension reduced to three games.
• Did the NFL drop the ball on Josh Brown’s suspension?
• Former player Darren Sharper receives 18-year prison sentence.

The Olympics

• The curious case of Ryan Lochte keeps getting stranger. James Feigen managed to bribe Brazilian authorities with a $10,800 “donation” to leave the country.  USAToday’s investigation has raised questions about the Rio police’s story.  Tony Iliakostas: could Lochte and the other swimmers be subject to Brazilian criminal law?  It takes two to tango: why the Brazilian police are at fault as well.

MLB

• John Sigety explains why the door is open for an A-Rod return.
• MLB clears Ryans Howard and Zimmerman of PED allegations.
• The judge in the minor league wage lawsuit has granted the plaintiffs another opportunity to obtain class certification.
• Podcast: Nathaniel Grow discusses contract insurance in baseball and Prince Fielder’s retirement.

Best of the Rest

• College athletes lose right of publicity appeal in broadcasting suit.
• Marc Edelman argues that an attempt to legalize sports betting in New York is the wrong way to do it.
• Ryan Lake explains free agency in the NHL.
• Interview with sports law professor and analyst Andrew Brandt.