Yung on Tony Stewart and criminal culpability

At CoOp, Corey Yung (Kansas) has a good analysis Tony Stewart's possible criminal culpability in the on-track death of  Kevin Ward, Jr.

Loss of Value Insurance: 3 Questions

Following the news that Florida State paid for the premium for Jameis Winston's loss of value insurance policy, and the wonderful law review article titled "Insurance Coverage for Elite Student-Athletes" by Jill Weiber Lens and Josh Lens (Baylor University) a few questions to ponder:

1. Will the NCAA restriction on allowing college athletes to borrow off their future earnings to cover the premiums for loss of value policies change in light of the O'Bannon case and recent NCAA autonomy vote?
2. If schools are allowed to cover the premiums of loss of value insurance policies via the Student Assistance Fund (SAF), doesn't that lead to potential problems down the road? For example, conferences manage their own SAFs and authorize expenditures by its members. Thus, the ACC granted Florida State permission to help Winston. The problem is that the ACC's SAF is a limited fund--let's say $350,000 and these premiums are approximately $60,000. How many ACC athletes should get protection.....and who decides?
3. Has anyone mentioned Florida State's payment of Winston's premium to the IRS? Doesn't a $60,000 payment trigger taxable income?

O'Bannon & NCAA Reform

Yesterday, Michael McCann and I, along with Robert Raiola, Alan Milstein and Daniel Wallach, led a roundtable discussion for the Boston Bar Association on the Donald Sterling controversy. The panel was well attended and, by all accounts, quite successful. Afterwards, most of us then headed out to a late lunch in Boston to catch up on life.

As often happens with the conversations of sports lawyers, our attention turned to the O'Bannon case. Always prescient, McCann stated that he expected Judge Wilken to issue her ruling at approximately 6:45 pm est  just before the weekend. He hoped it wouldn't happen, lamenting the likely long night of writing and analysis he'd be required to provide Sports Illustrated (alas, the rigors of being THE sports law expert for that media outlet.)

We now know McCann was correct--in a ruling siding, primarily for O'Bannon, Judge Wilken ruled that the NCAA's could no longer use "amateurism" as the single defense to all restrictions placed on college athletes. You can read McCann's insight in a piece titled "What Ed O'Bannon's Victory over the NCAA Means Going Forward" here.

Another article worth your time is from noted columnist Joe Nocera of the New York Times who posted this piece titled "This is Reform? The NCAA's Feeble Reform Impulse." And, to be clear, any writing that discusses Andy Schwarz's concept of Team Reform v Team Market analysis is a good read. For Schwarz's full article titled "How Not to Reform the NCAA" go here.

Article of interest: Lens on insurance for college athletes

Jill Wieber Lens (Baylor Law) and Josh Lens (who works in athletics compliance at Baylor) have posted Insurance Cover for Elite Student-Athletes to SSRN. Here is the abstract:

College athletics is commonly referred to as “big business” for universities. But it’s also big business for elite student-athletes, meaning those who are talented enough to later become professional athletes. What happens if they get injured while still in college? An injury could cost an elite student-athlete millions of dollars, in the form of lost expected future income from playing professional sports. More and more elite student-athletes are looking to insurance to help with this risk.

This Article explores the types of insurance available for elite-student athletes, mainly total disability and loss-of-value insurance. The Article is the first to focus on student-athletes’ biggest hurdle in obtaining the insurance—the cost. It argues that change is needed because current limitations on elite student-athletes provide easier access to total disability insurance than to loss-of-value insurance. The Article also cautions that even though insurance is a solution to this unavoidable problem for elite student-athletes, it is not foolproof. Insurance is only reimburses part of the lost future income. That partial benefit may also possibly be inadequate because it is based on draft projections, which will not always be accurate.

Disability Insurance: College Edition

In 2011, on this blog, I posed the question whether a lack of disability insurance was driving college football players to the NFL early--link here. For decades now, the NCAA has permitted students to borrow off future earnings to cover the premiums on policies protecting themselves from permanent disability. It's known as the NCAA's Exceptional Student Disability Insurance (ESDI) program.

Where the NCAA has traditionally restricted the ability of college athletes to procure true protection is via "loss of value" insurance policies. For example, true "loss of value" coverage is offered by insurance carriers whereby a player projected to be a top ten pick suffers a debilitating, but not permanent injury. The player is able to continue playing at a slightly lower level than before the injury but still gets drafted in the fifth round. The player would collect on the sizable gap in compensation between their anticipated early first round and actual fifth round salaries.

Loss of value coverage was deemed permissible by the NCAA in 2010. Unfortunately, the NCAA deemed students who borrowed off future earnings to cover these premiums to be receiving impermissible extra benefits under their rules--thereby forcing students (and their families) to pay these expensive premiums for the policies out-of-pocket.

Good news, while the NCAA didn't come to their senses and change the rules, individual colleges found a loophole. Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner is predicted to be a top-10 pick in the NFL's 2015 draft. Using money from the school's Student Assistance Fund, Florida State recently paid the approximate $60,000 premium on Winston's loss of value policy to provide $10 million in disability and loss of value protection.

According to the NCAA, the Student Assistance Fund "shall be used to assist student-athletes in meeting financial needs that arise in conjunction with participation in intercollegiate athletics, enrollment in an academic curriculum or that recognize academic achievement." Responsibility for the oversight and administration of these funds occur at the conference level.

Thus, Florida State, with the ACC's blessing, recognizes the responsibility it has to protect the future earnings of its students. Well done Stan Wilcox, athletic director at Florida State!

For media coverage of this policy you can check out ESPN and SB Nation.

An Empirical Analysis of the Infield Fly Rule

The published version is in the Journal of Legal Metrics. The paper discusses the results of a four-year study of every infield fly call (and should-have-been call) from 2010-2013. I am going to repeat the study for the 2014 and 2015 seasons and I am hoping to turn the entire infield fly project into a book. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Announcement: New online sports law course

Nationally recognized sports lawyer Glenn Wong will launch the new Mark H. McCormack Online Graduate Sport Management Certificate program this coming Fall semester. Professor Wong’s 3-credit “Sport Law” course will be the first in a 15-credit certificate program that enables working professionals to access the highly regarded McCormack Sport Management curriculum and faculty in a convenient, 100% online format.

In addition to authoring one of the leading Sport Law textbooks, Wong has previously served as an MLB Salary Arbitrator and as Interim Athletic Director at UMass. Students can take courses without being in the certificate program if they would like them for professional development.  Students interested in the certificate can take up to 2 courses towards the certificate before applying to the full program.

To enroll in Prof. Wong's Sports and the Law course click here.

For more information on the McCormack Sports Management Graduate Certificate program at UMass go here.

[Editor's Note: Prof. Wong is a longtime mentor and friend. Anyone interested in the field of "sports law" would benefit tremendously from his insight and experience. Additionally, any potential access to his colleagues including, but not limited to, Department Head & Prof. Lisa P. Masteralexis, should also be a huge draw for potential students.]