New Law Review Essay on District Court Ruling in O'Bannon v. NCAA

It is my pleasure to share my newest law review essay "The District Court Decision in O'Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association: A Small Step Forward for College Athlete Rights, and a Gateway for Far Grander Change."

The essay, which will be published this December in Washington & Lee Law Review, explains why the district court decision in O'Bannon v. NCAA was correct to hold that the NCAA unreasonably restrained trade, but incorrect to issue an injunction capping athlete compensation through a deferred trust amount of $5,000 per year.

The essay also looks at the possible next steps in the movement for college athlete rights, including potential appeals, lobbying before Congress, unionization efforts, Title IX concerns, and future litigation in Jenkins v. NCAA.

Reader comments on the essay on strongly appreciated.

Why the District Court's Ruling in O'Bannon is Favorable to the NCAA

Rick Johnson has an excellent op ed. piece in this week's edition of Sports Business Journal in which he explains why Judge Claudia Wilken's ruling in O'Bannon is a "win" for the NCAA.  A must read!  I also want to thank Rick for including a link to my Cardozo Law Review article.

Does Josh Gordon have a legal case against the NFL?

In a new column for Sports Illustrated, I'm pessimistic that Josh Gordon -- suspended for the 2014 season -- would be able to take on and beat the NFL in court.

Donald Sterling fails to file timely appeal to California Supreme Court

Dan Wallach noticed and investigated that Donald Sterling failed to file an appeal to the California Supreme Court by Monday's deadline.  I write about the impact of Sterling's inaction in a new piece for Sports Illustrated.

What we call our teams

Various broadcasters and sports media outlets supposedly are not going to use the nickname of the Washington NFL team this season, presumably referring to them as "Washington" or "the Washington team."

In the mid-'90s, Baltimore got a CFL team (when the NFL inexplicably passed a great football city over for an expansion team), which tried to call itself the "Baltimore CFL Colts." The Indianapolis Colts sued for trademark infringement and won a preliminary injunction (the case had a significant personal jurisdiction point). While the litigation was pending during the 1994 season, the team simply called itself the "Baltimore Football Club." During pre-game introductions, however, the announcer would say something like "And now, your Baltimore . . ." and the crowd would shout "Colts" over the rest of the announcement.

If the trend of not using the nickname becomes widespread enough, I wonder if some of the more hardcore Washington fans will take it upon themselves to shout the nickname themselves.

Peter Carfagna to teach MOOC course on Representing the Professional Athlete

Our good friend, Harvard Law School sports law professor Peter Carfagna, has let us know that Case Western Reserve University School of Law, via the Coursera platform, will be offering Peter's "Representing the Professional Athlete Course" as a Massive Open Online Course.  The course will be going live on Sept. 16 and you can see the course's details on Coursera.  This is an outstanding opportunity to learn sports law from one of the most successful sports lawyers in U.S. history and an extremely talented teacher as well.

Peter's course is a 6 Module MOOC course and will cover the 4 stages of a professional athlete's career as explained in his outstanding West Academic book titled Representing the Professional Athlete (2nd Ed.)

For a great Q/A with Peter, see this Harvard Law Today story.

Daniel Wallach on settlement reached in Steve Moore, Todd Bertuzzi case

It has taken over a decade, but there is a settlement over litigation stemming from the vicious hit by Todd Bertuzi against Steve Moore.  The hit ended Moore's career and led to a $68 million lawsuit.

Sports attorney Daniel Wallach of Becker & Poliakoff breaks down the settlement on SportsNet Toronto and what it means for hockey.  The interview with Brady and Walker begins at around the 15:00 mark, and is an outstanding listen.