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Sports Law

Darren Heitner Interviewed On The Pathway To Legal Sports Betting

Will legalized sports gambling expand throughout the U.S. over the next few years? HEITNER LEGAL has been called on by many individuals and organizations to provide legal advice in the arena of gambling and gaming, and is well equipped to assist companies should various state and federal laws be changed in the future. In the meantime, […]

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Sports Law

Featured Client: Sure Sports Lending

My book of business began in 2010 with Leon McKenzie. The owner of Hollywood, Florida-based Sure Sports Lending put his trust in a newly qualified lawyer who claimed to know a thing or two about contracts and sports. Six years later, Leon and Sure Sports Lending remain clients, sticking with me through multiple law firms […]

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Contracts Sports Law

Darren Heitner Quoted On Naming Rights Deals

The University of Florida’s O’Connell Center has brokered its first naming rights deal. The arena will re-open in mid-December 2016 with Exactech as the naming rights sponsor. Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun asked UF and UF Levin College of Law graduate Darren Heitner for commentary on the deal. Naming rights deals on stadiums and arenas serve different […]

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Cyber Law Sports Law

The One (Laptop) That Got Away

It is a lot easier to steal a laptop than it is to hack into a corporate database. The Internet erupts every time a hacker compromises data of millions of customers, but it remains silent when a laptop containing data of thousands of employees is stolen. However, that is not the case when an athletic […]

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Sports Law

Potential Conflict Of Interest In LaBoy v. Octagon

CJ LaBoy and Doug Hendrickson served as sports agents for Octagon. Both signed agreements with NFL players to serve as the players’ representatives in contract negotiations with NFL teams. In exchange, the players agreed to provide the sports agents with a percentage of the negotiated contract. In turn, Plaintiffs agreed to provide this fee to […]

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Sports Law

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Responds To Class Action Lawsuit Over NBA 2K Games

On December 4, 2015, Ricardo and Vanessa Virgil filed a Class Action Complaint in the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York against Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. based on the company “collecting, storing, using, disclosing, and disseminating” individuals’ biometric identifiers and biometric information. Take-Two is the publisher, developer, and distributor of […]

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Defamation Sports Law

California Court Rules That Soccer Executive Is Not A Public Figure

In a decision handed down this past Wednesday, a California Court of Appeals ruled that Asfaw Teferi, a soccer executive for a team in the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (“ESFNA”), was not a public figure for the purposes of his defamation lawsuit. This opinion could have implications for other sports executives in non-major […]

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Sports Law

Fans File Lawsuit In Response To Rams Relocation

As was to be expected, the Rams departure from St. Louis will not come without its struggles. Only one day after the NFL owners voted to allow the Rams to relocate from St. Louis to Los Angeles, four Rams fans filed a lawsuit in St. Louis Circuit Court seeking class-action status and an unspecified amount […]

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Sports Law Trademarks

In re Tam A Boon To The Washington Redskins’ Fight To Protect Name

The Washington Redskins surprising success on the field this year may soon extend to the courtroom. In June of 2014, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) canceled the registration of six trademarks belonging to the football team under the disparagement provision of Section 2(a) of […]

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Negligence Sports Law

A Look At The First Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against DraftKings And FanDuel

A class action lawsuit led by plaintiff Adam Johnson has been filed in the Southern District of New York against DraftKings and FanDuel (two other class action lawsuits have been filed against DraftKings and FanDuel since, with more likely to come). The complaint alleges claims of negligence, fraud and misrepresentation, violation of the Kentucky Consumer […]