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Sports Law

2017 Sports Law Issue To Watch: Sports Betting In The U.S.

Since Heitner Legal specializes in Sports Law, it is no surprise that Darren Heitner was asked to provide his thoughts on what would be a key sports law case and/or development to watch in 2017. The website LawInSport organized responses to that question from a variety of Sports Law practitioners, choosing to highlight Heitner’s contribution near the […]

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Sports Law

Sports Law: Optimism For USTA’s Training Center In Orlando?

It is well known throughout the legal industry that if you have a sports-related legal issue, you turn to Heitner Legal. As such, when writers are looking for a sports lawyer for commentary, they often turn to Darren Heitner. The Orlando Sentinel recently highlighted the creation of a new U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) training center in Orlando. […]

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Sports Law Trademarks

Trademark Discussion: Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights National Hockey League expansion team has received an Office Action from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office concerning a likelihood of confusion with marks registered to The College of Saint Rose. The new NHL team may still prevail in its effort to register its marks, but this is certainly a bump in […]

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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 […]