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Headline Negligence Sports Law Torts

Stafon Johnson v. University of Southern California

On January 24, 2011, former University of Southern California runningback Stafon Johnson filed a Complaint against the University of Southern California and USC football’s assistant strength and conditioning coach Jamie Yanchar for damages based on negligence. The incident that is the subject of the action is widely known by sports fans.  It occurred in September 2009 […]

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Contracts Headline Sports Law

United Football League Blamed For Breaching Promissory Note

The NFL has its concussion problems.  The United Football League (UFL) is just trying to generate enough interest in its product to survive.  One person who is growing very impatient with the UFL is Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban. Cuban, through his company HDNET, LLC, filed a Complaint against William Hambrecht, an investor in the […]

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Headline Negligence Sports Law Torts

Holding Football Helmet Companies Accountable For Head Injuries

Yesterday, John Carlson of the Seattle Seahawks was carted off of the field of play in his team’s NFC Divisional Playoff game against the Chicago Bears.  Carlson suffered an injury after he landed on his head near the sideline.  As discussed last month, there are enormous dangers and damaging health effects of from head injuries. […]

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Headline Sports Law

Scavo and O’Toole v. Brett Favre, New York Jets, and Lisa Ripi

Christina Scavo and Shannon O’Toole filed a Complaint against Brett Favre, the New York Jets, and Lisa Ripi with the New York County Clerk’s Office on January 3, 2011.  Two out of the three Defendants should be easily recognizable.  The third, Lisa Ripi, is the New York Jets’ massage therapist coordinator.  Part of her duties included […]

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Headline Sports Law

New Jersey Making A Push For Legalized Sports Betting

In May 2010, my article, The Plight of PASPA: It’s Time to Pull the Plug on the Prohibition was published in the Gaming Law Review and Economics.  The article focuses on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which has completely denied forty-six states from adopting any type of state-sponsored sports betting scheme.  The Act, which […]

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Headline Sports Law Torts

NFL Players Receiving Adequate Warning Regarding Concussions

Roughly 9,000 lawsuits have been filed against tobacco companies in Florida based on claims that for many years tobacco companies failed to warn smokers about the dangers and addictive capacity of cigarettes.  The class of potential plaintiffs is huge, as many people across the country have smoked cigarettes at one point in their lives.  The […]

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Contracts Headline Sports Law

MLB Responds To Anheuser-Busch’s Complaint

On November 29, I discussed Anheuser-Busch Inc.’s lawsuit against MLB.  In its Complaint, Anheuser-Busch claimed that the company was entitled to a multi-year renewal on its beer-sponsorship rights based on negotiations that ended with a letter agreement in April 2010, and that MLB all of a sudden went back on its promise to renew, asking for […]

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Headline Intellectual Property Sports Law Trademarks

The NFL Cares About Who Wins The Souper Bowl

Trademark bullying watch!  My first post on trademark bullying discussed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) interest in eliciting suggestions to address these problematic litigation tactics.  Legit claims are one thing; trademark bullying ties up the courts, costs people money that would be better spent on innovation, and takes up unnecessary time litigating. My […]

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Headline Intellectual Property Right of Publicity Sports Law

Sam Keller Seeks To Protect Athletes’ Right of Publicity

Here is a sample definition of likeness – name, silhouette, personality, appearance, performance, depiction, portrayal, photograph and voice.  It is an integral definition in many licensing agreements where one party hopes to be able to exploit the other party, usually for a hefty fee.  What if you were not entitled to just compensation for the […]

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Contracts Headline Sports Law

A Buzz Between Anheuser-Busch and Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball has a battle on its hands.  One of its main sponsors, Anheuser-Busch Inc., has filed a lawsuit against MLB, claiming that the company was entitled to a multi-year renewal on its beer-sponsorship rights based on negotiations that ended with a letter agreement in April 2010, and that MLB all of a sudden […]