Blog

Find expert witnesses and attorneys who can meet your needs

Athletic Directors Must Confront Double Standard Used for Female Employees

Julie Sommer, Executive Director of The Drake Group Education Fund (TDGEF), has called upon higher education leaders, coaches, and athletic directors, to confront “the epidemic of unfair treatment of female coaches and administrators in college athletic programs.” “We must confront the reality that female coaches and administrators are still being unfairly treated because of their…
Read more

Hackney Publications Announces Saul Ewing as Law Firm Partner for Esports and the Law

Hackney Publications (HP), the nation’s leading publisher of sports law periodicals, has announced that Saul Ewing will be the exclusive law firm sponsor of Esports and the Law (ESL) for the next year. HP also revealed that Drexel University and its Esport Business BSBA team will become the university partner of the publication. “Saul Ewing…
Read more

Directly Paying Student-Athletes Opens ‘New World’ of Intercollegiate Athletics

By Charles Anzalone The recent settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Power Five conferences paving the way for schools to pay student-athletes is no less than a “watershed moment in the history of collegiate athletics,” says University of Buffalo sports law expert Helen “Nellie” Drew. The landmark agreement is new, so it…
Read more

Sports Law Expert Podcast Features Spencer Fane Attorney Peter Goplerud

Hackney Publications (HP) has announced that Peter Goplerud, of counsel in the Higher Education Practice Group at Spencer Fane, was interviewed earlier this month on the Sports Law Expert Podcast. The segment can be heard here. Prior to sitting down for the interview, Goplerud had moderated a panel on NIL at the annual conference of…
Read more

Plaintiffs Settle lawsuits with San Francisco Unified School District After Alleging Athletic Director Abused Them

Two sexual abuse lawsuits against the San Francisco Unified School District have settled, according to the San Jose law firm that represented the plaintiffs. The SFUSD board of trustees approved the settlement amount of $4.5 million after the SFUSD insurance carriers and the plaintiffs agreed to the settlement amount. The plaintiffs sued SFUSD in 2022…
Read more

State Requires Schools to Establish, Review, and Annually Practice an Athletics Emergency Action Plan for Heart Issues

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed this week the Smart Heart Act, legislation that requires automatic defibrillators in schools and establishes response protocols for cardiac-related medical emergencies. The bill received unanimous, bipartisan legislative support. The Act requires each public and nonpublic school serving grades nine through twelve to maintain an automated external defibrillator (AED) that is…
Read more

Navigating Legal Complexities of NIL Agreements: Jaden Rashada

By Jason S. Kaner The arrival of name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements has transformed college athletics, offering student-athletes unprecedented opportunities to profit from their personal brands.  Yet, the case of Jaden Rashada, a promising quarterback, is a cautionary tale. When Rashada entered the 2023 college recruitment season, the NCAA had recently adopted rules allowing compensation…
Read more

NFL Renews Its Commitment to Organizations Advancing Social Justice

As part of the NFL’s Inspire Change social justice initiative, the league today announced grant renewals for 10 partners who are working to enact positive change in communities across the country. These grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations creating measurable change across the four pillars of Inspire Change: education, economic advancement, community-policerelations and criminal justice…
Read more

Will Driver Felipe Massa Get His Day in Court? It’s Hard to Tell

(Editor’s Note: What follows is an article from the latest issue of Sports Litigation Alert. To subscribe and receive the Alert every two week and access the vast searchable archive, visit here.) By Kerri Cebula, sports law professor at Kutztown University The 2008 Formula One Singapore Grand Prix is best known for one reason: Crashgate. …
Read more

Zion Williamson v. Prime Sports Marketing: Agents and Advisors PAY ATTENTION

By Christian Dennie at cdennie@denniefirm.com On May 6, 2024, the Fourth Circuit issued its opinion in favor of Zion Williamson (“Williamson”) upholding the District Court’s decision in favor of Williamson.  The Fourth Circuit concluded that Williamson was engaged in an intercollegiate sport while on the Duke University (“Duke”) men’s basketball team, and was thus a “student-athlete,” so…
Read more