Course Description
Basic theoretical and contractual premises of sports law, including areas of labor, antitrust, and contract law related to representation of athletic talent and sports businesses.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate law students will not be doing any extra work beyond that required of the Juris Doctor students. J.D. students are post-baccalaureate students and the workload expected of them is the same workload expected of post-baccalaureate graduate students. Law students are professional students, not undergraduate students. Graduate law students are primarily international lawyers seeking expertise in the American legal system. This expertise is gained through exposure to Juris Doctor courses.
Athena Title
Sports Law
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in JURI 5550E or JURI 7550E
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will be equipped to better understand, identify, and analyze issues commonly faced by practitioners focused on sports law.
Topical Outline
Antitrust law as it relates to sports, including player and commercial restraints, exemptions, and the limits of league protections; the role of the league commissioner (and judicial review of his decisions); labor law and collective bargaining as it applies to sports, including the application of the NLRA, certification of player unions (professional and proposed collegiate), and the non-statutory labor exemption; stadium and arena issues (including fan safety, assumption of risk and crowd control), team trademark issues; ticketholder issues, and a review of sponsorship agreements; intellectual property law as it relates to sports, including copyright, first amendment and rights of publicity issues; unique legal issues related to amateur sports, including Title IX; agent issues, including player representation, regulation, and ethics.
Syllabus