Willamette Sports Law Journal

First Salvo Fired In Negotiations Over New Labor Deal

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:55:01 -0800

NBA owners sent the Player’s Union their initial offer for a new collective bargaining agreement last week. It has been met with harsh criticism from Union leaders, who labeled the proposal as “harsh”, “ludicrous”, and “far-reaching”. Few details of the plan have emerged, but the ones that have highlight the league’s desire to reign in player salaries. The league proposal would establish a hard salary cap, reduce the amount of revenue owners are required to spend on player salaries and benefits, and establish a four-year limit on contract lengths. .

Jail Time Looming for Arenas?

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:29:36 -0800

Gilbert Arenas entered a guilty plea on January 15th for failure to register a firearm as required by District of Columbia ordinance (DC ST 1981 § 22-4504(a)(1)). The charges arose after an altercation occurred between Arenas and fellow teammate Javaris Crittenton involving an outstanding gambling debt. Arenas and Crittenton stored multiple firearms in their lockers in violation of DC gun laws and NBA League Policy. Both players proceeded to display those firearms as apparent threats to the other, though there is no evidence to suggest any type of old west standoff between the two players. Arenas claims that he placed the guns in front of Crittenton’s locker with a note stating, “Pick One”, as a joke and was not intended as a threat. Crittenton responded in kind by producing his own weapon and chambering a round.

Baseball Salary Cap

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:21:31 -0800

Major League Baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire at the end of the 2011 season, but there is already talk of what the next agreement will look like. MLB is the only major sports league in North America without any type of salary cap, and discussion of implementing one is sure to be included in the next round of CBA negotiations. With the recent World Series victory by the New York Yankees, count on criticism of the current competitive structure to increase, as well as calls for a more equitable system to be put in place.

Cavs Guard Arrested on Weapons Charges

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:48:47 -0800

Only a month after Plaxico Burress pled guilty to weapons charges and received two years in prison, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West was arrested in the D.C. area for cutting off a Prince George’s police officer at 10 pm while riding on his three wheeled Can-Am Spyder. Pulled over for making an “unsafe lane change,” West immediately notified the officer he had a 9mm Beretta in his waistband prompting the officer to call for backup and initiate a search of the Spyder and West’s person. In addition to the 9mm, officers found a .357 Ruger strapped to the guard’s ankle and a shotgun in a guitar case slung over his back. Cited for the .357 and 9mm, it is unknown why West was carrying the guns or where he was headed with his Spyder and mini arsenal. West is due in court on November 20 and hopefully then the many pending questions will be answered.

Here's the link to the story.

- Wills Mitchell

Sports Betting Now Underway in Delaware

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:26:25 -0800

Sports betting in Delaware (now the only state east of the Rocky Mountains to offer legal sports wagering) officially got underway last Thursday after surviving a controversial legal battle with professional sports leagues and the NCAA.

Under a federal appeals court ruling in a lawsuit brought by professional sports leagues and the NCAA, Delaware's sports betting is restricted to parlay, or multiple wagers on at least three NFL games. A bettor must pick all the games correctly to win.

Minimum wagers start at $2, with a maximum allowable wager of $3,000. For each wager, bettors must pick the correct outcomes of at least three NFL games, or as many as 12. Because each wager must involve at least three games, there will be no winners or losers until results from the Sunday and Monday night games are in.

Delaware officials were hoping to offer bets on single games and sports other than professional football, but those hopes were shattered when the court said that went beyond what was allowed under the state's exemption to the 1992 federal ban on sports betting. Delaware was exempted from the ban because it had previously conducted an NFL sports lottery in 1976.

With that said, happy 3+ NFL game betting Delaware. Hope you're feeling lucky!

-Ashley Cadotte

Former NCAA QB sues for use of players' images

Fri, 08 May 2009 00:40:07 -0800

Six months after retired NFL players won a $28.1 million verdict against the NFLPA for its failure to represent them in a marketing deal with video game producer EA Sports, a class action suit was filed this week by a former college quarterback against EA Sports and the NCAA for a different type of lack of representation. Sam Keller, who played for Arizona State and then Nebraska, brought the suit alleging the NCAA and EA Sports are using college athletes' likenesses and images in the college sport video games. As amateurs, NCAA student-athletes are not allowed to receive compensation for any services related to their athletic ability, so Keller argues that the NCAA and EA Sports should not be able to use the athletes' images for gain either.

Bylaw 12.5.1.1(h) of the NCAA Division 1 Manual states the following regarding promotional activities:
"Any commercial items with names, likenesses or pictures of multiple student-athletes (other than highlight films or media guides per Bylaw 12.5.1.7) may be sold only at the member institution at which the student-athletes are enrolled, institutionally controlled (owned and operated) outlets or outlets controlled by the charitable or educational organization (e.g., location of the charitable or educational organization, site of charitable event during the event). Items that include an individual student-athlete’s name, picture or likeness (e.g., name on jersey, name or likeness on a bobble-head doll), other than informational items (e.g., media guide, schedule cards, institutional publications), may not be sold . . ."

While the video games do not use the names of the student-athletes and the facial features are not accurate, the jersey numbers and even correct hometowns are accurately identified by the game. The NCAA is confident they will be dismissed from the suit and that EA Sports has respected its agreement to refrain from using the likeness and image of the athletes. See the story at SI.com, USA Today and the complaint at courthousenews.com.
- Aaron Stringer

Recent NFL News

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:50:37 -0800

Michael Vick in Court to Work Out Bankruptcy
Vick, who is scheduled for release from federal prison in July, appeared at a court hearing on April 2 to respond to questions about his plan to get out of bankruptcy. The bankruptcy judge had previously ordered Vick to appear at the hearing and to pay his own way from federal prison in Kansas to the court in Virginia. Vick has a plan to pay back some of a pension plan of one of his companies and to pay creditors with his remaining salary from the Atlanta Falcons. While his career is likely over with the Falcons, Vick plans to return to the NFL and Commissioner Goodell will review Vick's indefinite suspension when the federal sentence is completed. ESPN.com, SI.com.
UPDATE: CNN reported on Friday, April 3 that the Judge denied Vick's plan to break out of bankruptcy and is requiring him to come up with a more feasible plan.

Donte Stallworth in Court on Manslaughter Charge
Stallworth, wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, showed up in court on Thursday, April 2 to surrender for the manslaughter charges issued against him. The charges accuse him of killing Mario Reyes when Stallworth hit Reyes while driving under the influence of alcohol. Stallworth, who had a blood-alcohol level of .126 at the scene of the accident, made a statement extending his condolences to the Reyes family. Stallworth will be arraigned on April 23. See the story at ESPN and Fox Sports.

Hearings Held to Determine Whether Misconduct Justifies Withholding of Salary
Hearings were held on April 1 following complaints filed by the NFLPA on behalf of Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants and Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs. Both players were suspended by either the NFL or their respective teams following unrelated incidents during last season and the teams attempted to withhold bonuses and guaranteed salaries. Counsel for the NFLPA met with NFL attorneys yesterday at the University of Pennsylvania law school for a hearing before Special Master Stephen Burbank and expect his decision within a week. His decision could set an important precedent regarding guaranteed salaries in the face of player misconduct. See the story at ESPN and analysis of Buress' situation at SI.com.

Announcing the WSLJ 2009-2010 Editorial Board

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:24:34 -0800

The following students were elected to take the reins of the Willamette Sports Law Journal next year.

PRESIDENT - Jonathan Brodin

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF - Aaron Wakamatsu

SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR - Willis Mitchell

BLOG EDITOR - Ashley Cadotte

SPEAKERS SERIES EDITOR - Andrew Wiener

ARTICLES EDITORS - Brandon Thueson, Sean Maddox, Katherine Silva

BUSINESS MANAGERS - Greg Warner and Seth Feldman

The outgoing Editorial Board would like to congratulate these great students and wish them the best of luck as they carry forward the tradition and quality that has come to define the Sports Law Journal.

NFLPA Elects New Executive Director

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:53:48 -0800

Fox Sports and ESPN.com report that Washington D.C. attorney DeMaurice Smith was elected by NFLPA members today as their Executive Director. Go here for his bio. The position has been open for about seven months since the passing of Gene Upshaw in August. Upshaw held the position for 25 of the organization's 41 year history. One representative from each team voted in a closed door election following statements from each finalist. Smith, who has little experience with sports or labor law, beat out two former NFLPA presidents and a sports attorney for the position. Smith, a partner at Patton Boggs in D.C., studied law at Virginia and has worked as a trial lawyer representing several Fortune 500 companies and has connections to President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holden. Smith will immediately be faced with the daunting challenge of working out a new collective bargaining agreement with the NFL owners who opted out of the current CBA just last year.
-Aaron Stringer

Oregon Considers Rooney Rule as State Law

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:57:36 -0800

The Oregon Legislature will soon consider a bill drafted by state Rep. Mitch Greenlick which requires its state-run universities to interview at least one minority applicant when hiring a head football coach. Go here and here for the Oregonian's reports on the bill. The NFL's Rooney Rule was implemented in 2003 and many have seen it as a success considering 3 African-American coaches have made it to the Super Bowl in the last three years. If passed, this law would be the first to resemble the NFL's Rooney Rule and attempt to confront the past season's drop in the number of minority coaches in the NCAA.

Recently retired NFL head coach Tony Dungy added his two cents to the issue in a New York Times Op-Ed article. He stated, "[y]ou wouldn’t think that in 2009 it would be more likely for an African-American to become president of the United States than to be hired as head coach of a top-20 football program. But that seems to be the case." According to Dungy, one big difference between NFL hiring and college hiring is that NFL owners don't have to answer to anyone else while college presidents feel pressure from boosters and alumni. Dungy also states that he doesn't feel the problem should be addressed with any type of formula or special program. Instead, he says, if hiring was based solely on the quality of the candidates, minorities would prove their worth.
- Aaron Stringer

New Maryland Law May Allow Fantasy Prizes

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:56:17 -0800

If a state delegate has his way, Maryland residents will soon have more incentive to waste valuable company time playing fantasy sports instead of working. According to this story from Fox news, Maryland is one of only six states in the country whose residents cannot participate in pay-to-play leagues run by national organizations due to an ambiguous state law regarding gambling. The legislation proposed by state delegate John Olszewski Jr. (D-Baltimore County) will follow the language of the federal law which exempts fantasy sports from gambling restrictions. The federal law distinguishes fantasy sports from gambling in 31 USC sec. 5362 (1)(E)(ix) and states that the term "bet or wager" does not include:

(ix) participation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest in which (if the game or contest involves a team or teams) no fantasy or simulation sports team is based on the current membership of an actual team that is a member of an amateur or professional sports organization (as those terms are defined in section 3701 of title 28 [28 USCS § 3701]) and that meets the following conditions:
(I) All prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known to the participants in advance of the game or contest and their value is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of any fees paid by those participants.
(II) All winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals (athletes in the case of sports events) in multiple real-world sporting or other events.
(III) No winning outcome is based--
(aa) on the score, point-spread, or any performance or performances of any single real-world team or any combination of such teams; or
(bb) solely on any single performance of an individual athlete in any single real-world sporting or other event.

This new law wouldn't affect illegal college basketball office pools, but that's never really stopped anyone anyways.

- Aaron Stringer

UPDATE: SLJ Welcomes Pat Kilkenny, DA at U of Oregon

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:36:59 -0800

The Willamette Sports Law Journal invites all to attend its next Speakers Series event, Monday, March 30 at 5:30 p.m. in room 122 of the Truman Wesley Collins Legal Center. Pat Kilkenny, Director of Athletics at the University of Oregon, will offer his insight into the business, legal, and policy issues involved in operating the athletic department of a major university. He will also discuss his career path, provide some advice to people who want to work in sports, and answer any questions. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information, contact Aaron Price, Speaker Series editor, at
aprice@willamette.edu.

For Mr. Kilkenny's bio on U of Oregon's website, click here.

Recent Sports Law News

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:19:19 -0800

Marshawn Lynch Arrested for Gun Possession
Just a few months after New York Giant Plaxico Buress accidentally shot himself and was arrested on gun charges, Marshawn Lynch of the Buffalo Bills was arrested last week for felony possession of a concealed firearm. The ESPN.com story states that police officers in Culver City, California recognized Lynch in a car with two others, and then proceeded to search the car. According to NFL.com, Lynch's attorney said there was no violence involved and the gun was in the trunk of the car, not on Marshawn's person. Lynch was involved in an incident last year where the Pro-Bowl running back was the subject of a hit-and-run investigation.

Dwyane Wade Sues Ex-Wife for Defamation
Dwyane Wade filed a lawsuit against his wife and her attorneys on Wednesday, claiming her allegations during their ongoing divorce proceedings were defamatory. The Associated Press reports that Wade's wife made the allegations that Dwyane abandoned their kids and gave her an STD he contracted during an extramarital affair in the Chicago divorce court and then later withdrew those claims. Wade is seeking $50,000 in damages from each defendant. Link to Miami Herald report about allegations here.

Sterling's past may come back to haunt him

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:19:29 -0800

Elgin Baylor's wrongful termination and discrimination suit has raised some eyebrows, considering the Clippers employed him for so long with so few results. However, owner Donald Sterling has quite the reputation when it comes to old fashioned discrimination. Sterling is one of the biggest players in the upscale apartment business in Los Angeles, and just a few years ago he was found to blatantly discriminate against Hispanics and Africans, and made some shocking remarks. A case like Baylor's may thus be one of evidence. If his lawyers can get prior acts to come in, Sterling is in major trouble. A case that is currently he said vs. he said may be much easier for Baylor to win when a judge admits evidence that one of the parties has said it in the past.
- Joshua Pops

Baseball Doping News Extravaganza

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:54:23 -0800

There's been a flood of news recently regarding doping in Major League Baseball. Check out the links below for all the news you'll need to stay up to date on who's using.

Alex Rodriguez

Read the Sports Illustrated story that first broke the news of A-Rods positive test here.

A-Rod admits that he used steroids from 2001 to 2003. ESPN.com

MLB Commissioner Selig says he is considering disciplinary action against A-Rod. USA Today

Senator says that there are more important issues the nation needs to deal with right now before Congress will go after A-Rod. SI.com

Cops can't find any evidence or record that Sports Illustrated reporter was stalking A-Rod. New York Daily News

Miguel Tejada

Tejada admits to lying to Congress about use of performance-enhancing drugs. SI.com

ESPN.com's legal analyst Lester Munson looks at potential consequences of Tejada's admission. ESPN.com

U.S. v. Tejada legal documents via ESPN.com here.

Tejada apologizes. MLB.com

Other

Prosecutors made another attempt to get Bonds' steroid test results in evidence record. SI.com and Bloomberg.com and Mercury News.

California Court of Appeals will decide what to do with list of 104 MLB players who tested positive for banned substances in 2003. The list was discovered by federal agents during a search related to the BALCO investigation. The MLBPA hopes to get the list back in order to destroy it and argues that seizure of the list was an invasion of the players' Fourth Amendment privacy. Federal prosecutors hope to use the list in order to interview players and obtain more information about steroid distributors. An en banc panel of eleven appellate judges heard arguments from both parties. See the story here on SI.com.

Not all of the 104 MLB players who failed 2003 tests for banned substances took substances that were actually banned at that time. ESPN.com

MLB Player's Association's response to the reports about the 2003 testing program.

And finally, Canseco is doing his best to not be remembered for the homerun that bounced off his head by again trying to get in on the doping issue. SI.com

- Aaron Stringer