Sports & Entertainment Law Section – Page 2

On June 3, 2016, boxing legend Muhammad Ali passed away from sepsis in an Arizona hospital, after a long fight with Parkinson’s disease.^[1] Ali was known for his brash, braggadocious banter before bouts, as much as he was known for his fighting style in the ring. Many, including (and especially) Ali himself, regard him as the greatest boxer ever. After winning an Olympic Gold medal, becoming the then-youngest ever heavyweight champion at the age of 21, losing and regaining the heavyweight title twice more, and inventing both the “Ali shuffle” and the “rope-a-dope,” he was probably right.^[2]

Aside from being a great boxer, Ali was also an entrepreneur. In 2006, Ali sold 80 percent of his company, G.O.A.T. LLC (Greatest of All Time), for $50,000,000. G.O.A.T. LLC, which was subsequently renamed Muhammad Ali Enterprises LLC (MAE), controlled the use of Ali’s intellectual property, including his name, image, likeness, and rights of publicity.^[3]

February 7, 2018/by NCBARBLOG

Of Interest: A Win For Dr. Seuss, Ruling On ‘Empire,’ Tax Cut Repercussions

Sports & Entertainment Law Section

Members of the Sports & Entertainment Law Section found the following recent third-party articles to be of potential interest to the Section.

February 6, 2018/by NCBARBLOG

Of Interest: Fantasy Sports Legalization, Tax Reform, Kaye v. Cartoon Network

Sports & Entertainment Law Section

Members of the Sports & Entertainment Law Section found the following recent third-party articles to be of potential interest to the Section.

December 11, 2017/by NCBARBLOG

The Kissing Defense: Professional Athletes, Drugs and the ‘No Fault/No Significant Fault’ Tests in Arbitration

Sports & Entertainment Law Section

By Martin Maloney

Arbitration and Reducing a Suspension Under the No Fault/No Significant Fault Tests

In 2014, Major League Baseball (“MLB”) and the MLB Players Association (the “MLBPA”) agreed to a joint drug prevention program aimed at strengthening the detection and enforcement against players’ use of prohibited recreational and performance-enhancing drugs (“PEDs”).[1] As part of the agreement, MLB incorporated a “no fault/no significant fault” tests, whereby an arbitration panel may vacate a player’s mandatory suspension for testing positive to the use of banned substances if the player can demonstrate that “the presence of the Prohibited Substance in his test result was not due to his fault or negligence,” or reduce the length of the suspension if the player can provide “clear and convincing evidence that he bears no significant fault or negligence.”[2] For instance, Raul Mondesi Jr.’s eighty-game suspension for a first time violation of MLB’s drug policy in 2016 was reduced to fifty-games after Mondesi was able to demonstrate that his positive test of a banned substance was inadvertent and the result of taking an over-the-counter cold and flu medicine he had bought while in the Dominican Republic.[3]

December 11, 2017/by NCBARBLOG