Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

Compensation Is All-American: Former College Football Star Chris Spielman’S Case Against His Alma Mater And How It Could Affect The Ncaa’S Amateurism Rules, Jason Mcintyre

Pace Law Review

The lawsuit, Spielman v. IMG College, arose when Ohio State University (“OSU”) entered into a marketing deal through their marketing agency, IMG College (“IMG”), with corporations Honda Motor Co. (“Honda”) and Nike USA Inc. (“Nike”), to hang banners depicting images of former college athletes at school sporting events. Charles “Chris” Spielman, the named Plaintiff and former NCAA football player at OSU, brought this lawsuit because he claims that OSU and IMG unreasonably and illegally restrained trade by denying him the right to profit from his name, image, and likeness.

This case plays a role in the ongoing conversation of whether …

Inclusion Riders And Diversity Mandates, Emily Gold Waldman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In this piece, I situate these sorts of diversity requests within the broader context of other customer/client preferences that implicate Title VII. To be sure, the “inclusion riders” are not literal customer/client requests, but rather requests from celebrities who are themselves being hired by the employer for a specific project. Broadly speaking, however, they raise the same legal issue regarding third-party preferences that implicate protected characteristics under Title VII.

As a starting point, the general rule within employment discrimination law is that customer preferences cannot justify discriminatory treatment by employers. That baseline has led courts to rule that employers cannot, …

The Justice Of Unequal Pay In The Ufc: An In-Depth Analysis Of The Fighters’ Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit Against The Ufc And The Misplaced Support Of The Proposed Muhammad Ali Expansion Act, Hunter Sundberg

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

In 2016, the Ultimate Fighting Championships (“UFC”) set the record for the largest sale in sports history. The UFC, the primary promotion company of the once fringe sport of mixed martial arts (“MMA”) had matured into a mammoth 4 billion dollar promotion, but not without some growing pains. The league is replete with controversy, mostly dealing with disgruntled athletes over compensation. Athletes of the UFC feel that they are being financially exploited and they may be correct. The athletes are choosing different routes to remedy their pay disparities but they are misguided.

The first course of action chosen by the …

How Organizing Collegiate Student-Athletes Under The National Labor Relations Act With The Ncaa As A Joint Employer Can Lead To Significant Changes To The Student-Athlete Compensation Rules, Andrew Gruna

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

This paper will provide an overview of how National Labor Relations Board cases of Northwestern University and Browning Ferris combined with the analysis presented in the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Memorandum GC 17-01: General Counsel’s Report on the Statutory Rights of University Faculty and Students in the Unfair Labor Practice Context could impact the laws behind unionization, the contracts of university athletes, and, ultimately through contract negotiations, reintroduce the discussion regarding compensation of student-athletes.

Nba-Age Restrictions: Should The Nba Follow In The Footsteps Of Major League Baseball?, Bryan Kelly

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

This paper will discuss the outlook of current NBA prospects and the development of age restrictions. It will also shed light on several key cases and Collective Bargaining Agreements including: Wood v. National Basketball Association, and Denver Rockets v. All Pro Management, Inc. and the NBA CBA. After that, an analysis of Sherman Antitrust Law and current case law concerning age restrictions in sports, and analyze the possibility for age-restrictions to be argued through the court system. Finally, this paper will look into the NBPA’s duty of representation towards NBA prospects and how the NBPA can take ideas from a …

Ufc Fighters Are Taking A Beating Because They Are Misclassified As Independent Contractors. An Employee Classification Would Change The Fight Game For The Ufc, Its Fighters, And Mma, Vincent Salminen

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

The current state of affairs in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is overwhelmingly in favor of the companies promoting the fights and not in favor of the athletes actually putting their health and lives at risk. This article looks at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and how it classifies its fighters as independent contractors rather than employees, even though it treats the fighters more like employees. This article addresses issues fighters are having with the current classification and then examines how the fighters could be classified as employees. Finally, the article will address what an employee classification would …

I’M The One Making The Money, Now Where’S My Cut? Revisiting The Student-Athlete As An “Employee” Under The National Labor Relations Act, John J. Leppler

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

This Article argues why the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Big-Time Division I College Football and Men’s Basketball student-athletes are legally “employees” and why these student-athletes are inadequately compensated for their revenue-producing skills.

Part II of this Article sets forth the common law “right of control” test and the National Labor Relation Act’s (NLRA) special statutory test for students in a university setting, and shows how the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the judiciary determine whether a particular person, specifically a university student, meets these standards and is legally an “employee”. Moreover, the NCAA asserts it does not have …