Law Commons^™

Who Owns Your Name? The Trend And Economic Impact Of Personal Trademarks In The Ncaa Nil Aftermath, Daniel Foster

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

To aid in understanding the prevalence of personal athlete logos and the trend of ownership and design, Section II will outline the history of this area of trademark law in the United States. It will provide background on the theory of trademark ownership and the development of this intellectual property discipline in the athletic and celebrity sphere. Section II will look at the two common and distinct processes, a company-designed logo versus an athlete-designed logo, and the modern trends in this area. Moving on from this historical discussion, Section III will examine the 2021 decision of NCAA v. Alston, the …

The Current State Of Student-Athlete Nil Rights: How Congress Should Respond To The Rapidly Changing Landscape Of Inter-Collegiate Sports, Kyle Aronson

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

Collegiate student-athletes began signing sponsorship deals that compensate them for their name, image and likeness beginning in July 2021. Since its inception, the NCAA has prohibited student-athletes from receiving any outside monetary compensation to preserve traditional notions of amateurism. States have begun to pass legislation that allow for student-athlete compensation following recent decisions by the Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit suggesting that the NCAA’s historic practice may run afoul of antitrust law. This comment analyzes issues with the current state-by-state patchwork of laws that formulate the current landscape of collegiate sports. Finally, this comment will show why centralized, federal regulation …

Assessing The Racial Implications Of Ncaa Academic Measures, Timothy Davis

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

In 1983, the NCAA’s adoption of heightened initial eligibility standards for incoming intercollegiate athletes was met with applause and criticism. Proponents lauded the measure as a legitimate means of restoring academic integrity within intercollegiate athletics. Opponents questioned whether seemingly racially neutral eligibility standards had a disproportionately negative impact on African American athletes. It is against this backdrop that the Article examines the racial implications of the NCAA’s past and present academic standards.

These standards consist of initial eligibility rules, progress-toward-degree requirements, the graduation success rate, and academic progress rate, the latter two of which comprise the NCAA’s Academic Performance Program. …

What's Wrong With The Ncaa's New Transgender Athlete Policy?, Erin Buzuvis

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

In 2022, the NCAA changed its long-standing policy permitting transgender athletes to participate in teams that correspond to their affirmed gender. For twelve years, the NCAA permitted transgender women to participate in women’s sports events under NCAA control, so long as they first underwent a year of androgen suppression. Starting in 2020, however, a political movement to ban transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sport, galvanized by backlash against a single collegiate swimmer, has challenged NCAA’s inclusive approach. Rather than demonstrate leadership and support for rights of transgender women to compete, the NCAA revised its policy to one …

Sb 206: The Beginning Of The End For Athletic Exploitation, Rachel Rosenblum

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Liability Redefined: The Application Of Agency Law To An Athletic Booster's Relationship With An Ncaa Member Institution, Jennifer Lee

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This comment draws parallels between agency law and the role of athletic boosters in a university context. This comment suggests that universities should not be held liable for the actions of third-party boosters unless the university had knowledge of the booster’s conduct or lacked an adequate system of internal controls.

The Ncaa's Special Relationship With Student-Athletes As A Theory Of Liability For Concussion-Related Injuries, Tezira Abe

Michigan Law Review

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the primary governing body of college athletics. Although the NCAA proclaims to protect student-athletes, an examination of its practices suggests that the organization has a troubling history of ignoring the harmful effects of concussions. Over one hundred years after the NCAA was established, and seventy years after the NCAA itself knew of the potential effects of concussions, the organization has done little to reduce the occurrence of concussions or to alleviate the potential effects that stem from repeated hits to the head. This Note argues for recognizing a special relationship between the NCAA …

A Commitment To The Whole Athlete: Embracing The Role Of Cannabinoids In Collegiate Athletics, Kelli Rodriguez Currie

Seattle University Law Review

Cannabinoids can be a highly effective way for athletes to combat various kinds of pain associated with intense training. Derivatives of cannabis, such as marijuana, have been used for centuries as a form of pain relief. Part I of this Article discusses how cannabinoids are used in sports medicine. Part II discusses the different approaches to marijuana and cannabidiol use across sports leagues. Part III highlights the inconsistencies between the NCAA’s approach to testing for substance abuse and its investment in student-athletes’ well-being. Part IV discusses how the NCAA must focus on student-athlete health. Finally, Part V concludes that the …

Fair Pay To Play Act: End Of Amateurism?, Isabella Borges

GGU Law Review Blog

The NCAA has seen its fair share of controversy concerning player compensation, whether it be through lawsuits such as the O’Bannon case, former NCAA athletes complaining of hunger during their time in college, or even NBA star LeBron James’s documentary “Student Athlete.” However, no extreme policy changes have emerged from the endless scrutiny of the NCAA’s rules of prohibiting its student-athletes from receiving compensation from the use of their names, images, and likeness, among other things. The NCAA argues compensation would capsize amateurism by turning student-athletes into professionals, putting an end to amateurism in the NCAA all …

The Blue Devil's In The Details: How A Free Market Approach To Compensating College Athletes Would Work, David A. Grenardo

Pepperdine Law Review

Everyone involved in the business of major college athletics, except the athletes, receives compensation based on a free market system. The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) cap on athlete compensation violates antitrust law, and athletes should be allowed to earn their free market value as everyone else does in this country. This Article provides a detailed approach to compensating college athletes under a free market model, which includes a salary cap, the terms of a proposed standard player’s contract, a discussion of who can represent players, and payment simulations for football and basketball teams. A free market approach would not …

College Athletics: The Chink In The Seventh Circuit's "Law And Economics" Armor, Michael A. Carrier, Marc Edelman

Michigan Law Review Online

If any court is linked to the “law and economics” movement, it is the Seventh Circuit, home of former Judge Richard Posner, the “Chicago School,” and analysis based on markets and economics. It thus comes as a surprise that in college-athletics cases, the court has replaced economic analysis with legal formalisms. In adopting a deferential approach that would uphold nearly every rule the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) claims is related to amateurism, the court recalls the pre- Chicago School era, in which courts aggressively applied “per se” illegality based on a restraint’s form, rather than substance. While the …

National Protection Of Student-Athlete Mental Health: The Case For Federal Regulation Over The National Collegiate Athletic Association, Jayce Born

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Is The Ncaa Finally Loosening Its Iron Grip On College Basketball By Allowing Underclassmen The Opportunity To Return To College After Declaring For The Nba Draft?, Neil Patel

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Oversight Committee has proposed a new rule that allows undergraduate college basketball players to reject the National Basketball Association (NBA) and return to school after they have submitted their name for the draft. This rule represents a great change in the policies that regulate college sports, specifically college basketball. The NCAA has ruled college basketball with an iron fist, but with this new proposal, it seems that it is beginning to help our college athletes sustain some semblance of a normal life after their playing days are over. Importantly, the rule is merely a …

A Brave Attempt: Can The National Collegiate Athletic Association Sanction Colleges And Universities With Native American Mascots?, Kenneth B. Franklin

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

The End Of An Era: The Mounting Challenges To The Ncaa’S Model Of Amateurism, John Niemeyer

Pepperdine Law Review

In the six years between 2006 and 2012, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a nonprofit organization made up of universities, doubled its net assets to its current, unprecedented level of over $566 million. In 2012 alone, the organization retained a $71 million surplus after it disbursed a majority of its revenue to the NCAA member universities. It was able to make this much money largely because of the television revenue earned from the highly popular and entertaining sports of men’s football and men’s basketball. One would think that if a nonprofit organization could retain $71 million at the end …

From The Seat Of The Chair: An Insider’S Perspective On Ncaa Student-Athlete Voices, Scott Krapf

Indiana Law Journal

This Article explains how student-athletes already have a significantly influential voice. The Author calls upon his personal experience as a former Division I student-athlete and Chair of the NCAA Division I National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to show that student athletes are capable of effectuating change by expressing themselves through existing means, rather than unionization.

Bcs Europa: An Analysis Of The Bowl Championship Series Under The European Commission White Paper On Sport, Deanna Brock

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Head Injuries, Student Welfare, And Saving College Football: A Game Plan For The Ncaa, Rodney K. Smith

Pepperdine Law Review

This article sets forth a challenging but viable game plan for protecting the health and well-being of intercollegiate football players. Acting proactively will help revitalize the NCAA's brand of competitive, student-centered athletics. This article consists of three parts: The Problem of Head Injuries in College Football; Solving the Problem of Head Injuries in College Football; and Conclusion.

A Modest Proposal For Taming The Antitrust Beast, Gabe Feldman

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Antitrust Exemption For The Ncaa: Sound Policy Or Letting The Fox Loose In The Henhouse?, Daniel E. Lazaroff

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article focuses on the issues presented by the debate over granting the NCAA an exemption from federal antitrust law. Part II briefly describes the history of antitrust litigation involving the NCAA. Part III discusses some of the proposals for affording some type of antitrust immunity to the NCAA. Part IV explains the rationales utilized for some of the numerous antitrust exemptions Congress and the Supreme Court have created for some businesses and forms of commercial activity. Part V addresses the question of whether any of those rationales justifies providing the NCAA with a legislative or judicial antitrust exemption and …

A Channel Worth Changing? The Individual Regional Sports Network: Proliferation, Profits, Parity, And The Potential Administrative And Antitrust Issues That Could Follow, Stephen Dixon

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

The Worst Form Of Championship, Except For All Of The Others That Have Been Tried: Analyzing The Potential Anti-Trust Vulnerability Of The Bowl Championship Series, David L. Ricci

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal

The article discusses the U.S. college football Bowl Championship Series (BCS) as of September 2012, focusing on the potential anti-trust implications of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) BCS system of individual bowl games, as well as several calls for the NCAA to implement a traditional playoff system for determining a national champion. The possibility of a successful Sherman Anti-Trust Act lawsuit against the NCAA is also addressed.

Penalty On The Field: Creating A Ncaa Sexual Assault Policy, Trisha Ananiades

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal

The article discusses a call for the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) creation of a sexual assault policy in the wake of several on-campus incidents involving student-athletes at institutions such as Marquette University, Colorado State University, and Louisiana State University. It states that the NCAA should implement a rule in 2012 which would allow them to revoke the eligibility of any student-athlete who is found to be responsible for committing a sexual assault.

Ncaa Transgender Student-Athlete 'Policy': Analysis, Shawn Crincoli

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Rebuilding The Prevent Defense: Why Unethical Agents Continue To Score And What Can Be Done To Change The Game, R. Alexander Payne

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Despite decades of regulation, college athletics continues to face problems stemming from agents' unethical and illegal tactics in recruiting student-athletes. The NCAA, Congress, state legislatures, and professional players unions have all sought to regulate the interaction between athletes and agents in various ways, often leading to conflicts and gaps within existing laws, which some agents readily exploit. Agents frequently slip through the law's porous prevent defense while the brunt of enforcement and public opprobrium falls on unsophisticated student-athletes and their schools--who are frequently outsiders to the saga. This Note explores the causes resulting in an atmosphere of noncompliance, including the …

The Need For A Global Amateurism Standard: International Student Issues And Controversies, Erin Abbey-Pinegar

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Due to the immense pressure to recruit highly talented prospects and an overwhelming desire to have winning college athletics programs, the recruitment of international prospective student-athletes at NCAA Division I institutions has drastically increased in recent years. NCAA rules founded on localized amateurism ideals are now being applied on a global scale, in countries where there is no similar concept of amateur athletes. This Note argues that the current NCAA amateurism rules inadequately address the potential amateur issues related to prospective student-athletes from various countries. Examples and evidence of the difficulties of apply localized amateur rules to international recruits are …

A Sobering Conflict: The Call For Consistency In The Message Colleges Send About Alcohol, Marc Edelman, David Rosenthal

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

College Football's Serial Murderer: Sickle Cell Trait, Alejandro Bautista

Marquette Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Perception Of Impropriety: The Use Of Packaging Deals In College Basketball Recruiting, Erick S. Lee

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal

No abstract provided.

And It Only Took Them 307 Years: Ruminations On Legal And Non-Legal Approaches To Diversifying Head Coaching In College Football, Ron S. Hochbaum

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal

No abstract provided.