Sports Law Syllabus

Below is the syllabus for my Sports Law class, designed to provide a comprehensive overview of legal principles and cases that shape the world of professional and amateur athletics. The course covers critical topics such as contract formation, tort liability, antitrust laws, labor law, intellectual property, and the unique legal challenges faced by athletes, franchises, and governing bodies. Through the examination of landmark cases and key legal doctrines, this syllabus highlights the intersection of law and sports, offering valuable insights into how legal decisions influence the structure and operation of the sports industry.

CHAPTER 1: CONTRACTS

Section 1: Contract Formation

• Introduction
• Offer and Acceptance
• Los Angeles Rams Football Club v. Cannon
• Role of the Commissioner
• The Commissioner’s Power to Discipline
• Interpretation of Sports Contracts
• Note on The Plain Meaning Rule
• Tollefson v. Green Bay Packers, Inc.

Section 2: Power of Termination in Professional Sports Contracts

• The Right of Sports Franchises to Terminate Player Contracts
• Injured Players
• Tillman v. New Orleans Saints Football Club
• Questions and Notes on Sports Franchise Termination of Player Contracts
• Houston Oilers, Inc. v. Floyd
• The Right of Players to Terminate Their Contract
  • American and National Leagues of Professional Baseball Clubs v. Major League Player Ass’n
  • Notes on the “Catfish” Hunter Case
  • Alabama Football Inc. v. Greenwood
  • Notes on Players’ Rights to Terminate Their Contracts
  • Bonus Money
  • Alabama Football, Inc. v. Stabler
  • No-Cut Contracts

Section 3: Remedies for Breach of Contract

• Introduction
• Nature of the Remedy
• “It’s Not Over Till the Fat Lady Sings”
  • Philadelphia Ball Club, Ltd. v. Lajoie
  • Boston Celtics L.P. v. Shaw

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CHAPTER 2: TORT LIABILITY FOR INJURIES IN SPORTS EVENTS

Section 1: Participant’s Liability for Intentional Torts

• Introduction
• Assault and Battery
  • Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 18, 21
  • Griggas v. Clauson
  • Manning v. Grimsley
• Defenses to Intentional Torts
  • Restatement (Second) of Torts § 63
  • Restatement (Second) of Torts § 65
  • McAdams v. Windham

Section 2: Negligence and Recklessness

• Negligence
  • Bourque v. Duplechin
  • Nabozny v. Barnhill
  • Oswald v. Township High School District No. 214
• Recklessness
  • Hackbart v. Cincinnati Bengals, Inc. (1977)
  • Hackbart v. Cincinnati Bengals, Inc. (1978)

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CHAPTER 3: ANTITRUST LAW

Section 1: The Baseball Anomaly

• Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs
• Note on Baseball’s Exemption from Antitrust Laws: Federal Baseball and its Progeny
• Flood v. Kuhn

Section 2: General Considerations

• NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

Section 3: Player Restraints

• Mackey v. National Football League

Section 4: Player Discipline

• Introduction
  • Molinas v. National Basketball Association
  • Blalock v. Ladies Professional Golf Association

Section 5: Location and Ownership of Franchises

• North American Soccer League v. National Football League
• LA Memorial Coliseum Commission v. NFL (1984)
• NBA v. SDC Basketball Club, Inc.

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CHAPTER 4: LABOR LAW AND PROFESSIONAL SPORTS

Section 1: The NLRA

• Coverage of the NLRA
  • American League of Professional Baseball Clubs and Association of National Baseball League Umpires

Section 2: Section 8(a)(1) – Interference, Restraint, and Coercion

Section 3: Section 8(a)(3) – Discrimination Based on Union Activity

• National Labor Relations Board v. Transportation Management Corp.

Section 4: The Duty to Bargain

• The Appropriate Bargaining Unit
  • North American Soccer League v. National Labor Relations Board
• Principle of Exclusivity and Duty to Bargain
  • Morio v. North American Soccer League

Section 5: Subject Matter of Collective Bargaining

• National Football League Players Association v. National Labor Relations Board

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CHAPTER 5: LABOR EXEMPTION TO ANTITRUST LAWS

Section 1: Overview of the Labor Exemption

• Allen Bradley Co. v. Local Union No. 3, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
• Local Union No. 189 v. Jewel Tea Co., Inc.

Section 2: Labor Exemption Doctrine in Professional Sports

• Mackey v. National Football League
• Wood v. National Basketball Association
• Clarett v. NFL (not in text)

Section 3: Duration of the Exemption

• Bridgeman v. NBA
• Powell v. NFL
• Brown v. Pro Football, Inc.

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CHAPTER 6: AMATEUR ATHLETICS

Section 1: Amateur Status – The Right to Play

• Brian R. Oldfield v. The Athletic Congress
• Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Ass’n v. Midget
• California State University, Hayward v. NCAA

Section 2: Amateurism and the Constitution

• NCAA v. Tarkanian
• Brand v. Sheldon Community School

Section 3: The Great Gender Debate – Title IX

• Cohen v. Brown University (and related cases)

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CHAPTER 7: AGENTS

Section 1: Agency Relations: Rights and Duties of Principals and Agents

• Zinn v. Parrish
• Brown v. Woolf

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CHAPTER 8: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN SPORTS

Section 1: What is Intellectual Property?

Section 2: Patent Law

• Introduction to Substantive Patent Law
• The Patent Act
• Examining Basic Requirements
  • Universal Athletic Sales Co. v. American Gym Corp. (1975)
  • Universal Athletic Sales Co. v. American Gym Corp. (1976)
  • Baltimore Orioles v. MLB Players
  • NFL Properties v. NJ Giants