UB Law Sports & Entertainment Forum

LeSean McCoy’s current predicament presents a unique challenge to the NFL’s much-maligned efforts to combat domestic violence under its Personal Conduct Policy.  What may have seemed fairly straightforward – the concept that anyone associated with the NFL should be held to a standard of model behavior – has become murky at best over the course … Continue reading The LeSean McCoy Dilemma: The NFL Can’t Win This One

I'm going to guess you've never heard of Peter Deppe before. He was a preferred walk-on punter at Northern Illinois who would have been promoted to a scholarship player until his special teams coach--the guy who promised him the scholarship--left NIU. Deppe's new special teams coach refused to honor his previous coach's offer, and Deppe … Continue reading Division I Transfers are Still “Basically Screwed” after Seventh Circuit’s Decision

Repeal of Permission to Contact is the first of many steps the NCAA needs to take to do right by Division I transfers.  Last Wednesday afternoon, the NCAA altered one major pillar of its current transfer regime. Starting October 15, where a student-athlete who previously sought to change schools needed to secure a release from … Continue reading A step forward for NCAA Division I transfers, but major hurdles remain

Kathy Twist, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Sports Administration & Senior Woman Administrator, Sharon Nolan-Weiss, UB Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, and Nellie Drew, Sports Law professor, will be presenting a panel discussion on diversity and inclusion in athletics on June 19th in Albany.   The presentation, entitled "Diversity & Inclusion in Athletics:  Legalities, Policies … Continue reading UB Panel to Present on Diversity & Inclusion in Athletics at National Conference

The timing is more than a little ironic.  Just as the Milwaukee Police Department released video showing Bucks guard Sterling Brown being tasered for double parking in a handicapped spot in front of a Walgreen's -- at 2:00 am -- the NFL issues its new anthem "policy".  The Milwaukee Police Department disciplined the officers involved … Continue reading The NFL Anthem Protest: Reconciling the Land of the Free AND the Home of the Brave

  The great thing about being a sports law "academic" is the ability to take a birds-eye view of  "sports" and both laud and critique developments and trends.  Too often, of late, as in society as a whole, the critique has far overwhelmed any positive developments.  Tonight, however, I was privileged to attend a very … Continue reading The Way It Should Be . . .