This map is updated continuously to reflect every state introducing pay for play legislation. California: PASSED Fair Pay to Play Act. Colleges in California cannot punish their student athletes for collecting endorsement money – focused on name, image, and likeness. Washington: INTRODUCED HB 1084. Student athletes in Washington would be able to collect pay for... Continue Reading →
Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY Sports So, for over twenty years now I have been teaching sports law, and THE case in Sports Law I has been NCAA v. Tarkanian, 488 U.S. 179 (1988). Generations of law students have been required to memorize the holding (the NCAA is NOT a state actor, and therefore not... Continue Reading →
LeBron James hosts the signing of California's Fair Pay to Play Act on his show. With California being the first state to pass a law that will allow student athletes to receive compensation for use of their name, image, and likeness, other states are following suit. Celebrity athletes such as LeBron James, Draymond Green, and... Continue Reading →
Image Credit: Spenser Davis/Dallas News The last two college offseasons have involved hundreds of athletes utilizing the "transfer portal," and, to date, the value of this process cannot be ignored. Starting Oct. 15, 2018, student athletes were allowed to enter their names into a transfer portal, which allowed schools to initiate contact with them. However,... Continue Reading →
The FBI's investigation into fraud, improper benefits and various other pay for recruit schemes rocked college basketball. It exposed a shady underground that the public largely didn't know existed, but that some insiders had known was there all along. In response, the NCAA formed the Rice Commission in order to, "gather information and expert opinions... Continue Reading →
Football has returned; the NFL kicked off Thursday night while the college season is already in full swing. Millions of people will sit down in their living rooms or local Bills bar to watch their favorite teams. Of those people, roughly 54 million people will bet on the NFL this season. Whether it's an office... Continue Reading →
Photo Credit: Matt Slocum, Associated Press The NCAA continues to assert that student-athletes are not employees, however, their rules suggest otherwise. The newest “tightening” of transfer guidelines looks just like a non-compete, which typically is used to restrict employee’s freedom. The NCAA distinguishes its product from that of professional sports by branding its participants as... Continue Reading →
Congrats to our very own Cierra Dillard, as she became the first player in WNBA history to be drafted from UB. The star combo-guard and Rochester native was drafted 20th overall by the Minnesota Lynx in Wednesday’s draft, after leading the Bulls to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA tournament. In her final season, Dillard set... Continue Reading →
On March 25, attorney Michael Avenatti was arrested in New York outside the office of one of Nike’s lawyers. Avenatti has been charged with four counts of extortion and conspiracy for threatening to reveal alleged evidence that Nike made improper payments to high school basketball players and their families. Despite most of the immediate backlash... Continue Reading →
While some of college basketball's brightest stars prepare to take center stage in the NCAA Basketball tournament, it is important to remember why some of these players are actually there in the first place: a clear antitrust violation by the NCAA. With March Madness now in full swing, it is time to once again look... Continue Reading →