Photo Source: AP Photo / Jeffrey McWhorter. The U.S. Women's National Soccer team suffered a massive defeat in U.S. Federal Court for the Central District of California, as two of their four complaints were thrown out by Judge R. Gary Klausner in a decision filed on Friday, May 1. The players of the U.S. Women's... Continue Reading →
Mary Cain Exposes Nike’s Abusive Oregon Project
Last May Allyson Felix published a Op-Ed and accompanying video in the New York Times. Felix detailed some of the challenges and obstacles she encountered when returning to training and later competition after giving birth. Specifically female runners are likely to lose sponsorships and endorsements. These runners must overcome a perception that they won't be... Continue Reading →
Fireworks Ensue after D1 Field Hockey Forced to Yield the Field
Google Earth Pro image of Murphy-Mellis Field, home of Kent State Field Hockey Disrespectful. Infuriating. Grossly unfair. Just plain wrong. The messages from my five daughters and former students poured in as news spread of an inconceivable happening at Kent State this weekend. Apparently, an extraordinarily hard-fought D1 women’s field hockey contest between Temple and... Continue Reading →
IS NIKE’S CONTROVERSY OVER SPONSORING PREGNANT ATHLETES A VIOLATION OF EMPLOYMENT LAW?
Allyson Felix, six-time Olympic gold medalist Photo Credit: Fleet Feet Sports Less than two weeks ago, Nike-sponsored Olympian runners Alysia Montaño and Kara Goucher broke their nondisclosure agreements with Nike to make their stories about Nike sponsorship public. More specifically, these women opened up about discriminatory and unfair treatment by Nike during and immediately after... Continue Reading →
The Unique Law Governing Olympic Trademarks
While it is common for sports leagues and organizations to be protective of their trademarks, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has unique trademark rights over various Olympic-related trademarks that no other American organization has. The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo in just over a year from now. In preparation for the... Continue Reading →
Ledecky’s Decision to Turn Pro Highlights the Risks of NCAA Amateurism Rules
Remember when swimmer Katie Ledecky won the 800-meter freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games? She finished more than eleven seconds ahead of her closest competitor—a gap that show-cased the then nineteen-year-old’s dominance in the pool and cemented her status as an Olympic superstar. When the games ended, Ledecky packed up her five medals (four gold,... Continue Reading →
“USA! USA! USA!”
At 3:00 am, the chant reverberated through my home. As a family with seven hockey playing kids, five of whom are girls, we have been closely following the USA women's ice hockey team. As the game progressed and Canada took the lead into the third period, we were riveted to the screen. When Monique Lamoureux... Continue Reading →
Pyeongchang Update: The Hypervigilance of Olympic Trademark Protection
The Opening Ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics kicked off in Pyeongchang a little over a week ago. Other than a cafeteria spat between a Canadian and a Russian official concerning Russia’s systematic doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, these games have been controversy free—at least in Korea. While not new, one recurring legal issue with... Continue Reading →