Sports Law

Every college and university in the world owns intellectual property. One of the most important aspects of a university’s intellectual property is its trademarks. Consider any “big-time” college athletics universities, such as the University of Alabama, Michigan, or Wisconsin. Each has iconic team colors, mascots, uniforms, fight songs, and logos. These universities carefully cultivate their reputation and branding to distinguish themselves from the competition and create recognition among not only fans, but casual observers. Universities maintain exclusive intellectual property
Continue Reading University Intellectual Property Implications in Name, Image, and Likeness Deals

On Feb. 5, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Region 1 director in Trustees of Dartmouth College,1 found that members of the college’s men’s basketball team qualify as “employees” under Section 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Background
The Board in 2015 considered another case regarding collegiate-level student athletes’ employment status: Northwestern University.2 In this case, the Board declined to assert jurisdiction and did not explicitly rule whether student athletes were “employees” under the
Continue Reading ‘Seismic’: NLRB Rules Dartmouth Men’s Basketball Players are Employees

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions (COI) has announced an infractions decision for violations of the NCAA’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) and recruiting rules in the Florida State football program. The conduct in question stems from an assistant coach facilitating a meeting between a prospective transfer student-athlete and an NIL collective affiliated with the institution. 

This is the NCAA’s second NIL-related enforcement action. In February of 2023, the NCAA announced an infractions case involving the University of
Continue Reading NCAA Finds NIL Rules Violations in Florida State Football Program

Frieser Legal is pleased to share that client Mick Marlow has been declared eligible to compete for the 2023-24 hockey season. The eligibility decision came from the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) after Frieser Legal had filed a lawsuit against Chippewa Falls Unified School District and the WIAA on behalf of the Marlow family. On […]
The post Frieser Legal Scores Victory for Client in Eligibility Dispute appeared first on Frieser Legal.
Continue Reading Frieser Legal Scores Victory for Client in Eligibility Dispute

In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA and its conferences violated the Sherman Antitrust Act in NCAA v. Alston, by capping college athletes’ ability to receive educationally related financial benefits. The Sherman Act prevents otherwise competing entities (such as individual universities) from entering into agreements with each other that unduly restrain competition in a particular market. In Alston, the relevant antitrust market was college athletes’ athletics services.

Generally, academic institutions compete amongst themselves for these
Continue Reading How Conference Realignment Could Pose Antitrust and Tax Issues

On August 15, 2023, Frieser Legal hosted an NIL contract drafting webinar. Principal Attorney Joshua Frieser was joined by Sean McCarthy, Associate Athletics Director for Compliance at Seton Hall University, and Conor Chawke, NIL Marketing Agent at Rosenhaus Sports Representation, to discuss best practices for drafting and negotiating name, image, and likeness contracts. The topics […]
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Continue Reading NIL Contract Drafting Webinar

Frieser Legal Principal Attorney Joshua Frieser was quoted in an article published by the Associated Press. The article discussed the NCAA’s regulation of name, image, and likeness as it relates to NFT sales for college athletes. Frieser’s legal analysis was included in the article, where he opined that the NCAA is unlikely to regulate or […]
The post Principal Attorney Joshua Frieser Quoted by the Associated Press appeared first on Frieser Legal.
Continue Reading Principal Attorney Joshua Frieser Quoted by the Associated Press

An NIL collective is a group of boosters, donors, and community members (fans) or the like that contribute financial resources into a pool for the purpose of developing paid name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities for their preferred university’s student-athletes. Some collectives have for-profit arms and nonprofit arms. NIL collectives have structured their organizations to receive tax-exempt treatment from the IRS, although this was recently called into question when the IRS released a memo on the issue.

A
Continue Reading NIL Collectives: Tax Exempt or Not?

Enacted in 1972, Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational activities that receive federal funds and requires public elementary and secondary schools, as well as colleges and universities, to effectively accommodate the athletic interests and abilities of students and provide equal opportunity in the benefits, opportunities, and treatment provided for athletic teams.

While Title IX does not directly address gender identity, the Department of Education recently released a notice of proposed rulemaking related to a transgender student’s
Continue Reading All Tied Up: OCR Issues New Resources on Equal Athletic Opportunity Under Title IX

For nearly two years, college athletes, sports agents, and sponsors have sought to create name, image, and likeness (NIL) contracts that comply with NCAA rules, state laws, university policies, and sponsorship and advertising laws—all while attempting to draft contracts that are effective and operate to meet the needs of the particular deal. Much like other types of […]
The post How to Effectively Draft an NIL Contract appeared first on Frieser Legal | Sports Law | NIL.
Continue Reading How to Effectively Draft an NIL Contract

While most of the media coverage of sponsorships in college athletics over the last two years has focused on name, image, and likeness (NIL) and athlete endorsement deals (and rightfully so), another tremendous development is taking place. Learfield—the largest multimedia rights (MMR) holder in college athletics—is facing over $1 billion worth of debt payments coming due in the

next year. Although the company remains optimistic publicly, there are major concerns about its ability to satisfy its debt payments. Learfield’s
Continue Reading Why Sponsors of College Athletics should be Concerned with Learfield’s Financial Troubles

Frieser Legal Principal Attorney Joshua Frieser joined NIL Network‘s Michelle Meyer to discuss the legal landscape of Name, Image, and Likeness in college athletics, including current challenges, what athletes should look for in a contract, and what to expect over the next few years.
The post Understanding the Legal Landscape of NIL (Podcast) appeared first on Frieser Legal | Sports Law | NIL.
Continue Reading Understanding the Legal Landscape of NIL (Podcast)

In light of the NCAA’s changes of NIL legislation, much of the focus has been on student-athletes. However, companies have been presented with major sponsorship and branding opportunities as well. This is an outline of how brands can capitalize on the marketability of student-athletes in the wake of the March Madness tournaments. The numbers behind […]
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Continue Reading How Sponsors Can Capitalize on Athlete Marketing in the Wake of March Madness

NEW NCAA Bylaw 19.7.3: “In cases involving name, image and likeness offers, agreements and/or activities in which related communications and conduct are subject to NCAA regulation, the infractions process shall presume a violation occurred if circumstantial information suggests that one or more parties engaged in impermissible conduct. The enforcement staff may make a formal allegation based on the presumption. The hearing panel shall conclude a violation occurred unless the institution or involved individual clearly demonstrates with credible and
Continue Reading The NCAA’s new Standard of Review for NIL Violations: How it Works and What it Means 

On February 24, 2023, the NCAA released a decision in its first NIL-related infractions case. The case dealt with impermissible recruiting contacts and inducements in the University of Miami’s Women’s basketball program. Although the case did not involve any direct violation of any of the NCAA’s NIL rules or policies, it did involve John Ruiz, a University of Miami booster who has posted extensively on social media about his NIL deals with student-athletes at the school. The Cavinder
Continue Reading NCAA Announces First NIL-Related Infractions Case

As we are nearly ¼ of the way through the 21st century, it is beneficial to examine how consumer preferences and business services have developed in recent years. Subscription-based offerings have permeated through dozens of industries over the past decade. From Peloton and Equinox Plus to Netflix and Apple Music, businesses have started to offer consumers […]
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Continue Reading Making the Case for Subscription-Based Legal Services