New York Law School Sports Law Symposium next Friday, Feb 22

Looking forward to being part of what should an excellent symposium next Friday at New York Law School -- great work by Brett Hirsch and David Soskin and many others in putting this together. 

I will be moderating the bankruptcy panel and will be sure to encourage discussion on the role of bankruptcy law in the sale of the Sacramento Kings.

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The New York Law School Sports Law Society and the Institute for Information Law and Policy

Presents:

The Fourth Annual Sports Law Symposium

Friday, February 22, 2013

185 West Broadway

W201 (Events Center)

Fee:      Please note that if you registered for the original date, postponed due to Hurricane Sandy you are automatically registered for the make-up event on February 22.  

                $45 for attorneys (includes CLE’s)

            $45 for attorneys and professionals not seeking CLE credits (No CLE credit)

$15 for outside students

Free for current NYLS students (with a valid school ID)

This CLE program has been approved for a maximum of three hours of CLE credit for both transitional and non-transitional attorneys. New York Law School offers tuition assistance for attorneys who may have difficulty attending CLE events due to cost considerations. Please visit:  http://www.nyls.edu/academics/cle/tuition_assistance to see if you qualify.  

Tentative PANELS                                                                                                                                                  

12:00 pm - Registration Opens

12:45 pm - Opening Remarks

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Bankruptcy Issues in Sports (1 CLE Credit - Professional Practice ("P.P.") ) 

2:15 pm - 3:15 pm - Analysis and Impact of the Concussion Litigation (1 CLE Credit - P.P.) 

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm - Negotiating Media Rights Acquisitions (1 CLE Credit - P.P.)

4:45 pm - 5:30 pm - Breaking Into the Sports Industry Q&A

5:30 pm - Networking Reception 

 PANELISTS *                                                                                                                                                         

Jodi Balsam, Associate Professor at NYLS; Former Counsel for Operations and Litigation at the NFL

Robert Boland, Professor of Sports Management & Sports Business at New York University 

Robert Erb '91, CEO at Schutt Sports; Adjunct Professor at New York Law School  

Frank Golding, YouTube Director, Head of Sports for North America at Google 

Frank Hawkins, Partner at Scalar Media Partners; Former SVP Business Affairs at the NFL 

Darren Heitner, Founder of the Sports Agent Blog; Partner at Wolfe Law; Contributor at Forbes Magazine; 

Jeannine Kenney, Associate Counsel at Hausfeld LLC; Plantiff’s Liason Counsel for NFL concussion litigation

J. Carlos Kuri, Vice President and General Counsel at New York Red Bulls  

Jeffrey Levitan '83, Partner at Proskauer Rose LLP

David Mayer, Principal Counsel at ESPN, Inc.

Michael McCann, Legal Analyst at SI & NBA TV; Professor & Director of Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at UNH Law;  

Matthew Pace, Partner at Arent Fox LLP

Irwin Raij, Partner and co-chair of the Sports Industry Team at Foley & Lardner LLP

Robert Raiola, CPA; Sports & Entertainment Group Manager at Fazio, Mannuzza, Roche, Tankel, LaPilusa, LLC

Frank Saviano, Associate at Proskauer Rose LLP

Alan Schwarz, Reporter at New York Times

David Soskin '08, Counsel at ESPN, Inc.; Adjunct Professor at New York Law School  

Meredith Wolff, Associate Staff Attorney at NHL Enterprises, L.P.

The Illusion of Amateurism Within College Athletics

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." ~
Verbal Kint/Kaiser Soze, The Usual Suspects 

It is time to wake up.  For decades the NCAA has created the illusion that their sole purpose was to defend the concept of amateurism within higher education.  This trick has been sanctioned by none other than the Supreme Court when, in 1984, they recognized the NCAA as “the guardian of an important American tradition.…amateurism in intercollegiate athletics.”[1]  And, for far too long, the American public has accepted this deception; that those competing in college sports should remain amateurs, as defined by the NCAA, so as to delineate them from paid professional athletes.

The argument is stale, the facts don’t support reality, and the public is recognizing the absurdity of the NCAA’s position: they insatiably embrace commercialism in all facets of intercollegiate athletics except on a single issue—athlete compensation.  College athletics has evolved into an industry generating billions of dollars a year without paying the labor that produces the demand for this product.  Perhaps one of the reasons public outcry has been muted is that the students engaged in these sports are, predominantly, minorities whose access to college the public often labels “an opportunity.”  The popular argument, that scholarships offer free education to many athletes, is rebuffed by the systemic failure of schools and the NCAA to ensure that students competing in football and basketball graduate with their college degrees or even a valuable education.

To read the rest this article on The Huffington Postfollow this link.  Let me know what you think.....

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[1]NCAA v Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma