Course Details

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to demonstrate and explain the following learning objectives:

• Express the organizational structure of professional sports leagues, intercollegiate athletics, and high school sports;
• Cite examples of tort law, especially dealing with assumption of risk, assault and battery, and product liability;
• Identify the responsibilities of the key elements in sports--the coaches, medical staff, administrators, owners, players and fans;
• Differentiate the various athletic associations that govern sports;
• Explain the myriad of rules dealing with athlete eligibility and participation;
• Describe the legal foundation for drug testing of athletes, as well as the challenges top it, especially under the rule of constitutional law;
• Identify the key parts of Title IX, and the history and current state of the law as it relates to gender discrimination;
• Analyze the essential elements of sports contracts, as well as contracts for marketing, endorsement and sponsorship;
• Explain how antitrust law is applied in the ownership, practice, and participation in professional sports;
• Explain how labor law is applied to labor practices and collective bargaining in professional sports;
• Discuss the duties and responsibilities of sports agents;
• Appraise how the law of intellectual property is applied to copyrights, patents and trademarks of teams and players;
• Compare and contrast the complex law of broadcasting rights, as well as the restrictions placed upon various broadcasting mediums;
• Differentiate between those players who are employees and independent contractors on various teams;
• Discuss the critical issues of gambling, disabilities, and violence in sports.

PHONE CALLS/E-MAIL:

Please message your instructor using the messages tab in the classroom for all communication. If a phone call is necessary, you can arrange a time to speak with the professor.

FORUMS/ASSIGNMENTS

FORUM PARTICIPATION

Questions and topics posed in the Forums are designed to promote thought and insight. Students must provide a critical review of the questions, topics and issues posed and substantively reply to the contributions of at least three peers. Individual postings should include a full discussion of the content of the question posed and explain how it relates to the concepts in the weekly text readings and other resources. The postings should be analytic in nature and include comparisons/contrasts, and examples that can bolster your point. The Forum is for your benefit and it is important to respond to the discussion topic and to engage others in a running dialogue.

Your initial post should be made by Wednesday this week. You should then respond to 3 or more posts. Note that at least one response to your classmates must be made before Sunday. If you make all of your responsive posts on Sunday, you will not earn full points for timeliness.

This can be accomplished by

· Validating with additional evidence from the literature.

· Posing a thoughtful question with commentary which generates further discussion.

· Providing an alternative point-of-view, with evidence and examples.

· Offering additional insight into how the concept might be understood, with evidence provided with real world examples.

You should be active in the classroom throughout the week and actively engaged in the back-and-forth discussion between your colleagues and the professor.

The forum grading rubric can be found in gradebook by clicking on the forum entry.

All citations must be in Bluebook format.

These forums will count for 35% of your overall grade.

CASE BRIEF

Each student will complete one case brief, which counts for 15% of your overall grade. More details about this case brief, which will be due during the 7th week of class, will be outlined in the class assignments area.

FINAL AND MIDTERM EXAMINATIONS:

The Professor will prepare a midterm and final examination. Both exams will be open book and will be posted in the electronic classroom under “Exams.” These exams will count for 50% of your overall grade.

Wong, Glenn M, Essentials of Sports Law, 4th Edition (Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2010). This text is free to you and can be found, along with other mandatory readings, in the Lessons section under the Readings and resources tab.