Here you will find links, news, etc. on laws announced, proposed, &/or passed
(last updated on 2/10/21)
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In February, 6’3”, 310-pound offensive lineman Brock Hoffman agreed to transfer to and play football for Virginia Tech. He followed proper NCAA procedures and filed a waiver request to play football at Virginia Tech this upcoming season because, according to the current NCAA rules, a college athlete who transfers from a four-year college to an NCAA institution must complete one academic year of residence unless they qualify for a transfer exception or are granted a waiver from the rule. So, he sought immediate eligibility under NCAA Bylaw 14.7’s “Residency Requirement" relief, reportedly stating that he is transferring to be closer to his mom since she had a brain tumor removed and still suffers lingering effects from the surgery (“facial paralysis, hear (sic) loss and eye sight issues”).
The NCAA denied Hoffman’s waiver request.
Let’s talk a bit about (a) the requirements for this type of transfer waiver, (b) whether Hoffman’s case satisfies those requirements and whether the facts could be used in a different way for a stronger argument in his favor, and (c) how this is likely to go down on appeal and why.
Read MoreAs current and former athletes at NCAA-member institutions increasingly look toward the courts for relief from NCAA bylaws they deem unfair, a new ally has emerged in their endeavors to gain ground in this facet of the ongoing war between capital and labor. That new ally is state legislatures.
The mounting number of state legislatures who are considering drafting legislation aimed to give athletes at NCAA-member institutions more and new rights which aren’t currently afforded them under NCAA bylaws began in Washington state earlier this year.
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During this interim period where the NFL season ends and the MLB season begins, many sports fans are left with a void that basketball, hockey, and miscellaneous televised athletic events themselves cannot fill, and although a lot of the U.S. does not even have its golf courses open for the season, the PGA 2018-2019 season has been well under way. We can focus more on the televised golf tournaments each weekend now, and y’all may have noticed some things seemed different, even if you could not quite identify what it was. Well, you are right on because A LOT of changes went into effect on January 1, 2019 - eight pages worth of summarized changes, to be exact - and those are only what the USGA and the R&A believe to be the major rule changes after a wide-ranging, collaborative review process taking into account golfers’, rules experts’, and administrators’s views from across the globe.
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The annual January tradition I know y’all look forward to is here - my predictions on what will be the hottest of the sports law hot topics! I settled on selecting six topics this year, and I must say, it was wonderfully hard to narrow down the list because there is a lot of meat we will get to digest over the next 12 months. (Disclaimer: I think #1 will be the hottest of the hot, but that may be my bias talking since that is one of my main wheelhouses!)
That said, I would also like to remind those of you who may be newly acquainted with the concept of “sports law” that, in all honesty, there is technically no such thing as “sports law,” per se. Rather, what a handful of attorneys and I do is specialize in understanding and zealously advocate to resolve diverse legal issues that take place within the sports industry because the law often treats sports in a special way relative to pretty much every other industry out there.
Keep reading for a brief descriptions of each topic’s current status, why I am including it on this list, and a few Twitter handles to follow for the latest news and analysis throughout the year:
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