SPORTS LAW COURSE SYLLABUS

UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE SCHOOL OF LAW

SPRING 2018

Course: Sports Law

LAW/SECTION 763-512
NUMBER 2425

Instructor: Phillip Closius

OFFICE: AL 505, 410-837-4177 pclosius@ubalt.edu
OFFICE HOURS: Hours before and after class, email or drop in

Days/Time: Mondays and Wednesdays 6:15 – 7:30 p.m.

Location: Room assignments are available through MyUB.

Course Description:
This course provides a student an overview of the business and legal issues within the areas of professional and amateur
sports. Specifically, but not limited to, the following: professional clubs, professional leagues, sports marketing
contracts, negotiation techniques, television, sponsorship, insurance, and athletic associations. All such issues covered
shall have a relationship to basic principles of law: contract, antitrust, tort, corporate, and other areas.

Course Materials:
No required text – on line materials as indicated.

Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Analyze sports as a business, not as a fan.
2. Learn complex negotiation strategies.
3. Understand the complexities of contract drafting.
4. Learn the basic principles of labor law and antitrust.
5. Understand the financial importance of media rights and new technologies.

Grades:
50% of the final grade from a negotiation problem dealing with college football coaches
50% of the final grade from a 90 minute open book essay exam

Course Expectations:
American Bar Association Standards for Law Schools establish guidelines for the amount of work students should expect
to complete for each credit earned. Students should expect approximately one hour of classroom instruction and two
hours of out-of-class work for each credit earned in a class, or an equivalent amount of work for other academic
activities, such as simulations, externships, clinical supervision, co-curricular activities, and other academic work leading
to the award of credit hours.

Attendance:
Class attendance is a primary obligation of each student whose right to continued enrollment in the course and to take
the examination is conditioned upon a record of attendance satisfactory to the professor. A student who exceeds the
maximum allowed absences (generally 20% of class sessions) as illustrated below may be compelled to withdraw from the
course, or may be barred from sitting for the final exam. Students who are forced to withdraw for exceeding the allowed
absences may receive a grade of FA (failure due to excessive absence). This policy is consistent with American Bar
Association Standards for Law Schools.

Regular Semester Hours

Credit Hours Meetings Per Week
1 2
2 2 absences 5 absences
3 2 absences 5 absences
4 -- 5 absences

Computers:
Students may use laptop computers for class related purposes.

Class Cancellation:
If the instructor must cancel a class, notices will be sent to students via email and posted on the classroom door. If there
is inclement weather, students should visit the University of Baltimore web site or call the University's Snow Closing Line
at (410) 837-4201. If the University is open, students should presume that classes are running on the normal schedule.

Academic Integrity:
Students are obligated to refrain from acts that they know or, under the circumstances, have reason to know will impair
the academic integrity of the University and/or School of Law. Violations of academic integrity include, but are not
limited to: cheating, plagiarism, misuse of materials, inappropriate communication about exams, use of unauthorized
materials and technology, misrepresentation of any academic matter, including attendance, and impeding the Honor
Code process. The School of Law Honor Code and information about the process is available at
http://law.ubalt.edu/academics/policiesandprocedures/honor_code/.

Title IX Sexual Misconduct and Nondiscrimination Policy:

The University of Baltimore’s Sexual Misconduct and Nondiscrimination policy is compliant with Federal laws prohibiting
discrimination. Title IX requires that faculty, student employees and staff members report to the university any known,
learned or rumored incidents of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking on the
basis of sex, dating/intimate partner violence or sexual exploitation and/or related experiences or incidents. Policies and
procedures related to Title IX and UB’s nondiscrimination policies can be found at: http://www.ubalt.edu/titleix.

Disability Policy:
If you are a student with a documented disability who requires an academic accommodation, please contact Leslie
Metzger, Director of Student Services, at 410-837-5623 or lmetzger@ubalt.edu.

ASSIGNMENTS
I. Negotiations
a. The Evolution of Techniques for Negotiation of Sports Employment Contracts in the Era of the Agent, by
Daniel Faber, 10 U. Miami Ent. & Sports L. Rev. 165 (1993)
b. College Coaches Contracts Revisited: A Practical Perspective by Martin J. Greenburg, 12 Marquette
Sports Law Review 127 (2001).
c. National Football League Collective Bargaining Agreement at www.nflpa.com – hit “about us”. Focus on
articles dealing with draft and rookies, the salary cap and injury.
d. Major League Baseball Collective Bargaining Agreement at www.mlbplayers.com – hit mlbpa info – then
2012 – 2016 CBA. Focus on arbitration, free agency and individual contract articles.
e. National Basketball Association Collective Bargaining Agreement at www.nbpa.org – hit cba. Focus on
salary cap articles.
 f. Green Bay Packers Income Statement information.

II. Regulation of Agents

a. National Football League Players Association Regulations at www.nflpa.com – hit “about us” – then
NFLPA Regulations Concerning Contract Advisors.
b. Major League Baseball Players Association Agent Regulations at www.mlbplayers.com – hit “mlbpa into”
then Agent Regulations.
c. Uniform State Law at www.uniformlaws.org – hit Acts, then Athlete Agents Act (old and 2015 versions).
d. Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act of 2004, 118 STAT. 1125, 15 USC 7801.
e. Detroit Lions, Inc. v. Argovitz, 580 F. Supp. 542 (E.D. Mich. 1984)

III. Division I Universities and the NCAA

a. National Letter of intent at www.ncaa.org/wps/wclm/connect/nli/nli.
b. University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa (all at www.ncaa.org – hit “resources” – hit “search ncaa legislation
and major infractions” – input relevant information)
1. Public Infractions Report – June 11, 2009
2. Infractions Appeals Committee Report – March 23, 2010
c. University of Southern California – Infractions Appeals Committee – May 26, 2011 (at same as in b)
d. General NCAA rules and manual
e. Taylor v. Wake Forest University, 191 S.E. 2d 379 (N.C.App. 1972)
f. Ross v Creighton University, 957 F. 2d 410 (7th Cir. 1992)
g. Realignment and $$$$$ (read various articles)
h. Social media (read various articles)

IV. NFL – Workmen’s Compensation and Concussion Litigation

a. Bruce Matthews v National Football League Management Council, Ninth Circuit, August 6, 2012 at
www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2012/08/06/11-55186.pdf.
b. Documents for NFL concussion litigation in federal court in Philadelphia (Judge Anita Brody) at
www.nflconcussionlitigation.com.
c. NFL Medications Litigation - Documents

V. Various cases – on antitrust, labor law and exemptions

a. Flood v. Kuhn, 407 U.S. 258 (1972)
b. National and American Leagues v. MLBPA (Messersmith), 66 Lab. Arb. & Disp. Settl. 101 (1976)
c. KC Royals v. MLBPA, 532 F. 2d 615 (8th Cir. 1976)
d. Mackey v. National Football League, 543 F. 2d 606 (8th Cir. 1976)
e. Brown v Pro-Football, 116 S. Ct 2117 (1996)
f. Wood v. NBA, 809 F. 2d 954 (2nd Cir. 1987)
g. Clarett v. NFL, 369 F. 2d 124 (2nd Cir. 2004)
h. American Needle, Inc. v National Football League, 130 S. Ct. 2201 (2010)
i. The Curt Flood Act of 1998, 15 U.S.C. Section 27(a)
j. Banks v NCAA, 977 F. 2nd 1081 (7th Cir. 1992)
VI. Media Rights
a. Sports Broadcast Act, 15 USCA 1291 – 1294
b. NCAA v Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, 468 U.S. 85 (1984)
c. Chicago Pro-Sports and WGN v NBA, 95 F. 3rd 593 (7th Cir. 1996)
d. New Boston Television v. EPSN, 215 U.S.P.Q. 755 (D. Mass. 1981)
e. NBA v Motorola, Inc., 105 F. 3rd 841 (2nd Cir. 1997)
f. NFL v Rondor, 840 F. Supp. 1160 (N.D. Ohio 1993)

1) Negotiation Problem

February 28 – Assignment of role.

March 14 – Deadline for Preliminary memo; Begin negotiations period.
April 11 – Negotiation Period ends.
April 18 – Submission of contract documents.
April 25 – Deadline for Evaluation memo.