-
Six More Years of Turducken: EA Sports and NFL Agree to Extend Madden Until 2026
Eli Nachmany is the Managing Editor (Print) of the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law and a rising second-year student at Harvard Law School (Class of 2022). Madden NFL is not going anywhere. This week, the National Football League (“NFL”) and the NFL Players Association (“NFLPA”) struck a deal with Electronic Arts (“EA”) to extend the parties’ exclusive partnership for the simulation-style NFL video game until 2026. Darren Rovell reports that the NFL will make $1 billion from the deal, while the NFLPA will earn $500 million. The deal also includes north of $500 million in marketing commitments. […]
-
Forced Blackout: What Contract Law Tells Us About Coronavirus and the NBA Broadcast Deals
After Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19, the National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended its 2019-20 season indefinitely. The move has major implications for the league’s broadcast partners, who stand to lose a serious amount of advertising revenue without games to air. Having no NBA games also undercuts moneymaking NBA-adjacent programming like “Inside the NBA” and “SportsCenter,” as New York University Professor Lee Igel noted to CNN. In sum, the disruption will significantly impact the bottom line for broadcasters. Entities like ESPN and TNT may be considering whether there is any legal recourse to […]
-
Lucky 7s: NFL Looks to Expand Playoffs to Seven Teams per Conference in New CBA
ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the National Football League (NFL) is considering some changes to its playoff structure in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The NFL’s CBA could be finalized as soon as next week, and it appears that the biggest change will be expansion of the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams. Traditionally, the NFL has rolled with a 12-team playoff, with six representatives from each of the two 16-team conferences. In each conference, the No. 1 and No. 2 seed enjoy a bye week for the first round of the playoffs, then each play the winner of either […]
-
Disney Extends “Baby Yoda” Infringement Battle on Etsy Website
Disney has unleashed a wave of takedown notices targeting vendors who are selling merchandise featuring “Baby Yoda,” the viral breakout character from its new streaming series, The Mandalorian, on DIY sales site, Etsy. The studio becomes the latest company to struggle to protect its intellectual property on the site, despite its formidable legal resources and penchant to fiercely guard its properties. Disney’s woes began shortly after the character debuted in December, when fans of the character, officially known in the series as “The Child,” started selling homemade Baby Yoda shirts, mugs, dolls, ornaments, and backpacks, in violation of Etsy’s IP policies. […]
-
A Wild Card Proposal: Should the NFL Get Rid of Divisions and Change its Playoff Format?
Another NFL season, another chance that (as of the start of Week 15) an 8-8 or 7-9 makes it into the playoffs (and hosts a game on Wild Card weekend). One of the Dallas Cowboys/Philadelphia Eagles will take the NFC East title this season, and it is possible that a record under .500 will be enough to get the job done. Winning a division entitles a team to one of the NFL’s 12 (out of 32) playoff spots, along with home field advantage in the team’s first playoff matchup on Wild Card Weekend. Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio is sounding […]
-
Be Like JuJu: How NFL, MLB Players Can Best Capitalize on Latest Venture
The National Football League and Major League Baseball’s players associations have entered into a deal with RedBird Capital Partners to maximize profits from player likenesses, the Wall Street Journal reports. This agreement is a major milestone in cross-sport partnerships, as it “marks the first time players unions have joined forces across sports in this way.” With the amount of money that the players and RedBird are putting together, the possibilities are likely endless. I would recommend players focus on replicating the success of athletes like JuJu Smith-Schuster in reaching new fanbases across different platforms to truly see the biggest gains from […]
-
Amidst Basketball Program Sanctions, the Kansas Jayhawks Aren’t Backing Down
With the 2019-2020 NCAA College Basketball season tipping off, most would expect the Kansas Jayhawks to be looking to make a run at the National Championship. However, amidst program allegations, could Kansas’s performance in the courtroom be more important than its on-court performance for the future of Kansas Basketball? When the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) handed down allegations on the storied, blue-blood basketball program of the University of Kansas in September, the administration at Kansas quickly acted not just to deny the claims, but to go on the offensive and point the finger elsewhere. On September 21, the University of […]
-
Not Yet Over the Goal Line: Understanding What Happened with the NCAA Compensation Vote and What Comes Next
On Tuesday, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) made headlines when its governing board voted to “start the process of modifying its rule to allow college athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses ‘in a manner consistent with the collegiate model.’” This change comes on the heels of California passing the Fair Pay for Play Act into law. This legislation, set to take effect in 2023, would prevent the NCAA from prohibiting college athletes from profiting off of their names, images, and likenesses. I recently wrote a JSEL blog post on the implications of this law on EA Sports’ […]
-
CASE Act Passes House in Win for Entertainment Lobby
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″] [et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] The Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act sailed through the House of Representatives last week after a 410-6 vote, a move industry organizations and lobbying firms are calling a major win. “The Recording Academy applauds the House for passing the CASE Act today, a…victory for music creators,” said Daryl P. Friedman, the Recording Academy’s Chief Industry, Government, & Member Relations Officer. As its title suggests, the bill would create a small claims tribunal, the Copyright Claims Board, before which musicians, artists, and other content creators would be able to bring infringement claims […]
-
It’s In the Game?: EA CEO Expresses Interest in NCAA Football’s Return, as Legal Questions Loom
Electronic Arts (EA) CEO Andrew Wilson recently expressed interest in bringing back the once-popular NCAA Football video game franchise, if the legal framework governing college athletics changes in such a way that would permit its existence. Wilson made the comments at the WSJ Tech Live conference in California, favorably citing a newly signed California law that, starting in 2023, would allow college athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likenesses. The hope is that such a law could “clear the way” for NCAA Football’s return. To be sure, the NCAA opposed the California law and prefers to solve the […]
-
Spider-Man: Where is Home As Sony/Marvel Compete Over Rights
August was dominated by reports that Spider-Man would be leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe following an impressive theatrical run of the newest movie “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” Spider-Man’s possible departure is due to Disney and Sony failing to reach an agreement on funding and revenue sharing for future Spider-Man films. The very concept of this kind of split raises wider questions regarding intellectual property law and the future of the entertainment industry. Fictional characters are often protected by copyright laws. An author’s copyright over a character provides them with the exclusive right to use, adapt, or market the character as they […]
-
Decision Issued on Nationals-Orioles Television Dispute, but Immediately Tarped Over
The relationship between the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles has been fraught ever since baseball returned to DC in 2005. Because the Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) would be tapping into a major chunk of the Orioles’ formerly exclusive television market, an unwieldly and tenuous deal was brokered: The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). Since its creation, it has been the cause of much litigation. The Orioles were given ninety percent ownership of MASN, and the Nationals the remaining ten, despite the fact that the media outlet would broadcast both teams’ games. Under the agreement, the Nationals would gain an additional percentage […]