AMATEUR SPORTS LAW (3 Credits) This course covers various amateur sports law issues and focuses on legal regulation of interscholastic, intercollegiate, and Olympic sports. Topics covered may include constitutional law, tort law, contract law, Title IX gender discrimination, federal disability discrimination laws, the legal relationship between a university and its student athletes, regulatory authority of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, United States Olympic Committee, and high school athletic associations, antitrust law, resolution of disputes affecting Olympic sports (including the jurisdiction and operation of the Court of Arbitration for Sport), and regulation of private educational institutions and sports associations.
AMATEUR SPORTS LAW WORKSHOP (2 Credits) A practical workshop applying the legal doctrines and theories covered in Amateur Sports Law to current legal and business issues affecting the regulation and governance of intercollegiate athletics and the operation of a university athletic department. Topics covered and practical skills developed may relate to NCAA and athletic conference regulation, internal athletic department governance, risk management, Title IX gender equity compliance, athletic event management and sponsorships, contract negotiation and drafting, and trademark licensing. Amateur Sports Law is a prerequisite.
CURRENT ISSUES IN SPORTS LAW: SPORTS INDUSTRY GOVERNANCE (2 Credits) This course will focus on the intersection of legal and business issues that professional sports leagues and their member clubs encounter on a regular basis and their practical implications. Using the National Football League's organization, business operations, and litigation experience as a point of reference, the course will examine the tensions between the business objectives of the league, its clubs, players, sponsors and fans as well as the developing legal precedents that govern these relationships. Professional Sports Law is a prerequisite.
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS LAW (3 Credits) This course covers various legal issues affecting the professional sports industries and focuses on antitrust, labor, contracts, regulation of private associations, regulation of athlete agents and their ethical duties, and intellectual property and sports broadcasting issues.
SELECTED TOPICS IN SPORTS LAW SEMINAR (2 Credits) This seminar explores selected topics pertaining to professional and amateur sports. Topics may vary from semester to semester. The seminar features presentations by members of the Marquette faculty pertaining to sports law issues in their fields of study. Each student in the seminar will write a substantial research paper on a specific topic chosen in consultation with the instructor.
SPORT, LAW AND SOCIETY SEMINAR (2 Credits) An exploration of the sociological and historical significance of organized sport in American culture. Special emphasis will be placed on the way in which American sports have (and have not) been regulated by the state over the past century and a half and on the legal consequences of the regulatory schemes that have been adopted. Assignments will include both secondary and primary materials. Students will prepare a research paper on a topic related to the subject of the seminar. Either Amateur Sports Law or Professional Sports Law is a prerequisite for this course.
WORKSHOP IN SPORT LAW - "REPRESENTING PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES AND COACHES" (2 Credits) The study of the formation, interpretation, negotiation and enforcement of sports marketing contracts as well as coaches' contracts. Topics covered include the agent's role in representing professional athletes and coaches, contract compliance with professional sports league collective bargaining agreements, tax planning for the athlete, and the ethical duties of attorney agents. Professional Sports Law is a prerequisite.
WORKSHOP IN SPORT LAW - "SPORTS INDUSTRY LEGAL AND BUSINESS PRACTICES" (2 Credits) A study of core legal and business issues relevant to sports enterprises primarily from a practical perspective. Special attention is devoted to employment practices and employment agreements, sponsorship agreements, broadcast media and rights agreements, contract negotiation, and the economics of franchise operations.
WORKSHOP IN SPORTS LAW - "SPORTS VENUES: FROM ELECTION DAY TO GAME DAY" (2 Credits) The course is dedicated to the study of the legal, financial, developmental, and political creation of sports facilities in the United States. The course will examine the reasons for the stadium boom and proliferation of sports facilities in our country; the current debate relative to the desirability of public tax dollars underwriting sports venues; the ways in which sports facilities are financed and funded; the creation of governmental bodies known as stadium or taxing authorities; the development process and the real estate implications of stadium creation; the development of a long-term leasehold arrangement between landlord and tenant; litigation challenging government participation in financing and referendums; the creation of public-private partnerships and the risks, financial requirements, and nature of the partnership; the creation of contractually obligated income and the ways in which revenue generation meets the bottom line needs of all interested parties; construction implications relative to the creation of facilities including issues of cost overruns, insurance, and the ADA; relocation and retention issues relative to utilization of facilities for keeping the team at home; a review of the so-called facilities arms race in our universities and the nature of this race; and finally, trends for the future of stadium development.
WORKSHOP: TOPICS IN ADVANCED LEGAL RESEARCH - SPORTS LAW (1 Credit). This workshop focuses on advanced legal research methods and sources related to amateur and professional sports. Sources include administrative materials, treatises, practice materials, association regulations, commercial databases, and the Internet. Students will prepare a research plan that will describe and document their particular research methods used concerning a topic approved by the instructor. This workshop may be used to satisfy the Law School's advanced legal research requirement.
INDEPENDENT STUDY IN SPORTS LAW (1 or 2 Credits) Students who register for independent study do directed reading and prepare a research paper under the direction of a member of the full-time faculty. The paper is similar to that required for a seminar.
