NHL Decertification Talk Heats Up

Following up on Michael McCann's post from Monday, talk of a potential decertification of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) heated up this week.  After the NHL owners rejected a new union proposal on Wednesday, the players have increasingly appeared willing to dissolve their union in order to pursue antitrust litigation against the league (see this report by James Mirtle).  In fact, on Thursday, Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller publicly endorsed the decertification strategy, in the process calling out the NHL's outside legal counsel, the Proskauer Rose firm, by name. 

Given the increased possibility that NHL players will dissolve their union, several Sports Law Blog contributors have been interviewed in the past few days to discuss the procedural steps involved in a potential decertification of the NHLPA, as well as the strategy's likely impact.  In particular, Gabe Feldman answered some decertification questions for CBC, and Michael McCann discussed the issues with Canadian Business magazine, while I spoke to the Globe and Mail.  Here's a excerpt of my discussion:

Let’s start with the basics. Why might decertification make sense for NHL players here?

A. There’s kind of a benefit and a drawback. There are some protections you get under labour law when you’re in a bargaining situation like this. By having a union, the players under U.S. labour law get protection against the owners committing certain unfair labour practices.

So they get some benefits out of the unionization, but the downside is you can’t then file an antitrust lawsuit against the ownership while you’re still engaged in that collective bargaining relationship.

The trade off is do we want to have union protections or would we rather dissolve the union and pursue antitrust remedies. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. You have to pick.

From the perspective of why is it a good thing to do now: The main benefit is probably leverage... If we file an antitrust lawsuit, it adds uncertainty for the owners. If this lockout gets declared to be a violation of U.S. antitrust law then the players’ damages are going to be tripled.

I thought I saw one estimate that the players were losing something like $10-million per day. If you use that as a ballpark, if they’ve missed 70 days, you’re talking about $700-million times three; that’s a huge number potentially. There’s leverage for the players.  The No. 1 thing they would shoot for presumably would be to end the lockout [using a preliminary injunction]. Even if they don’t get that, long term, they still have that threat of the antitrust legislation and the triple damages hanging over ownership.

Chelsea FC sacked Roberto Di Matteo following poor performance in UEFA champions league and premier league after 262 days.

Roberto Di Matteo had a strange line-up for do and die champions league tie against Juventus. Following 3-0 lost he definitely new it is just a matter of time before he park his bags.



The former Chelsea midfielder took over Chelsea following AVB sack and was followed by astonishing results which saw Chelsea go all the way to win the Champions League and then FA cup title. Despite Chelsea

Important clarification on NBA.com and Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Sports Arrangement

Yesterday Marc Edelman blogged about NBA.com and Yahoo! Sports working together on offering NBA fans fantasy sports. After talking with the NBA today, I wanted to provide some additional information. The NBA made clear to me that it is not associated with Yahoo! Sports pro leagues (which are fee-based) and it does not receive any shared revenue from those leagues. The NBA’s involvement with Yahoo! Sports is limited to free fantasy sports.

Boycotting Corporate Sponsorships?

Extraordinarily interesting news out of England and the Premier League last month:  Several members of the Newcastle United Football club may refuse to wear the corporate logo of Wonga, a short-term, pay day loan company, on their game jerseys because Wonga's company practices are an affront to their religious beliefs.  Newcastle United recently announced a very lucrative corporate sponsorship agreement with Wonga.


Newcastle footballers Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Cheick Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa are all practicing Muslims. "Under Sharia law, Muslims must not benefit from either lending money or receiving money from another person - meaning that interest is prohibited. Interest is not paid on Islamic bank accounts or added to mortgages." Because Wonga is seen by many in the UK, much like pay day loan companies in the United States, as established to prey on the poor and the unbanked, Ba, Cisse, Tiote and Ben Arfa may refuse to promote its practices by refusing to display the Wonga logo on their jerseys.

From the story in the Daily Mail:  "Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, told The Independent: 'There are two aspects to this. We have the rulings of the religious law and we have the individual’s choice and decision on how they want to follow or not follow that rule. 'The idea is to protect the vulnerable and the needy from exploitation by the rich and powerful.' 'When they [Wonga] are lending and are charging large amounts of interest, it means the poor will have short-term benefit from the loan but long-term difficulty in paying it back because the rate of interest is not something they can keep up with. The Islamic system is based on a non-interest-based system of transaction.'"

Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse

In fact, on some short-term loans, Wonga charges an interest rate that would annually exceed 4,000%. "Should a Newcastle fan accept a loan to buy a £50 club shirt, they would have to repay £71.92 after a month with a rate equivalent to 4,212 per cent per year."  Local politicians in Newcastle were aghast to learn that Newcastle United had partnered with a corporate sponsor such as Wonga: "Nick Forbes, the leader of Newcastle City Council, said: 'I’m appalled and sickened that they would sign a deal with a legal loan shark. It’s a sad indictment of the profit-at-any-price culture at Newcastle United. We are fighting hard to tackle legal and illegal loan sharking and having a company like this right across the city on every football shirt that’s sold undermines all our work.'"

Boycotting a corporate sponsor would be deemed a hugely controversial move in the United States. In fact, the activist athlete has been discussed on the Sports Law Blog many times over the years, and has seemed to be in decline since the advent of the corporate endorsement and the potential to profit in the dozens of millions of dollars. That said, there appears to have been a rise in athlete activism in recent months . . . .

Fantasy Sports Game Changer: The NBA.com / Yahoo! Partnership

** Please see added information in 11/21/2012 post: NBA’s involvement with Yahoo! Sports is limited to free fantasy sports. **

This year we have blogged extensively on emerging legal issues in fantasy sports (see here, here, here), as well as ongoing issues involving online sports gaming (see here and here).  Now, the National Basketball Association has kicked off its 2012-13 season with another game-changer that may drastically change the future of both professional sports and fantasy sports -- a joint venture project with Yahoo! to provide play-for-cash fantasy basketball contests.   Not only are NBA logos used in conjunction with this play-for-cash fantasy game, but a link to the game, labeled NBA.com / Yahoo ! Sports Fantasy Basketball, appears directly on the NBA.com webpage.

The NBA.com / Yahoo! leagues operate at two price points.  $100 entry fee leagues pay out a first-place prize of $600.  Meanwhile, $20 entry fee leagues pay out a first place prize of $120.  What is unclear from the game's rules, however, is whether Yahoo! is simply paying the NBA a fixed amount for the endorsement and promotion of the game, or whether the NBA teams will be paid a share of the revenues (i.e. "rake") derived from operating the game.

Also unclear is whether Yahoo! has fully indemnified the NBA for any liability that could stem from operating this game, especially given that the Yahoo! Sports Terms of Service does not necessarily exclude every state with some risk for running a fantasy sports contest --even though Yahoo! Sports is indeed more risk adverse than CBS Sports.  (For further discussion of that point, see here).

Finally, the NBA's current position in endorsing play-for-cash fantasy basketball leagues helps to clarify the league's stance on what forms of sports gaming it deems acceptable.   Although the NBA continues to publicly support the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 and its ban on most forms of sports betting, the NBA clearly now supports pay-to-enter fantasy leagues -- at least of the seasonal duration variety.   Of course, from the standpoint of the NBA team owners, with fantasy sports looking like far more than just a fad, it is in their interest to share in the profits of America's new national pastime, rather than foregoing an increasingly lucrative revenue stream.

(For more on legal issues in fantasy sports, please see my Harvard law journal article, A Short Treatise on Fantasy Sports and the Law).

Beckham to part with LA galaxy contract after MLS Cup Final

David Beckham will quit his six years with Los Angeles Galaxy after his final game on Dec 1st after the MLS Cup Final against Houston Dynamo.  



In his announcement Beckham said "I've had an incredibly special time playing for the LA Galaxy, however, I wanted to experience one last challenge before the end of my playing career".

A big $32.5 million deal paid off for both sides, as he

Brian Burke and Mike Milbury join Vermont Law School Sports Law Institute

We are thrilled to announce that NHL executives Brian Burke and Mike Milbury have joined our Vermont Law School Sports Law Institute as members of the Board of Advisors.

As I'll detail later this week, we are close to finalizing plans for Milbury to speak at Vermont Law School on Tuesday, November 27 at 2 pm on the NHL Lockout and where things go from here.

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Brian Burke is an American-Canadian ice hockey executive who is currently the President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Burke has also served as General Manager of the Anaheim Ducks—leading the club to its first Stanley Cup championship—as well as the Vancouver Canucks and Hartford Whalers. Burke previously worked in the NHL front office as Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations, spent six years as a player agent, and played professional hockey for the Marine Mariners of the American Hockey League. He received the 2008 Lester Patrick Award for his outstanding service to hockey in the United States. Burke is a graduate of Providence College and Harvard Law School.

Mike Milbury is an American sportscaster currently working as an ice hockey analyst for the NHL on NBC and Comcast Sports New England. He has also presented on ESPN, Versus, and CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada. Milbury played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League as a defenseman for the Boston Bruins. He coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals and the President’s Trophy for the best record in the league. Milbury spent 11 seasons with the New York Islanders, where he worked as the team’s General Manager, Head Coach, and Senior Vice President. He is an inductee of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, and holds a degree from Colgate University.