Mark A. Dodds

Can a Sport Organization Monitor Its Employees' and Athletes' Use of Social Media?

In Pietrylo v. Hillstone Restaurant Group, the plaintiff filed a wrongful-discharge claim against his employer after he was fired for content he had posted about the employer on a social media web site. This article discusses the implications of the courts decision on athletes in the sport industry.

U.S. Supreme Court Holds NFL Is Not a Single Entity

9 JOPERD • Volume 81 No. 9 • November/December 2010 The United States Supreme Court’s decision in American Needle Inc. v. National Football League, et al. was widely expected by many legal commentators to be one of the most significant sport cases in history. In American Needle, the Supreme Court examined the issue of antitrust immunity for the National Football League (NFL), and its subsidiary entity, NFL Properties (NFLP). The court held that the alleged conduct related to licensing of intellectual property constitutes concerted action that is not categorically beyond section one of the Sherman Act.

The Ultimate Penalty Box: Fayetteville-Manlius is Disqualified from the State Playoffs for Playing Too Many Games

Instead of playing in the state tournament, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys hockey team was disqualified because they played too many games. The New York State Public High School Athletic Association limits hockey teams to 20 regular season games, but Fayetteville-Manlius mistakenly considered one of its competitions to be a scrimmage instead of a regular season game.

Inherent Risk or Risky Decision? Coach's Failure to Use Safety Device an Assumed Risk.

The court examined whether a coachs failure to implement a safety device during pitching practice enhanced the risk to the athlete or resulted in a suboptimal playing condition, in the context of the assumption of risk doctrine.

Selling to Visiting Fans at the Expense of Home Field Advantage

After eight years on staff, Katie Harris was recently promoted from director of ticket operations to a new position as associate athletic director at Montgomery University (MU). Several months into her new position, Katie is faced with a difficult challenge. Several thousand fans from conference rival Bucks State College (BSC) attended a men’s basketball game at the 15,000-seat MU Convocation Center. The large presence of BSC fans did nothing worthy of ejection, but was able to negatively impact the experience for many MU fans. MU’s high profile men’s basketball coach contacted the director of athletics requesting if something could be done to reduce the impact of visiting fans. Though the coach understands that dealing with opposing fans is part of sport, even on a team’s home court, the environment has become a distraction for coaches, players, and many significant athletic department donors who pay premium prices for season tickets. The coach received complaints from numerous supporters indicating that...