Legalities Regarding Sports Franchises & Sport's Agent's

Legalities Regarding Sports Franchises & Sport's Agent's

Paige Williams

Park University

Ethical Issues Regarding Sports Franchises

I. Introduction

a. Introduce the topic

b. Briefly touch on each point

c. Wrap up intro with a stat

I. Ethical Issues in Sports

a. Players

b. Coaching Staff & Management

c. Agents

II. Law Proceedings surrounding the world of sports

a. Quinn & Carl Carey Jr. Champion Pro Consulting Group Inc.

b. Dodger's Stadium (Brian Stow)

c. Dodger's & McCourt

d. Pay to Play

e. NBA Lock-Out

i. Anthony v. NBA

ii. NBA v. NBPA

f. Concussion Rulings

i. How players feel about this? (Brooks Laich)

III. Conclusion

a. Briefly hit the topic one last time

b. Give a conclusion as to how this can be controlled

Legalities Regarding Sports Franchises & Sport's Agent's

In today's society sports franchises and the agents behind each player play a huge role in what we as American's find entertaining. Even with every entertaining event, whether it's a game, concert, show etc, there are always legal and ethical issues that arise. There are ethical issues that pertain to the players, coaching staff, management, and even the agents behind each player. Throughout the years there have been many law proceedings that have come about. From things such as pay to play, the NBA lock-out of 2011, and even rulings regarding concussions have the sports industry spinning with controversy. Some many things surround the world of sports like scores, uniforms, championship games, but issues regarding the players, coaching staff, and management get left out for Americans to speculate.

Contracted athletes were not something that was always known. It wasn't but only within the last century that athletes were backed with a contract that had the rules and regulations of what they must abide by. Before contracts were established management and players had no way of holding athletes accountable for disobeying rules or policies. Since there were no contracts if a player was not paid on time or at all, there was no legal actions that could proceed since there was nothing written in contract about payments. Other issues regarding the athletes are of their health and the use of drugs. Athletes are now being drug tested at any random time, but that does not stop them all. Most famously known for drug use among the world of sports is Roger Clemons, who was accused of using a human growth hormone (HGH) to increase his performance at the plate. How about Barry Bond or Rafael Palmeiro who were also both accused of using performance enhancing drugs against the MLB's policies? All these men have gone against what their contracts tell them is expected of them while being a part of the Major League Baseball Association.

Not only are the players watched each and every day, as are the coaches/managers behind each of these teams. Each team is assigned what some may call a coach, but in some sports they are referred to as the manager or the club or organization. Managers are like the players in the aspect of having to abide by the same rules and regulations that are stated in their contracts. "They should not ask personnel to do anything against the rules of the game" (Guler, Necati). This should not come as a surprise to anyone. Coaches should be held to the same standards as the players. Lead by example. Some coaches find themselves in a position of breach of contract if they leave their current contracted school before the time is slated to either resign a new contract or decide to go elsewhere. Marist University filed against James Madison's Matt Brady for breach of contract, leaving before his contract was over. Marist sued Matt Brady along with James Madison for having a contractual relationship with Brady knowing he was currently contracted to coach at Marist (Fitzgerald, Dan). Coaches and managers alike should be well respected people who abide by the rules and regulations of the league or school and if they expect the athletes to abide by rules.

Behind every athlete there are the agent's that got them the deal and worked their contract before the athlete signed on the dotted line. Even though being an agent requires being a little manipulative to get what the athlete deserves doesn't mean the athletes deserve to be lied to and treated poorly. Agents are held accountable for all of the actions of the player on and off the courts, fields, sidelines etc. If a player is caught drinking excessively out in the public eye, he or she will more than likely have serious consequences for their actions. These actions that athletes take reflect on each of their agents. Agents make the common mistake of treating their athletes as dollar signs and not as people. For an agent it is very important to sign the athletes who they foresee as having the better future or career as a professional athlete to provide themselves with credibility to other uprising athletes. There are times were the acts of sports agents can become very questionable. For instance, a friend of mine plays minor league baseball for the Houston Astros, his agent pays for VIP access to the local clubs when he is visiting different places. This can be very questionable considering he is allowing his players to party with the possibility of that player getting into serious trouble. Now granted, this can happen even if the agent wasn't paying for this event, but by him paying it's as if he is condoning the actions of this player. Agents need to be very carefully that they do not over step boundaries between themselves and the players they support.

With all of the ethical issues that have been presented there is a guarantee that someone has had