Did you hear the news? The members of the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team have been deemed employees of the school and voted to unionize under federal labor law. How could you miss it? The crush of media reports has...more
4/2/2024
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Collective Bargaining ,
College Athletes ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Name and Likeness ,
NCAA ,
NLRB ,
Unions
As summer turns to fall, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, with choreographed fanfare, celebrated Labor Day by signing several employment-related bills into law. Notably missing from the Governor’s autograph spree was...more
9/19/2023
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Gender Identity ,
General Meetings ,
Larceny ,
New York ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Political Speech ,
Religious Beliefs ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage Theft
In the beginning of the name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) era in college sports, state laws, NCAA regulations, boosters, and collectives have been the prime focus for both observers and NIL stakeholders, with seven-figure NIL...more
Last week, on November 1, 2022, New York City’s pay transparency law became effective. The law amends the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) to make it unlawful for a New York City employer to advertise a job,...more
Pay transparency laws are catching fire in legislative bodies around the country. As we have previously reported, these laws, which target pay equity, have gone into effect in a number of jurisdictions, such as Colorado and...more
Week after week, this publication has been producing informative pieces on COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the workplace – see here, here, and here – and for good reason. Employers (and employees) have been grappling with a...more
1/19/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
New Guidance ,
New York ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In November of last year, an esports viewership record was set when over 4 million people watched the 2021 World Championship for League of Legends. The high mark, which came despite the exclusion of Chinese platforms,...more
1/10/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
eSports ,
Gambling ,
Investment ,
Licensing Rules ,
Match Fixing ,
Monetization ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Proposed Regulation
What is happening out in Colorado?
Sitting here in my New York City office, I have in the last few weeks received an unusual uptick in queries about a relatively new Colorado employment law, the Equal Pay for Equal Work...more
What is happening out in Colorado? Sitting here in my New York City office, I have in the last few weeks received an unusual uptick in queries about a relatively new Colorado employment law, the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act...more
“And a little child shall lead them” -- a biblical phrase that might loosely apply to esports and the larger video gaming industry, where youth dominates the gamer and influencer landscape and the streaming platforms where...more
At the end of March – amid the first wave of COVID-19-related shutdown orders – an esports record was broken when 1.3 million broadcast television viewers tuned in to watch professional NASCAR drivers compete in a virtual...more
11/17/2020
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Capital Investments ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Employee Training ,
eSports ,
Fraud ,
NASCAR ,
Popular ,
Sports Gambling ,
Video Games
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted traditional sports and the entertainment industry, esports and the broader video gaming industry seem to have barely missed a beat, perhaps even growing, as a world in...more
As the coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc on markets and industries in the U.S. and around the world, businesses are now confronting significant and unique challenges. Successful navigation of these challenges...more
3/18/2020
/ Business Continuity Plans ,
Business Disruption ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Event Cancellation ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Insurance Claims ,
Operating Agreements ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Sports ,
State of Emergency ,
Supply Chain ,
Workplace Safety
In May 2019, the esports industry was rocked when Turner Tenney – the famed Fortnite player and streaming star known as “Tfue” – sued the well-known esports and media company FaZe Clan in California state court. The suit...more
1/22/2020
/ Business Opportunities ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Contract Disputes ,
Employment Litigation ,
Entertainment Industry ,
eSports ,
Forum Selection ,
Gaming ,
Jurisdiction ,
Labor Commissioners ,
Online Gaming ,
Sponsorship Agreements ,
Video Games
Welcome to Foley & Lardner’s Technology MarketTrends newsletter. In each issue, we will offer insights into the latest tech developments and best practices. This edition covers the esports and video gaming sectors....more
6/21/2019
/ China ,
eSports ,
Gaming ,
Global Market ,
Online Gaming ,
South Korea ,
Sports Betting ,
Startups ,
Technology Sector ,
Venture Capital ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Reality
Leveraging its long history and extensive experience in all aspects of the sports arena, the Foley Sports Industry Team is actively immersed in the booming esports industry. Our Esports Insights and Trends will be a recurring...more
This week, the Washington Post reported that a professional sports team in Dallas had released one of its star players for committing multiple violations of the league’s player conduct rules, specifically its rules...more
Leveraging its long history and extensive experience in all aspects of the sports arena, the Foley Sports Industry Team is actively immersed in the booming esports industry. Our Esports Insights and Trends will be a recurring...more
3/1/2018
/ Athletes ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Gaming ,
Gaming Commissions ,
Internet Streaming ,
Investors ,
Live Streaming ,
Olympics ,
Online Gaming ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Social Media ,
Sports ,
Sports Gambling ,
Technology Sector ,
Video Games
Leveraging its long history and extensive experience in all aspects of the sports arena, the Foley Sports Industry Team is actively immersed in the booming esports industry. Our Esports Insights and Trends will be a recurring...more
1/24/2018
/ China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
eSports ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investors ,
Online Platforms ,
Popular ,
Software Developers ,
Sports ,
Sports Gambling ,
UK ,
Video Games
Recently, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals turned the switch on a fan’s seemingly dormant class action suit against the National Football League concerning its 2014 Super Bowl Ticket Distribution Policy, which limited...more
1/4/2018
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Fraud ,
Event Tickets ,
Football ,
NFL ,
NJ Supreme Court ,
Sports ,
Standing ,
Ticket Pricing
“Close some doors today. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they lead you nowhere.” This quote (attributed to Brazilian author Paulo Cuelho) comes to mind with last month’s filing of yet another...more
11/8/2017
/ College Athletes ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Definition ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
NCAA ,
NLRA ,
Non-Employees ,
School Sports ,
Student Athletes ,
Universities ,
Wage and Hour
Boo! It appears that fright-fest preparations for New York City employers will come early this year now that Mayor de Blasio has signed a New York City law that prohibits employers from inquiring into or relying on a job...more
Bong … Bong … Bong … that is the death knell you thought you heard following the decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (covering Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin) in Berger v. NCAA earlier this month. After that...more
Too much of a good thing can be bad – a maxim that some employers have historically ignored by requiring entire workforces, including rank-and-file employees, to submit to post-employment noncompete obligations as a condition...more
In deference to Bob Dylan, while you may not need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, employers quite often rely on employment lawyers to help them recognize an approaching legal storm and how best to prepare for...more