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Baseball
at East Carolina
Center for Sports and the Law to Host Panel Discussion
12/8/2009 7:00:00 AM | Athletics
DURHAM, N.C. – It isn't all about fun and games. Sport also is about big business, legal issues, ethical practices, and global expansion.
Duke is prepared to help with the myriad of issues. In New York City on Dec. 9, the University's Center for Sports and the Law -- along with the athletic department -- will co-sponsor an inaugural panel discussion featuring several national, high-profile executives from the athletic world.
Former Duke basketball player and current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas is set to serve as host for a group that includes Adam Silver, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the NBA; Mark Waller, chief marketing officer for the NFL; Tim Brosnan, executive vice-president of business for Major League Baseball; and Jim Tanner, a specialist in sports and law and negotiations.
The NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball all want to create a stronger presence abroad, heighten exposure, and generate maximum revenue. To accomplish that international mission requires business expertise, effectively dealing with foreign governments, and adhering to multiple legal regulations.
In short, it's a complex challenge, yet one many consider worthwhile in the ever expanding business of sports.
“We believe sport is a form of international and cultural exchange,'' said Paul Haagen, a noted Duke Law professor. “It has become a business and is appropriate for people concerned to take it seriously.
“Duke is one of the places that takes athletics very seriously and is one of the great universities. It's a natural place to do a serious study.”
Star-Studded Staff
The University faculty includes several professors who have extensive sports and law knowledge -- Haagen, Charles Clotfelter, John Weistart, Doriane Coleman and Jim Coleman.
For the past 20 years, Haagen has advised Duke athletes who are beginning a venture into pro careers.
Doriane Coleman was a four-time national champion in track and field and instrumental in starting her sport's anti-doping methods. Husband Jim, a former Harvard athlete, assisted the NFL and other high-level organizations with their drug policies. Weistart is a co-author of The Law and Sports and Clotfelter is working on a book about big-time athletics and its role in U.S. universities.
Any questions? These professors just might have some answers.
In addition to the meeting into New York, the Duke Center for Sports and The Law, which Duke Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White helped establish, will host other symposiums and panel discussions in the future.
“We will be looking at Title IX, at the regulation of doping, at the entire concept of amateurism,'' said Haagen, citing a few topics. “Sport is all about control competition, who sets the controls, under what terms.”
At the New York function, another subject likely to surface involves aids athletes with handicaps use in competition, plus a question concerning a track sprinter's gender.
South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee, is a highly successful in Paralympics competition. The debate is whether his Cheetah Flex Blade prosthesis gives him an unfair advantage.
On another note, South Africa's Caster Semenya is a world champion in the women's 800 meters, but some skeptics aren't sure about that. Semenya has been trying to convince officials she deserves to compete as a female.
Determining the right ruling in those cases is “tough intellectually,'' Haagen said.
Such is sport. Such is law.
Expanding Boundaries
America's games like basketball, baseball and football are already in foreign countries, to varying degrees. Placing teams there permanently is another matter.
For example, should the NBA try to establish a franchise in China or Japan, it would be competing with those countries' leagues and that would create “all kinds of questions,” Haagen said.
In baseball, major league teams are attempting to sign players from Japan. But the Japanese wants their native sons to join their league first and has threatened to boycott the prospects if they jump straight to America's Major League, Haagen said.
“Sport presents some really interesting legal problems,'' Haagen told the Law School publicity department. “It raises issues of competition and limits of competition in unusual and particularly intense ways.”
Bilas, in his role as moderator, thinks the conversation in New York will be enlightening.
“I hope to get the panel to flush out the issues of globalization in sports,'' he said. “There are different ways each sport will go about it. I will be listening a lot.”
Tune in.
Duke is prepared to help with the myriad of issues. In New York City on Dec. 9, the University's Center for Sports and the Law -- along with the athletic department -- will co-sponsor an inaugural panel discussion featuring several national, high-profile executives from the athletic world.
Former Duke basketball player and current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas is set to serve as host for a group that includes Adam Silver, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the NBA; Mark Waller, chief marketing officer for the NFL; Tim Brosnan, executive vice-president of business for Major League Baseball; and Jim Tanner, a specialist in sports and law and negotiations.
The NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball all want to create a stronger presence abroad, heighten exposure, and generate maximum revenue. To accomplish that international mission requires business expertise, effectively dealing with foreign governments, and adhering to multiple legal regulations.
In short, it's a complex challenge, yet one many consider worthwhile in the ever expanding business of sports.
“We believe sport is a form of international and cultural exchange,'' said Paul Haagen, a noted Duke Law professor. “It has become a business and is appropriate for people concerned to take it seriously.
“Duke is one of the places that takes athletics very seriously and is one of the great universities. It's a natural place to do a serious study.”
Star-Studded Staff
The University faculty includes several professors who have extensive sports and law knowledge -- Haagen, Charles Clotfelter, John Weistart, Doriane Coleman and Jim Coleman.
For the past 20 years, Haagen has advised Duke athletes who are beginning a venture into pro careers.
Doriane Coleman was a four-time national champion in track and field and instrumental in starting her sport's anti-doping methods. Husband Jim, a former Harvard athlete, assisted the NFL and other high-level organizations with their drug policies. Weistart is a co-author of The Law and Sports and Clotfelter is working on a book about big-time athletics and its role in U.S. universities.
Any questions? These professors just might have some answers.
In addition to the meeting into New York, the Duke Center for Sports and The Law, which Duke Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White helped establish, will host other symposiums and panel discussions in the future.
“We will be looking at Title IX, at the regulation of doping, at the entire concept of amateurism,'' said Haagen, citing a few topics. “Sport is all about control competition, who sets the controls, under what terms.”
At the New York function, another subject likely to surface involves aids athletes with handicaps use in competition, plus a question concerning a track sprinter's gender.
South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee, is a highly successful in Paralympics competition. The debate is whether his Cheetah Flex Blade prosthesis gives him an unfair advantage.
On another note, South Africa's Caster Semenya is a world champion in the women's 800 meters, but some skeptics aren't sure about that. Semenya has been trying to convince officials she deserves to compete as a female.
Determining the right ruling in those cases is “tough intellectually,'' Haagen said.
Such is sport. Such is law.
Expanding Boundaries
America's games like basketball, baseball and football are already in foreign countries, to varying degrees. Placing teams there permanently is another matter.
For example, should the NBA try to establish a franchise in China or Japan, it would be competing with those countries' leagues and that would create “all kinds of questions,” Haagen said.
In baseball, major league teams are attempting to sign players from Japan. But the Japanese wants their native sons to join their league first and has threatened to boycott the prospects if they jump straight to America's Major League, Haagen said.
“Sport presents some really interesting legal problems,'' Haagen told the Law School publicity department. “It raises issues of competition and limits of competition in unusual and particularly intense ways.”
Bilas, in his role as moderator, thinks the conversation in New York will be enlightening.
“I hope to get the panel to flush out the issues of globalization in sports,'' he said. “There are different ways each sport will go about it. I will be listening a lot.”
Tune in.
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