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United States Sports Law (LAWS70165)
Graduate coursework level 7Points: 12.5Not available in 2023
To learn more, visit 2023 Course and subject delivery.
Overview
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This subject is for those interested in how United States (US) intercollegiate, Olympic and professional sports are internally structured and governed and externally regulated by a wide variety of federal and state laws. Those who have taken this subject say it provides ‘great insights into the US sports law industry’ and ‘a thorough and interesting look at how things are done in the US sports industry and the role the US law system plays in the administration of sports’.
Taking this subject provides students with a comparative sports law perspective by studying how US law shapes and regulates the major North American professional sports leagues’ business models as well as the relationships among their member clubs and with their players and labor unions. It also looks at the ‘amateur’ model of intercollegiate athletics and the nature of the legal relationships between universities and studentathletes along with the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s governing authority and legal limits thereon. This subject considers how Olympic sports are governed by the United States Olympic Committee pursuant to the legal framework established by the Ted Stephens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. In addition, it covers some important legal issues affecting sports at each of these different levels of athletic competition such as protection of intellectual property and athlete health, safety and injury compensation issues.
The lecturer is the director of the premier sports law institute in the US and an internationally recognised sports law scholar who has substantial experience as a sports arbitrator, attorney and expert witness.
This subject will consider how intercollegiate, Olympic and professional sports are internally governed and regulated by the United States legal system.
Principal topics will include:
- Structure and organisation of US sports
- Regulating intercollegiate athletics, specifically the legal relationship between a university and its student athletes, university duty to protect student athletes’ health and safety, National Collegiate Athletic Association rules infraction enforcement process, scope of judicial review of NCAA rules and enforcement proceedings, antitrust issues and gender equity issues
- Regulating Olympic sports within the US, including limits on use of national law to regulate Olympic sports and the operation of the United States Anti-doping Agency
- Regulating professional athletics, specifically internal league governance and commissioner authority, antitrust limits on internal league governance, labor law and relations, labour arbitration, drug testing issues, and the injury compensation system for professional athletes as well as the legal framework for regulating athlete agents
- Protection of sports-related intellectual property under US law.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject should:
- Understand how professional, Olympic and intercollegiate sports are regulated by the United States legal system, and be able to make comparisons with the legal regulation of Australian sports
- Understand the key historical, sociological, economic and public policy issues influencing the development of US professional, Olympic and intercollegiate sports
- Understand the differing internal processes for regulating professional, Olympic and intercollegiate sports within the US
- Understand how various aspects of American public law, particularly antitrust and labour law, shape and constrain the internal regulatory authority of private sports leagues and organisations
- Understand how sports-related intellectual property is protected by US law as well as the limits on the nature and scope of such protection
- Be able to use this knowledge effectively in matters involving US sports organisations, leagues and athletes.
Last updated: 28 September 2023
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 28 September 2023
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Research paper on a topic approved by the subject coordinator
| 100% |
Last updated: 28 September 2023
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2023
Time commitment details
The pre-teaching period commences four weeks before the subject commencement date. From this time, students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from Melbourne Law School. Refer to the Reading Guide for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences.
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students. Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Last updated: 28 September 2023
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Core subject materials will be provided free of charge to all students. Some subjects require further texts to be purchased. Details regarding any prescribed texts will be provided prior to the commencement of the subject.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Graduate Diploma in Legal Studies Course Graduate Diploma in Sports Law Course Master of Commercial Law Course Master of Laws - Links to additional information
law.unimelb.edu.au
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If required, please contact law-admissions@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 28 September 2023