Arkansas State Moves Forward With Lawsuit Against UM
At first, Arkansas State was only threatening a lawsuit against the University of Miami for canceling a football game last year and refusing to pay the previously negotiated fee for Arkansas State adding the game to its schedule. But after Miami balked at the idea of paying, Arkansas State has gone ahead and filed suit, seeking $650,000 in damages.
Miami's main defense is that the very dangerous Hurricane Irma was on a path to hit Florida hard and the school had little-to-no choice to cancel the game. Furthermore, a force majeure clause was found within the contract between the two schools, which gave Miami many ways to get out of the deal without harm. However, Arkansas State will say that the clause does not constitute an appropriate defense, highlighting the lack of any language related to "hurricanes" therein.
“It is unfortunate that we have reached this point, but Miami’s actions left us with no choice,” said Arkansas State general counsel Brad Phelps. “We look forward to proceeding to trial.”
While any school in Florida, particularly in South Florida, should be much more cautious to include the word "hurricane" within a force majeure clause, it seems rather unlikely that Arkansas State has a good case on its hands. It seems much more likely that the school may litigate for a little bit and then accept a low-ball settlement offer. The force majeure clause appears to be broad enough to encompass an event such as Hurricane Irma and it should be successfully argued that Miami found itself in a position where it made sense, from a safety standpoint, to cancel the game.
College Basketball Corruption Case May Soon Expand
The college basketball corruption scandal that shook up those in the coach, agent and apparel industries is still very much being pursued by the U.S. Attorney in New York as well as the F.B.I. The governmental entities have been busy combing through communications and documents, using many of the originally charged individuals in an effort to try to catch bigger fish.
Motions to dismiss certain individuals from the cases have been denied and now there is speculation that many more people and schools may be affected by the ongoing investigation. Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports reported this week that "what's becoming increasingly clear as the discovery portion of the case comes to a close is that the breadth of potential NCAA rules violations uncovered is wide enough to fundamentally and indelibly alter the sport of college basketball."
The assumption of Thamel is that every major conference will be affected as well as Hall of Fame coaches and some top players. One source told Thamel that "almost half of the 16 teams the NCAA showed on its initial NCAA tournament show . . . should worry about their appearance being vacated."
Another source said of basketball agent Andy Miller, "if the NCAA is going to get Andy Miller's bank records, G-d bless them, I don't know what they're going to do. You are better off changing the rules."
The Dirty Details Of A Lawsuit Against Coach Josh Pastner
Georgia Tech basketball coach Josh Pastner is being sued, but he is also the plaintiff in a lawsuit that alleges defamation. On the other side of Pastner is Ron Bell, someone who appeared to be Pastner's friend for many years, and Bell's girlfriend Jennifer Pendley, who says that she was sexually assaulted by Pastner and that Pastner masturbated in front of her as well as attempted to force her to perform oral sex.
Pastner has said that, "[There is] unequivocally, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero truth to any of those disgusting, bogus allegations."
Pastner's own lawsuit claims that he and Bell had been close friends, that they had a falling out and then Bell threatened to expose NCAA violations against a couple of his players at Georgia Tech. The coach says he had no knowledge of and had nothing to do with the impermissible benefits received by the players.
Bottom-line: it is a mess for Pastner and Georgia Tech as they try to avoid allegations by Bell and Pendley and keep their reputations safe from what are very strong accusations.
New Jersey Preps For Legalized Sports Betting
No one knows for sure when the U.S. Supreme Court will finally decide the pending case that involves the constitutionality of a twenty-five year old federal law that prohibits sports betting. But the decision will come out this year and states like New Jersey are getting prepared for what they hope will be an overturning of the law.
In fact, New Jersey is currently accepting applications for licenses should the law change and is encouraging sports betting platforms to apply now so that they will be ready to get in on the action as soon as possible.
"Don't sit back and wait for the regulations," New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Director David Rebuck recently said. "If you sit and wait, you will be left behind."
Many applications have been received, and much more are expected. Sports betting legalization would add to the online poker that is already permitted to be played within New Jersey's borders.
Darren Heitner is the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C. and Sports Agent Blog. He authored the book, How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know.
