Prerequisites: None

Exam Type: Please refer to the Fall 2020 Tentative Exam Schedule

This course will provide students the opportunity to negotiate and draft agreements that a lawyer advising a sports team would encounter. Students in the course will learn about the various components of complex deal documents and have the opportunity to then draft these documents. Students in the course will also explore and experiment with negotiating strategies. Overall, the goal of the course is to have students master skills related to negotiating, drafting, and analyzing the various “moving parts” of complicated agreements regarding stadium leasing; naming rights; sponsorship; media rights; food and beverage; provision of medical; hospital and financial services; state-operated entities; and purchase and sale of sports teams.

Additional Written Work Option: Any student can earn up to two (2) additional Independent Writing credits by completing any of the Agreement-related assignments listed in the course syllabus. In other words, as to the Lease Agreement and the Other Agreements listed in the syllabus, we will only be able to draft selected clauses from each of the Agreements. If any student chooses to draft additional clauses and/or any of those syllabus-listed Agreements in their entirety, Professor Carfagna would be happy to supervise such a project for an extra credit or 2 credits, depending upon the length of the project.

Students taking this course and who are interested in sports law clinical placements during winter or spring are strongly encouraged to enroll in the fall “Sports and the Law: Examining the Legal History and Evolution of America’s Three “Major League” Sports: MLB, NFL and NBA.”

Note: The last class session will be held on TBD.

This course fulfills the pre-requisite for the Sports Law Clinic. Please see the clinic’s description or review the Sports Law Clinic Guide for more information.

Textbook(s):
(Required) Peter A. Carfagna, Negotiating and Drafting Sports Venue Agreements 2d Ed. (West 2016).
ISBN: 978-1-63460-348-5