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Sports Law Research Guide

Introduction & Scope

Legal issues related to sports revolve around a number of areas of law, ranging from contracts to torts to intellectual property and others, so secondary sources are often the best place to begin when researching a sports law question. These secondary sources will point researchers to relevant statutory and case law. This guide will identify a few of the major federal statutes directly impacting sports law, but its primary focus will be on the secondary resources available to members of the Georgetown Law community to begin sports law research.

For international sports law research, please refer to our Olympics & International Sports Law Research Guide. Guides on specific legal topics, such as contract law, tort law, etc., are included in our entire listing of research guides.

Getting Started

It is often recommended that researchers begin by finding a treatise which provides an in depth analysis of a topical area of law. Some of the recommended treatises for Sports Law include:

  • Patrick K. Thornton, Sports Law (2011) KF3989 .T48 2011 This treatise looks at the major cases, statutes and regulations for a range of legal issues in sports law, including contracts, agents, drug testing, amateur athletics and labor relations in the sports arena. Each chapter includes additional reference materials and suggested readings.

  • Walter T. Champion, Sports Law in a Nutshell (2009) KF3989.Z9 C48 For a quick introduction to the legal environment surrounding the sports world, Champion's nutshell covers topics such as contracts, financial considerations, antitrust, torts and liabilities. Appendices include sample contracts and the Mitchell Report on illegal use of steroids.

  • Walter T. Champion, Fundamentals of Sports Law (2004) KF3989 .C47 The major sections of this West publication include injuries, constitutional implications, contracts and statutory implications. Other features include helpful research references and key number guidance. Updated by pocket parts.

Primary Law Sources

Case Law

For information on researching United States case law generally, see Georgetown Law Library's Case Law Research Guide or the Case Law Research Tutorial.

Casebooks are useful for finding court opinions dealing with sports law, as well as commentary on the decisions. Some casebooks on sports law include the following:

  • Matthew J. Mitten, et. al., Sports Law and Regulation: Cases, Materials, and Problems (2009) KF3989 .S6775 Material includes regulation of interscholastic, intercollegiate and professional athletics, with additional chapters on coaches' contracts, league governance and intellectual property issues in sports.
  • Ray Yasser, et. al., Sports Law Cases and Materials (4th ed., 2000) KF3989.A7 Material is presented for amateur sports, professional sports and issues common to amateur and professional sports.

You Make the Call - This semi-annual newsletter, published by the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University Law School, identifies and analyzes the most recent cases in sports law.

Statutes

For information on researching U.S. statutory law generally, see Georgetown Law Library's Statutes Research Guide or the Statutory Research Tutorial.

Federal statutes (select statutes applicable to sports law)

Uniform Laws

State Statutes (50 state surveys)

  • Subject Compilations of State Laws (KF1 .F67)
    Also available electronically on HeinOnline
    Organized by subject, this is an annual list of sources, including journal articles, books, reports, and databases, that include state law surveys. Relevant subjects include sports, athletes, sports officials, sports agents and individual sports, such as baseball, etc.

Congressional Publications

Over the years, the U.S. Congress has gotten involved in the sports world, by introducing legislation and conducting hearings on topics such as anti-doping, work stoppages in professional sports and the efffect of smokeless tobacco use on the health of our nation's youth. The hearings, reports and committee prints generated can be accessed through Lexis/Nexis Congressional (GULC only).

Recent Congressional material is also available through the federal government website, FDsys. For the most efficient search, select a specific collection(i.e. Congressional Hearings) to search using the Advanced Search capability.

The Congressional Research Service publishes backgrounders for members of Congress on numerous topics. A few recent reports on Sports include:

For additional information on researching legislative history generally, see Georgetown Law Library's Legislative History Research Guide or the Legislative History Tutorial.

Secondary Sources

Law Journals

For information on finding law review and journal articles generally, see our guide Articles for Legal & Non-Legal Research and our Secondary Sources Tutorial.

Selective specialized journals on Sports Law include:

  • Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport (available electronically) (1991- )

  • Marquette Sports Law Review (formerly Marquette Sports Law Journal) (available in print at K13 .A703 and electronically) (1990- )

  • University of Miami Entertainment & Sports Law Review (available electronically) (1980-1997)

  • Seton Hall Journal of Sports & Entertainment (formerly Seton Hall Journal of Sport Law) (available in print at K23 .E29 and electronically ) (1991- )

  • Sports Lawyers Journal (available in print at K23 .P673 and electronically) (1994- )

  • Villanova Sports & Entertainment Law Journal (formerly Villanova Sports & Entertainment Forum) (available in print at K26 .I4392 and electronically) (1994- )

  • Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal (formerly Journal of Virginia Journal of Sports & the Law) (available in print at K26 .I76 and electronically) (2001- )

On HeinOnline in the Law Journal Library, you can browse by Subject to "Sports Law" and then conduct a search within those predefined journals.

Databases

  • Sports Research Network (GULC only) - Research, statistics, reports and articles are arranged by sport. Publications can be searched back to 1995.

  • SportsDiscus (GULConly) - This EBSCO database provides access to full-text articles and bibliographic entries on sports law & legislation, sports management, college & university sport, as well as all other aspect of sports.

  • Proquest - Interdisciplinary academic and popular journal database which provides access to publications such as Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, Journal of Sport Behavior , and others.

News & Current Awareness

Other Resources

Sports Organizations & Leagues

Academic Sports Institutes & Legal Associations

Research Guides

  • Entertainment Law Research Guide (Georgetown Law Library) - sports law is often covered in more general entertainment law reporters & law journals, so this guide expands on the resources found above

  • Sports Law ( Legal Information Institute) - basic overview of the areas covered by sports law, including amateur vs. professional sports

  • Sports Law Resource Guide (Cleveland-Marshall College of Law)

  • Sports Management Research Guide (Lauinger Library)- includes links to statistics, sports management resources, and journals and books on sports
  • Scholarly Sports Sites - Links to associations, sports charters, databases & scholarly resources for research in sports.

Created 10/10(MK)
Links 1/12 (MK)

Page last saved 19-Jan-2012