American Needle vs. The National Football League Properties

1. Discuss the factors that have resulted in the NFL becoming “America’s Game” and the

After the NFL commissioner came under scrutiny from Washington lawmakers on whether or not the injuries in his sport were the cause of traumatic brain disease. The commissioner enacted a policy that players had to pass a series of test by a neurologist prior to them being allowed to return to play( Grove, J) This policy change is similar to a normal employee passing a physical from their primary Doctor before they could return to work. The Commissioner enacted this policy to prevent players from returning to the game to soon. The current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wasn’t the first recognize that his sport had a problem taking care of its players. In 1962 the rule of no “Face masking” was enacted. This rule prohibited a player from grabbing another player’s facemask (Grove, J 657). In the late 1970’s an additional rule was enacted. The NFL finally passed a rule prohibiting players from using their helmets to

The legal dispute between the National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks and Texas A&M University over the exploitation of the slogan “12th Man” is not only a respectable example of the significance of brand loyalty, but it is also an important case that proves the importance of having a strong brand equity. Both sport organizations take considerable pride in their supporters and fans, who they realize is the backbone of their success as an organization/ corporation. Texas A&M University’s claim over the use of the phrase “12th Man” was arguable but they stood their ground when the Seahawks defied the University’s letter to discontinue their usage of the phrase. The TAMU Vice President for Communications was protected under the Federal Trademark Act of 1946, which had the purpose of defending the right of the owner to protect the mark that symbolizes their respective organization. The case between the two warring sport properties (which was ultimately settled out of court) proved the importance of brand equity and the benefits of it as well—one major benefit being the licensing and merchandising opportunities to sell to other organizations. In exchange for the Seahawks to use the 12th man trademark, they had to pay a $100,000 licensing fee plus, publicly

An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these

The motion for partial summary for the plaintiff was denied by the court and the objection was overruled without prejudice to raise the issue for consideration at trial.

While growing up in the state of Texas I was introduced to National Football League (NFL) at a very young age. Not only was I obsessed with great players like Emmitt Smith and Michael Irving, I had a more finical appreciation for the lucrativeness associated with the NFL. My young adulthood as well as my teenage years was spent playing and learning football with the aspirations of hopefully making it to the NFL. Unfortunately, my playing days ended with tryouts at Texas Tech University, but my love for the game has remained stagnant over the years even till this day. The NFL today is Americas most watched sports league and has taken the crown as the most lucrative and unique economic force in sports. Forbes offered approximations stating that on average, the NFL generates more than $6-9 billion a year in revenues alone. A third of the individual franchises in the league were appraised at over more than $1 billion while the other franchises average nine figures or higher. The NFL as an organization generates its revenues through a multitude of ways ranging from huge television contracts, in-stadium ticket sales, advertising ads paid for by sponsors and merchandise. Their business model unlike most other leagues, is centered on a hard salary cap on player contracts which provides cost certainty with its sponsors. In this paper, I will examine the economic and historical narrative associated with the growth of the NFL’s

Reviewing the dispositions, the court denies plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment on both its first and second causes of action….

The committee studies injury data and equipment research to assist the NFL focused on specific ideas related to players’ health. Other committees such as the Former Players and Long-term Effects Subcommittee have helped with the funding (“Health Committees Plan Help to Guide NFL’s Safety Plans”). The NFL is committed to supporting a wide range of independent research addressing CTE and clubs have committed a $30 million research grant, $100 million investment for medical research providing millions of dollars to additional grants, and funding for research projects on CTE (Fainaru-Wada, Avila, Fainaru). Despite the fact that the NFL is supporting research and advocating awareness through its programs, it is still argued that they are being inconsistent with enforcing their own rules within the game.

The NFL’s newest initiative, “my cause, my cleats,” is vastly different than anything the NFL has done to date. The newest initiative allows the players a temporary amnesty from the usually very strict NFL uniform rules. In week 13 all players were allowed to customize cleats in support of a charity or movement. Some of the foundations and charities that players chose to honor were:

Although Erik Spanberg and Adam O’Daniel (2014) stated that none of the Panthers’ financial sponsors will likely pull away from their donations, these major corporate sponsors don’t want to further tarnish their reputation with the NFL’s bad publicity. Nonetheless, if a NFL’s future decision regarding domestic violence, a widely debated topic in the NFL, generates more negative publicity, these major corporations are willing to stop sponsoring their teams. For example, due to the Adrian Peterson’s famous domestic violence and child abuse case, major sponsor Nike issued the following statement:

Personal conduct in the NFL, National Football League, is an issue that is starting to spiral out of control. Late September, 2014, “the league [had] suspended at least 20 players for actions including assault, substance abuse and use of performance-enhancing drugs” (White); this was only a few weeks into the regular season of play for the league. The NFL has grown enormously since it was founded on August 20, 1920 in Canton, Ohio. But, this league has become more and more lenient with its players and personnel. Many professional athletes in the NFL receive special treatment regardless of their improper actions, thus allowing them to elude the consequences and in turn setting a misleading example for their young fans. In order

In 1961, Congress passed the Sports Broadcasting Act which allowed major professional sports to pool the broadcast rights of its member clubs to negotiate television broadcast agreements that normally would have violated federal antitrust laws. (21 Jeffery S. Moorad Sports Law Journal 577) This antitrust exemption enabled the NFL to protect its primary revenue source of live attendance by negotiating with the networks as to when and where games would be televised.

This case study touches on many topics within licensing but the three most dominant aspects within the Warnaco Group vs. Calvin Klein suit are the agreements and understandings discussed with a contract, the rights to a trademark and the rights of both the licensor and the licensee. While briefing this case study one can not help but notice, stated on page 21, the agreements that are displayed in exhibit 1: Excerpts from Calvin Klein Jeanswear Licensing Agreement. Here it is clear that the agreement, signed by BOTH parties, states that Warnaco agrees to maximize the quantity of Articles sold, and will be consistent with CKI’s past practices. One can assume, that due to the prolonged history between the two parties this includes Costco, Sam’s Club and BJs store, which alone were held responsible for 150 million dollars in warehouse sales, just one year prior to the filing of the lawsuit. It is also important to point out that this licensing agreement is not with CKI as the owner, it is in fact a licensing agreement with the CK Trademark Trust being the beneficial owner to ALL rights, titles and interest in or to the Licensed Mark. The licensing agreement then continues to state that “Warnaco controls any such act or thing which may cause any affect to the Trust.” With the understanding of licensing,

Each year NFL partners up with sporting brands including Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Gatorade, Wilson, Under Armour, Cutters Gloves, McArthur Towel and Sports and

Economic theory introduces us to four different types of markets: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. Professional sports teams operate in an environment that is different than the typical business structure. The goal of this paper is to look at this industry, in particular the NFL, in an economics context and gain an understanding of the market structure of this unique industry. To do this I will discuss a brief history of the National Football League in the U.S. and how this organization is structured. I will also discuss typical market structures and type of