76002 Sports Law

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2017 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Law
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks

Requisite(s): 70211 Contracts AND 70311 Torts
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.

Description

The law of sport and recreation is a commercial law subject. This is to be expected in an industry that is a major economic driver, generating revenue in the billions of dollars each year in Australia. Indeed, with the rise of the digital media, internationalisation and the increasing recognition of female competitions, sport is one of the world's fastest growing enterprises. With that growth comes a recognition of how the law guides and affects the business of sport and, in consequence, a growing demand for lawyers with pertinent expertise. Major sporting events such as an Australian grand final or an international fixture rely on legal advice touching on areas as diverse as event management, marketing and intellectual property, the avoidance of tortious law suits and on-field criminal assaults. Moreover, the public interest and financial stakes involved in sport disputes often leads to litigation within a few weeks of a cause of action arising. The increasing number of law journals in North America and Europe publishing on legal developments in sport is testament to the growing interest in and importance of the law of sport.

Within the broad areas of legal interest listed, a number of specific issues may arise, for example: what rights of appeal exist for non-selected athletes; prosecution for corruption and doping; athlete liability for off-field misconduct; to whom do team doctors owe their duty of care; are athletes illegally exploited by major sporting organisations; are sporting disciplinary tribunals entitled to cancel an athlete's contract; how should a sporting organisation deal with claims of discrimination; are coaches and clubs legally liable for the actions of their athletes; is it legal to exclude an athlete or member of the public from a sporting venue; when is a referee legally liable in tort?

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

1.	Appreciate the impact law has on the industry of sport and identify and critically analyse the legal issues sporting organisations and athletes face;
2.	Identify and evaluate links between the sports law content and other areas of law;
3.	Locate and synthesise research relevant to critically evaluate factual and legal sporting issues;
4.	Construct clear, original and persuasive oral and written arguments that are supported by research and textual readings;
5.	Identify and analyse sports law issues from facts and offer modes of resolution.

Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)

This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes:

• Critical Analysis and Evaluation
  A capacity to think critically, strategically and creatively including an ability to identify and articulate legal issues, apply reasoning and research, engage in critical analysis and make reasoned choices. (3.0)
• Research skills
  Well-developed cognitive and practical skills necessary to identify, research, evaluate and synthesise relevant factual, legal and policy issues. (4.0)
• Communication and Collaboration
  Effective and appropriate communication skills including highly effective use of the English language, an ability to inform, analyse, report and persuade using an appropriate medium and message and an ability to respond appropriately. (5.0)

Teaching and learning strategies

Strategy 1: Preparation for interactive lectures.

The lecture in Sports Law is interactive. To gain the full benefit of this form of lecture requires students to prepare each week ready to participate in the class. Your learning will be most effective when you are actively engaged in the learning process. Therefore, all students undertaking sports law are encouraged to prepare before class and actively participate in class. The value of interactive learning and teaching lies in its encouragement of higher order thinking skills such as critical analysis and evaluation. These are part of the subject objectives identified above. Each week, prior to lectures, materials such as cases, legislation, commentary and audio visual resources that students need to study and reflect on will be placed on UTSOnline by the lecturer.

During the interactive lecture the prepared material will be discussed and debated with resources such as video and media articles used to stimulate class involvement. With pre-class preparation, students will be able to identify a legal issue, apply the law to that issue, argue and debate in the lecture in respect to that issue, and offer a legal opinion as to the likely outcome. Students will be encouraged to bring to class media items collected during the week relevant to the subject and lead discussion of those issues.

As noted above, sport, as a visual enterprise, lends itself to analysis of legal issues through video presentation and media commentary. A great advantage of this subject is that while the law is often complex, the facts to which the law is to apply are readily discernible and understandable.

Strategy 2: Interactive lectures

Interactive lectures aim to enhance the ability of students to develop high order skills such as analysis, evaluation and the application of law to facts, all of which are required to become an effective legal practitioner. Students will practice these skills through class discussion and collaborative activities which enable them to identify and explain the key principles of sports law, analyse how those principles operate, and apply these principles in resolving legal problems associated with sport. Interactive lectures are most effective when students prepare for the lecture and are able to offer legal and factual insights into the points made by the lecturer and other students.

Strategy 3: Expert guest lecturers in the area of sport and the law

Guest lectures by current practitioners will also be arranged and provide students with the opportunity to evaluate such things as the adequacy of sports law in dealing with emerging legal problems and to understand the perspectives of key stakeholders. Students are encouraged to actively engage with guest lecturers by asking questions and challenging ideas.

Strategy 4: Learning through engagement in tutorials

Each week, students will engage in tutorial discussion led by peers, critically analyzing articles and cases pertinent to Sports Law. Oral communication skills are developed via leading discussion and providing feedback to fellow students who may be leading discussion in a particular week. Students may seek immediate feedback from tutors to refine their understanding of key and contentious issues in Sports Law. Independent preparation for tutorials is encouraged so as to maximize tutorial engagement, particularly for students leading discussion, who must submit a summary of their oral presentation two days prior to their presentation to the lecturer; summaries will also be made available on UTSOnline to benefit fellow students.

Strategy 5: Feedback

Feedback is essential to a student’s continuous improvement throughout the subject. Opportunities for feedback, including early feedback, are provided by the lecturer and peers via engagement in tutorial discussion. Further immediate feedback may be provided by the lecturer during tutorials.

Subject Delivery

The subject is delivered in the form of interactive lectures and tutorials.

Content (topics)

The content of the subject will be on the following topics:

• Violence in sport
• Sport and Disciplinary Tribunals
• Contract and Athlete Selection
• Discrimination in Sport
• Athlete and Player Agents
• Torts and Sport
• Doping in Sport
• Misconduct, punishment and termination
• Intellectual Property and Sport
• Restraint of Trade and Anti-Competitive Practices in Sport
• Marketing, the Law and Sport

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Class Presentation and Participation

Objective(s):	This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2 and 4 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0
Weight:	20%
Length:	1000 words (equivalent)
Criteria:	Assessment Criteria for oral presentation and written summary Marks regarding the presentation will be allocated according to: The capacity of the student to communicate (in all its forms), including clarity and brevity Quality of critical analysis Relevance of related material used to inform the presentation The ability to encourage class involvement The ability to answer questions from the floor Enthusiasm for their work. Assessment Criteria for class participation Minimum of 80% attendance is required for students to achieve a class participation mark higher than 50%. Any student who falls below this figure will be ineligible to be awarded a mark higher than 50% for the subject irrespective of their actual performance – subject to medically certificated illness or misadventure. Active engagement and contribution to class discussion Contribution through preparatory materials The presentation and submission will aim to critically review the particular article or case. There is scope for argument and disagreement with the theme of the article or the views expressed within the judgment. In fact, any related material may be utilised to inform the class and encourage class discussion. The idea is for the student to explore those areas they think are interesting and relevant to the article or case – in this sense the student is given a free hand and is only confined by the broad relevance of the information Given that the assessment involves a class presentation which in turn requires an audience to listen, participate and encourage by their presence, the minimum attendance required of individual students will be set at 80% of all classes. Of course, class members should attend all, not merely 80% of sessions, to enhance their learning and to support their fellow students. A similar observation can be made regarding the lectures

Assessment task 2: Written Submission

Objective(s):	This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3 and 4 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0
Weight:	20%
Length:	1,000 words
Criteria:	At the very minimum a critical summary of the content and main points of the article or case is required. In addition, the student may consider such matters as: Critical analysis of the argument or decision supported by legal and factual research Drawing a comparison with other arguments, articles or cases. Any policy considerations that drive the article or case. Are there alternative arguments or views that could be presented? Are there different avenues that may lead to resolution of the legal issue? Any other relevant materials may be drawn upon to bolster your work. A mere summary is unlikely to generate high marks.

Assessment task 3: Research project

Objective(s):	This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3 and 4 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0
Weight:	60%
Length:	3,000 words
Criteria:	Demonstrate the relevance of the topic to the law of sport. Draw, where relevant, practical links between the sports law application and other areas of law; Locate and synthesise research relevant to critically evaluate factual and legal sporting issues; Construct a clear, original and persuasive written legal argument that is supported by research and texual readings; Identify and analyse sports law issues and offer modes of resolution. The expression and structure of the work. Use of appropriate headings Clear written expression with correct use of grammar, punctuation and spelling Accurate, consistent and complete referencing according to AGLC that demonstrates judgement and responsibility in terms of academic integrity, in particular honest and complete acknowledgment of sources. Marked essays will be returned to students with a completed feedback.

Required texts

Thorpe D, Buti A, Davies C, Fridman S, Jonson P, ‘Sports Law’, 2nd ed. 2013, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Recommended texts

Recommended texts will be included in lecture notes for each topic

Other resources

Consider joining ANZSLA to gain access to a large number of resources. Student discounts apply to membership. see <www.anzsla.com.au>

Go to "Heinonline through the UTS library website. A large number of sports law journals can be found in the alphabetical listings, including: Marquette Journal of Sports Law, Seaton Hall Journal of Sports Law, Sports Lawyers Journal, Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, Virginia Arts and Entertainment Law Journal

Many other specialist journals (eg Crime, Intellectual Property) carry sports related articles.