The Sporting Life

It's that time of year again – the NCAA basketball season is drawing to a close. The ACC Women's and Men's Basketball Tournaments will continue into spring break, followed close behind by the NCAA tournaments. The Duke University Archives recently shared some basketball-themed historical photos from its collection (including a championship bracket filled out by former U.S. Senator Terry Sanford). The Goodson Law Library's collection may be comparatively light on Blue Devil memorabilia, but we have plenty of resources on the fascinating and complex topic of sports law.

First, there's The Little Book of Basketball Law (2013). Part of an American Bar Association series of pocket-sized casebooks on entertaining topics, this recent publication describes more than twenty basketball-themed legal battles in American history, such as compensation for student athletes, copyright and trademark disputes, and even whether a drawing for Final Four tickets could be considered an illegal lottery. There's also Legal Issues in Professional Basketball (2011), which explores several of the same legal concepts as the ABA title in more detail.

More general works on sports law can be found in the library's online catalog with a subject heading search for "Sports – Law and legislation – United States". Only interested in the legal issues surrounding collegiate athletics? Try a search for "College sports – Law and legislation – United States" to find titles like The Supreme Court and the NCAA: The Case for Less Commercialism and More Due Process in College Sports.

The Law School community can also locate the full text of sports law treatises on the legal research services Westlaw and Lexis. On WestlawNext, follow the path Secondary Sources > Texts & Treatises > Art, Entertainment & Sports Law Texts & Treatises to locate Fundamentals of Sports Law. On Lexis Advance, Browse Sources and search for "sports" to locate the treatise Sports Law Practice and sports law-related journals.

For help with locating these or other legal resources, be sure to Ask a Librarian.