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Sports Law: Statutory Law

Sports law deals with the legal issues at work in the world of professional and amateur sports. This Sports Law research guide has been designed to assist law students, law faculty and practitioners with topics related to sports law study, research and PR

Selected federal laws with sports and entertainment implications

  • Amateur Sports Act of 1978, 36 U.S.C. (formerly in § § 371-396 et seq.) §§ 220501-220529
  • Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.
  • Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 12 et seq.
  • Curtis Flood Act of 1998, 15 U.S.C. §27
  • National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 151-166
  • Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. §1 et seq., § 1291, § 1292
  • Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1291-1295
  • Sports Broadcasting Act of 1962, 15 U.S.C. § 32
  • Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments, 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.
  • Trademark Act (Lanham Act), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051-1127
  • U.S. Olympic Committee provisions, 36 U.S.C. §§ 220501-220529

Uniform Law

One popular set of Uniform Laws related to sports is the Uniform Athlete Agents Act (UAAA).  The Uniform Athlete Agents Act (UAAA) is a model state law that provides a means of regulating the conduct of athlete agents.

In most cases, the UAAA, as enacted, requires an athlete agent to register with a state authority, typically the Secretary of State, in order to act as an athlete agent in that state. During the registration process, an athlete agent must provide important background information, both professional and criminal in nature.

The Revised Uniform Amateur Athlete Agents Act is an update of Uniform Athlete Agents Act of 2000, which has been enacted in 42 states. The 2000 act governs relations among student athletes, athlete agents and educational institutions, protecting the interests of student athletes and academic institutions by regulating the activities of athlete agents.

As of  2020, the RUAAA has been passed in 10 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It has been introduced in 5 more. Three more states have non-UAAA laws in place designed to regulate agents.

State Law

You can find 50-state surveys of state laws on sports law related topics using Subject Compilations of State Laws on HeinOnline.  

Below are searches in Heinonline that have been generated with topics related to sports law.