October 19, 2015

7: MLB International Draft with Jeff Tiedeman

In this episode, Peter Ott discusses issues surrounding the potential introduction of an International Player Draft in Major League Baseball with Jeff Tiedeman.  Jeff wrote an article about a challenges and benefits of a proposed international draft in MLB that was published in the May 2014 edition of the Sports Lawyers Journal entitled “MLB International Player Draft: Home Run or Headache?” Jeff believes that although there are some obstacles to implementation of an international draft, having a workable draft would solve many problems in the current player acquisition system in baseball.

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October 13, 2015

6: Collegiate Athletic Conferences with Bernadette McGlade

In this episode, Peter Ott discusses issues involved in running a college athletic conference with Commissioner Bernadette McGlade of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They discuss the respective responsibilities of individual school athletic departments, athletic conferences, and the NCAA. They discuss differences between different athletic conferences across the NCAA. Commissioner McGlade speaks about how conference realignment affects the individual conferences. The discussion ends after analyzing the recent O’Bannon ruling by the 9th Circuit and what this means for the future of college sports. Commissioner McGlade has years of experience working in college sports and she brings an important perspective to this discussion.

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October 5, 2015

Episode 5: Stadium Concession Trends with Windy Dees

In this episode, Peter Ott discusses recent trends in stadium concession sales throughout the sports industry with Windy Dees, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Miami in the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences. She’s an expert on #sportsbiz issues ranging from branding to corporate sponsorship effectiveness to event marketing strategies. In the April 2013 edition of the International Journal of Education and Research, she co-authored a study entitled “Concession Sales: The Examination of Novelty Effect and Consumer Mood,” which we used as a springboard for this discussion of concession sales trends in stadiums.  She is very active on twitter and you can follow her at @getDeestweets. I learned a lot from our conversation and I’m sure listeners to the podcast will as well.

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September 29, 2015

Episode 4: NCAA Issues with Sonny Vaccaro

In this episode (the second of a two part series), Peter Ott speaks with Sports Marketing legend Sonny Vaccaro about his advocacy on behalf of college athletes. Sonny was recently the subject of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary entitled “Sole Man.” That movie looked at the broad outline of his life, from his start in Trafford, Pennsylvania to his signing of Michael Jordan to his first Nike deal to his recent advocacy on behalf of college athletes. In this podcast, Sonny discusses what he thinks is wrong with the current NCAA system. He outlines how he thinks that college athletes are being exploited by the NCAA and its member schools and he discusses the O’Bannon lawsuit.

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September 14, 2015

Episode 2 – Baseball Antitrust Exemption with Gordon Hylton

In this episode, Peter Ott discusses Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption with UVA Law Professor Gordon Hylton. Antitrust law is designed to protect consumers from anticompetitive practices by monopolies or groups of businesses. Most sports leagues are subject to antitrust laws in some way, however, Major League Baseball has historically enjoyed an exemption from the applicability of these laws. This greatly affects the “playing field” upon which professional baseball operates. Peter and Professor Hylton discuss why this antitrust exemption exists and what are its practical effects on baseball players, owners, and fans.

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June 2, 2015

Assault in a Stadium Parking Lot

While scouring the internet, I recently came across this story, in which a couple was allegedly assaulted upon returning to their car following a Chicago White Sox game. The details of the story are lurid, involving public urination, violence, and medical bills. Now the couple is suing the White Sox and U.S. Cellular Field’s owner, arguing that they failed to provide adequate security and protection for patrons of White Sox games in the adjoining parking lot.

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