November 16, 2015
In this episode, Peter Ott discusses his future plans for the Sports Law Podcast. The podcast is shifting to a biweekly format rather than a weekly format. This shift is necessary to make sure that the podcast is able to be released at a consistent continuous rate. Please reach out to Peter if you are interested in helping with the podcast as an intern in any capacity. Big things are ahead for the podcast and listeners are a big part of the future plan.
November 9, 2015
In this episode, Peter Ott discusses the University of Virginia’s recent extension of its athletic apparel deal with Nike with David Teel, an award-winning columnist for the Daily Press, an newspaper that covers the Hampton Roads metro area of Virginia. Interestingly enough, neither Nike nor the University of Virginia seemed eager to publicize the deal much, which provides an interesting contrast to past agreements between universities and athletic apparel companies. Mr. Teel provides an interesting and informed perspective into this current deal and how these deals have evolved over time. You can follow Mr. Teel on twitter here or order his book “Press Pass: Thirty Years of Bylines, Headlines and Deadlines” here. Mr. Teel was able to learn about this detail through his reporting work.
November 2, 2015
In this episode, Peter Ott discusses how discipline in sports with Bob Latham, a partner at the international law firm of Jackson Walker, LLP. Mr. Latham is also Chairman of the World Rugby Regulations Committee and has extensive experience in developing and maintaining disciplinary processes in that capacity. Additionally, Mr. Latham has written a book entitled Winners & Losers: Rants, Riffs & Reflections on the World of Sports, which contains a series of anecdotes touching on the sports world. His wide-ranging experience in both the legal and sports worlds make him an authority on issues of sports discipline, which has been a hot topic as of late.
October 27, 2015
In this episode, Peter Ott discusses how sports can be a force for good with Alicia Jessop. Ms. Jessop is an Assistant Professor at the University of Miami who has written for numerous media outlets about sports business issues. Throughout her career, she has witnessed countless examples of athletes who have made a difference in the lives of people, either through direct interaction or indirectly through a charitable organization. In a world where we often hear about the bad things that athletes do, Ms. Jessop wants to make sure that people are aware of the positive impacts that athletes can have on their communities as well.
October 19, 2015
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.
October 13, 2015
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.
October 5, 2015
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.
September 29, 2015
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.
September 22, 2015
In this episode (the first of a two part series), Peter Ott speaks with Sports Marketing legend Sonny Vaccaro about his career. 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. This podcast starts with the assumption that listeners are already somewhat familiar with those aspects of Sonny’s life and explores some of the notable parts of Sonny’s life more in depth. This podcast brings out Sonny’s personality, as he discusses his personal and professional life and shares lessons that any #sportsbiz professional can take away from his life story.
September 16, 2015
I just finished recording a new podcast with legendary sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro. It should be a good one, as we covered a wide variety of topics including his time with Nike, his dealing with Michael Jordan, his innovations in grassroots basketball, and his advocacy on behalf of college athletes. I plan on releasing it next week.