Fox attorneys collectively have decades of experience counseling college athletic conferences, coaches and athletes in a wide variety of matters. Our attorneys have personal experience as former collegiate athletes and professional agents that fuels their intimate knowledge of the industry. On top of emerging trends and well-versed in the college sports industry’s history, we understand the daily decisions and challenges facing commissioners, general counsel, athletic directors and other college sports executives.

Our firm (and one of its legacy firms, Smith Moore Leatherwood) has served as outside counsel to the Atlantic Coast Conference for more than 50 years. We have handled a wide range of matters over that time period, including:

• Complex litigation, including antitrust, commercial and tort as well as class actions and/or multidistrict litigation regarding well-publicized issues such as limitations on student-athlete scholarships, conference realignment, name-image-likeness matters and concussion claims.
• Corporate/transactional matters, including general business guidance, governance, risk management guidance and contracts including media, venue and event agreements.
• NCAA regulations
• Intellectual property, including trademark registrations, renewals, licenses and protection
• Employment law, including matters involving business/commercial issues, independent contractor and right to control issues, EEOC claims and litigation.
• Nonprofit law
• Tax law
• Real estate

Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and Licensing

With the relatively recent Supreme Court decision in Alston v. NCAA along with a swath of individual state NIL bills, brands may now partner with amateur athletes to use the athlete’s name, image and likeness. Our attorneys work with higher education institutions and their athletes to ensure they understand the terms and scope of agreements when contracting with brands for promotional purposes, and we have created a checklist of common material terms of an NIL deal as a resource for athletes.

We have experience in instituting proceedings arising from the improper and/or unauthorized use of our clients’ names. Whether it is the unauthorized marketing of products bearing a client’s name or the utilization of a client’s likeness to promote an unauthorized business or product, we are familiar with the legal means available to stop such misuse. We aggressively prosecute those actions to ensure that our client’s good name remains untainted.

We also represent athletes, creators and other entertainment and sports industry content developers in registering, policing and protecting copyrights and negotiating the sale and licensing of copyrighted material.

Representative Matters

League Governance

• Represented the Atlantic Coast Conference for more than 50 years in a wide range of matters, including:
  • Complex litigation, including antitrust, commercial and tort as well as class actions and/or multidistrict litigation regarding well-publicized issues such as limitations on student-athlete scholarships, conference realignment, name-image-likeness matters and concussion claims.
  • Corporate/transactional matters, including general business guidance, governance, risk management guidance and contracts including media, venue and event agreements.
  • NCAA regulations
  • Intellectual property, including trademark registrations, renewals, licenses and protection
  • Employment law, including matters involving business/commercial issues, independent contractor and right to control issues, EEOC claims and litigation.
  • Nonprofit law
  • Tax law
  • Real estate
• Represented athletic conferences and individual universities in various corporate and litigation matters.
• Represented professional sports leagues and college conferences and drafted franchise agreements, purchase agreements, constitutions and bylaws, league and event rules, facilities use agreements, sponsorship agreements and alternative dispute resolution procedures.
• Represented professional sports leagues and college conferences in disqualification disputes, disputes relating to distribution of revenue and conference realignment.
• Drafted recruiting manuals, compliance manuals, drug test policies and procedures, sexual misconduct and harassment policies, and athlete-agent programs and applications in compliance with NCAA, institutional and state regulations.

NCAA Compliance and Investigations

• Represented institutions, coaches, student-athletes and boosters throughout the country in a variety of NCAA investigations relating to eligibility, amateurism, gambling, financial aid, recruiting and other NCAA legislation.
• Conducted independent investigations on behalf of Division I institutions regarding the alleged improper treatment and harassment of student-athletes by members of the coaching staff.
• Conducted NCAA compliance audits and reviews for Division I institutions.
• Represented college coaches in investigations conducted by the institution relating to alleged violations of Title IX and cleared the coaches of any wrongdoing.
• Represented college coaches in alleged internal policy violations, sexual harassment and misconduct, harassment, Title IX violations and player treatment matters.
• Advised major apparel company on NCAA compliance matters associated with a football All-American game and grassroots marketing efforts.
• Currently representing an assistant basketball coach at a Division I university who is under investigation in relation to the Operation Varsity Blues scandal.
• Represented an assistant basketball coach at a Division I university in an NCAA investigation into a college basketball recruiting scandal.
• Represented the general counsel of a major Division I university in regard to a child sexual abuse scandal.
• Provided compliance training to and created a compliance manual for a New Jersey university in connection with their efforts to upgrade their NCAA compliance standards.
• Conducted an internal investigation into allegations of NCAA violations at a Division I institution.

Athletes and Coaches

• Represented collegiate conference commissioners, an athletic director and multiple college and professional coaches on employment contract issues, including non-compete covenants and termination clauses.
• Represented college football star and NFL player in a dispute relating to his loss of value insurance policy and obtained a multimillion-dollar settlement.
• Counseled coaches on estate planning, entity formation and asset protection including drafting of wills, trusts, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, non-profit organizations and other entities.
• Represented coaches in their career progression and branding including the negotiation and drafting of employment agreements.
• Represented student-athletes throughout the country in a variety of NCAA compliance matters and prepared waivers of NCAA and conference rules relating to eligibility, amateurism, medical hardships, gambling, financial aid, recruiting, NLI appeals, drug test appeals and other NCAA legislation.
• Drafted cease and desist letters for athletes seeking to protect their intellectual property holdings and rights of publicity.

Drug Testing/Anti-Doping

• Represented athletes in drug test appeals relating to the alleged ingestion of performance enhancing substances before various administrative and governing bodies and tribunals.
• Drafted an institutional drug testing policy to be administered to university athletes and provided education to university athletes on banned and prohibited substances.
• Monitored and oversaw the drug testing policy for a university and provided education to athletes on performance enhancing drugs, banned substances and testing procedures.

Equipment, Apparel, Service Providers, Agencies and Media

• Represented a high school football recruiting service with a regional television show regarding issues with NCAA compliance; drafted waivers of liability; reviewed and drafted other contractual agreements including broadcast agreements, asset purchase agreements, consulting agreements; and filed and protected its intellectual property holdings through cease and desist communications.
• Represented and advised athlete agents before administrative and regulatory bodies relating to alleged improper recruiting practices.
• Represented sports media company in issues involving First Amendment, intellectual property rights, parodies, right of publicity, advertising, sweepstakes, review and analysis of high school and NCAA legislation, and disputes with NCAA member institutions.

Sponsorship and Facilities

• Drafted name, image and likeness agreements for promotion and sponsorship of college athletes.
• Drafted governing documents (both for profit and nonprofit), sponsorship agreements, and agency commission agreements for college “collectives” for the promotion of college athletes.
• Drafted and negotiated sponsorship agreements and ground leases for a new university golf course and facilities.
• Drafted and negotiated facility use agreements for a college conference hosting football festivals held at an NFL stadium and agreements relating to the men’s and women’s basketball championship events.
• Drafted facility use agreements, suite agreements and sponsorship agreements for college facilities relating to competitions at the facility, music events and other use of the facilities.