Florida Entertainment and Sports Law Review

FESLR is currently accepting submissions for our 2025 Spring publication! Submit proposals through feslr.com, Scholastica, or FESLR@law.ufl.edu for consideration. Email FESLR@law.ufl.edu with any questions!

FESLR is currently accepting submissions for our 2024 Fall and 2025 Spring publications. Submit proposals through feslr.com, Scholastica, or FESLR@law.ufl.edu for consideration. Email FESLR@law.ufl.edu with any questions!

Congratulations to our newest staff editors!

FESLR is currently accepting submissions for our 2024 Fall publication. Submit proposals through feslr.com, Scholastica, or FESLR@law.ufl.edu for consideration. Email FESLR@law.ufl.edu with any questions!

We are very excited to announce and welcome our newest Staff Editors to the Florida Entertainment and Sports Law Review!

Last but not least, our Editor-In-Chief’s letters about the publication.

Tracey Lesetar-Smith, Principal and CEO at TLSK Advisory, provides commentary titled “Markets, Mergers, and Mixed Martial Arts,” she shares her perspective as in-house counsel before, during, and after industry shifting acquisitions at major sporting brands like NASCAR and Bellator MMA. She discusses her nuanced approach to mergers when counseling both established market leaders and scrappy startups looking to change the game. Finally, she explains how her role with the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports is improving the lives of current fighters and providing opportunities for those who have called it a career.  

Check out our three career spotlights: Joan Bellefield Davis, Esq., Entertainment, Fashion, and Intellectual Property Attorney at Schroder Davis Law Firm; Ken Abdo, Esq., Entertainment Law Partner at Fox Rothschild LLP; and Chris Brandon, Senior Counsel for Tampa Bay Lightning. They provide a look into how they entered the sports and entertainment law industries, what their average day looks like, and give advice to law students and lawyers on how to join the industries.

Check out Luke Haber, J.D.’s article, titled “PGA Tour’s Anti-trust Issues Come to a Head in the LIV Golf Controversy.” He discusses the antitrust challenges that a merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour would have on the global golf landscape. Haber analyzes the in-fighting between leagues in which they claim anti-competitive behavior by both sides and the eventual DOJ review of the deal.

Check out Kevin Paule, Esq.’s article, “Prevent Defense: Trade Secret Protection in Professional Sports,” where he tackles two interesting legal issues: (1) what constitutes a “trade secret” in the sports world and (2) what disputes are outside the scope of arbitration provisions in league by-laws? These issues are brought to a head with a case study of the trade secrets lawsuit in the NBA between the New York Knicks and the Toronto Raptors. Ultimately, Mr. Paule cautions that without clear guidelines allowing for healthy competition between shifting front office personnel, fewer teams are going to be willing to play ball.