Univ. of Georgia law professor Nathaniel Grow knew from an early age he wanted to pursue a legal career. Watching "Matlock" episodes as a kid helped inspire him. The Ohio native (@NathanielGrow) now mixes his profession with his love of sports, especially baseball, on Twitter. Grow, who attended law school at Michigan, said, “When I was an undergrad (at Ohio Univ.), I had to do a senior thesis, and one thing that was in the news at that time that I thought was interesting was baseball’s antitrust exemption. It kind of merged my wanting to go to law school and my love of baseball.”
Incorporating sports into classes:
It depends a little bit on what I’m teaching. I teach an undergraduate survey course on general business law. It doesn’t always fit in, but I’ll work in examples of in property law the concept of abandonment. I always use the example of, in baseball, if you catch a foul ball, you can keep it because MLB considers any ball hit into the stand abandoned. Whereas if you are at a football game, and you catch a field goal that goes into the stands you aren’t allowed to keep the football.
Biggest legal issue in sports:
On the college level, the whole pay-for-play and defining what amateurism is and how that is going to be legally protected. Culturally, those are probably the biggest legal issues in the sports industry. In the professional level, it’s labor relations in general. Baseball is in a pretty good place right now. But the NFL and NFLPA have had their share of problems, and the NBA will be interesting to watch when their CBA comes up.
Most commonly asked sports-law question:
My students are especially attuned to the Ed O’Bannon case and the legal status of the NCAA, and depending on their point of view, why can the NCAA keep these athletes from getting paid or why wouldn’t they be able to. There is this social justice-fairness-equality of opportunity issue there as well that extends the issue of student athletes’ circumstances beyond just sports fans.
Social media trend worth watching:
Going forward, the whole Missouri protest last year showed at the college level that athletes are starting to learn they have some power. We bring in a lot of money and a lot of interests depend on us continuing to perform. You also see on social media individuals asserting their voice. You see the merging of those two with athletes understanding the potential influence they may have and being able to directly communicate that.
The changing media landscape:
It’s interesting that Twitter is moving into the broadcasting of sporting events and signing media-rights deals. As the landscape continues to emerge and move away from cable, it’s going to be interesting to see how that content is going to be delivered. It’s interesting to see how social media is going to influence that or grab hold of a share of that.
If you know anyone who should be featured for their use of social media, send their name to us at
jperez@sportsbusinessdaily.com
