Sports & Entertainment Law

Abstract: This article explores some of the legal and ethical challenges for college sports in the time of COVID-19, and it explains why it would be entirely inappropriate for colleges that are not planning to offer live classes this fall to have student-athletes return to campus this summer to prepare for a college football season.

Abstract: This article adapts the concept of the moral economy and applies that adapted concept to UK gambling regulation during the early years (2020-21) of the COVID-19 pandemic. I extend the moral economy concept beyond the eighteenth-century English food riot, and beyond food staples. I also examine the role of law and regulation in the moral economy and highlight charity’s importance to moral economy debates. I then consider gambling through a moral economy lens by exploring the pandemic-era regulation of horserace betting, lotteries, and bingo. I show that gambling in some forms (horserace betting and lotteries) was important to pandemic recovery projects and to spectacles of national coming together. Via lotteries, for example, the state sought to adjust customary expectations about the role of volunteers in providing essential services. Although regulators generally ignored bingo, there was a pandemic resurgence in self-organized games that is especially significant for work on the moral economy. I conclude by identifying some broader implications of this study, including on how essentiality is legally constructed, and on charity and volunteering within the moral economy.

Abstract: The 2020 pandemic has occasioned unprecedented challenges to the art market. This article examines how the art market has tried to adapt to this new unchartered territory.

Abstract: Discusses whether footballers in the Turkish league will be released from their contracts before the end of the season, and how the transfer window will be affected, now that the season has been extended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the approaches of sports channels in providing relevant content to consumers and developing schedules that filled available time slots. This chapter uncovered the programming strategies of French sports channels (i.e., L’Equipe, Canal+ Sport, RMC Sport, Bein Sport, and Eurosport) by evaluating both the semantic (e.g., selection of content) and syntactic (e.g., organization of the television grid) decisions made during this unprecedented time. These two dimensions were intertwined in the choice of programming through the economic, legal, and temporal constraints that impacted scheduling. To combat the limitations from an inability to provide live broadcasting, sports channels offered unique content, including enhanced rebroadcasts and in-depth documentaries, that kept viewers engaged. The analysis highlighted how channels developed a more structured schedule during this time period in an attempt to align with other popular generalist channels and navigate the challenges of the pandemic.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has raised and will continue to raise issues for sport for some time to come. In particular, the pressure put on athletes by politicians to take wage deductions and wage deferrals has caused controversy. This scrutiny of athletes’ tax affairs is not unusual, given the particular and somewhat constant media focus, coupled with HMRC’s ‘Football Compliance Project’ regarding footballer’s use of image rights companies to make tax deductions. This focus often presents footballers in an unflattering light. However, the purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the issues regarding athlete image rights are generally not due to overly sophisticated or overt actions by footballers and/or their agents but are the consequence of a convoluted system of taxation. Ultimately, HMRC guidance allows athletes to exploit an ‘image right’ to make tax savings. This ‘image right’ does not exist in law. Thus, this article will show that the current controversy surrounding footballers and their tax affairs is not a novel concept and that in the context of image rights athletes, clubs and agents have been forced to navigate a system of tax which is confusing, at best. In short, the issues surrounding footballers and image rights are due to the fact that ‘image rights’ are protected in one area of law yet do not exist in another.

Abstract: Professional sport has undoubtedly been hit hard by COVID-19. Clubs and governing bodies have had to adapt rapidly to the public health emergency and have come under great financial and regulatory strain. Some sports have weathered the storm better than others, though, and professional rugby union experienced significant off-field turbulence, with wages reductions seen across the English Premiership. This article will examine the conduct of Premiership Rugby and its clubs during the COVID-19 crisis from a competition law perspective and will argue that, by acting in concert, Premiership and the clubs may have breached UK competition law.

Abstract: The Amateur Sports Act was enacted over four decades ago when Olympic sports were still an ‘amateur’ pursuit. That law created a self-funding system for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the national governing bodies for the respective Olympic sports. Its self-governance model resulted in a system of limited transparency and ineffective governance that culminated with the sex abuse scandals involving young athletes. With the growth and change in the now U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movement over the last four decades, this article advocates significant changes to the law to permit direct or indirect government funding for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the sport governing bodies in return for more stringent transparency and ethical rules. The new law should ‘federalize’ a new governing body that will oversee the USOPC and the governing bodies and create additional rights for rights for athletes and required disclosure and ethics rules for the Olympic bodies. Because of the Covid pandemic and the funding shortfalls faced by the USOPC and the governing bodies, the article concludes that now is the time for such a major change.

Abstract: In the fall of 2020, Congress enacted the first substantive changes in the Governance of the Olympic Sports system in over four decades. The new law, The Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act, was passed in the wake of sexual abuse scandals that rocked certain governing bodies. In amending the 1978 Amateur Sports Act, the new law grants Congress the power to decertify the United States Olympic bodies, mandates greater athlete representation in governance, increases funding to protect athletes through greater support of USA Safe Sport. Aside from the decertification power, the most significant provision of the new law is the establishment of a Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics to review the governance of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (‘USOPC’) and make proposals for change. The Commission’s creation comes at a crucial time in U.S. Olympic governance. Due to the governance scandals, uncertain funding and the general national sports upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this article advocates more significant changes to the Olympic structure that the commission should consider, such as direct or indirect government funding for the USOPC and the sport governing bodies in return for adherence to more stringent transparency and ethical rules. Ideas that the Commission could consider include mandatory disclosure of information such as sponsorship agreements and compensation and bonus limitations for those in key leadership positions, the appointment of an inspector-general and greater athlete involvement in the U.S. Olympic movement. The article also proposes more statutory changes such as a limited antitrust exemption and the end of special trademark protections for the USOPC.

Abstract: Discusses the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on sporting events, the contractual implications of postponement or cancellation and application of frustration and force majeure. Considers the meaning of act of God and dread disease.

Abstract: Because of the COVID-19-pandemic the men’s first German football league (Bundesliga) had to finish the season 2019/20 with ghost games as spectators were not allowed in the stadiums. Comparing these games with the regular ones between the same teams before, we find that the normal advantage for the home team disappears. One reason for this is the disappearances of the home bias of the referees whereas changes in the sportive performance of the teams seem to be irrelevant in this regard.

Abstract: The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic threatens the safety of people attending large social gatherings including organized sporting events. As the number of deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 skyrocketed in March 2020, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (‘NCAA’) suspended all member colleges’ spring sports seasons. The NCAA has since implemented new guidelines that allow for individual member colleges to make independent decisions about if, and when, to resume their intercollegiate sports programs. This Article explores the implications of resuming intercollegiate sports in the midst of a pandemic from a legal, medical and ethical perspective. The team of scholars who authored this Article include professors at four major public universities, with terminal degrees in the fields of law, medicine, education, and sports management. Adopting a true interdisciplinary approach to the question of how and when to return to sport, the authors collectively express their concerns regarding how NCAA member colleges are approaching the legal and ethical issues surrounding the offering of intercollegiate sports during a pandemic, and propose ten best practices for colleges to determine when and how to resume offering intercollegiate sports.

Abstract: The global pandemic of 2020 brought about the suspension of almost all sporting activity. From grassroots sport through to elite competitions, the sporting world effectively ended. At the time of writing (early May 2020), there are tentative plans to restart some elite competitions, with the German Bundesliga and the Australian National Rugby League both announcing that competitions will recommence shortly. In both cases, the plan is to play games for a television audience only, in near-empty stadiums. In the months and years to come, it is likely that Sport in Society will see considerable debate as to the logistical problems in restarting sporting competition during and after a pandemic. For example, as spectators will not be able to attend matches and so there will be no game-day revenues. The purpose of competing is almost entirely to fulfil contractual obligations to television companies and sponsors, not because of any consideration for fans. It is also likely that the journal will see considerable debate as to the social and ethical problems of recommencing sporting competitions. For example, whilst players will need to be tested for COVID-19 on a regular basis, tests for first responders (medical staff, police, etc.) are currently in short supply.

Abstract: This book examines the initial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global sport and the varying consequences of the sport shutdown on all levels of society. It also considers the many lessons that have been learnt so that sport stakeholders can successfully adjust and operate under the ‘new normal.’ Featuring authors, cases and examples from around the world, the book explores the impact of COVID-19 on sport at all levels, from community sport – where local clubs, gyms and development programmes had to find ways to survive with pitches closed and projects cancelled – to the major professional sport leagues and sport mega-events, with events postponed and teams playing in empty stadia. It considers the economic, social and developmental impacts of the pandemic, including physical, mental and social wellbeing, and looks at how key professional and community sport organisations have reacted to the crisis, reflecting on the lessons learnt and preparations for future pandemics and challenges of similar size and significance. With COVID-19 now endemic in the global population, this is an essential reference for anybody working in sport, from students and researchers to managers, policymakers and development officers.

Abstract: Talks to Matthieu Reeb, Secretary General of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), about the standards CAS arbitrators must meet, innovative initiatives at the CAS, the difficulty of getting all international sporting bodies to recognise its jurisdiction and the challenges of preparing for the Tokyo Olympics which were postponed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Abstract: Two crises in 2020 fueled the fire underlying a debate that has been smoldering for years: whether student athletes should be compensated. The COVID-19 pandemic coincided with the Black Lives Matter movement and drew unprecedented attention to systemic racism permeating society, including college sports that rely disproportionately on Black men risking physical harm to support an entire industry. The Supreme Court’s decision in NCAA v. Alston opened the door for some athletic conferences to offer student athletes unlimited education-related benefits and called out the NCAA’s business model that relies on not paying student athletes under the justification of amateurism. Alston asserted that the NCAA amateurism model is not exempt from antitrust law, and a scathing concurrence by Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in no uncertain terms that ‘[t]he NCAA is not above the law.’ In the context of the ever-evolving landscape of student-athlete compensation, this Note examines recent changes to the NCAA compensation model and suggests that antitrust law should be used as a vehicle to change the game by correcting racial inequities perpetuated by this business model. This Note asserts that the ball is now in Congress’s court and advocates for federal legislation and collective bargaining to empower student athletes to seek the full value of their labor.

Abstract: A strong economy is essential for U.S. national security. The economic downturn caused by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has again highlighted this basic economic principle. In the context of legalized gambling, Nobel-Prize Laureate Paul Samuelson emphasized that gambling creates ‘no new money or goods’ and ‘subtracts from the national income.’ The economic multiplier effect of ‘consumer dollars’ is negated or otherwise substantially diminished when consumer dollars are diverted into gambling dollars. Therefore, the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stimulus Act (CARES Act) wasted billions of dollars of the $260 billion allocated for unemployment benefits and the $300 billion allocated in payments to U.S. citizens. Intended to put food and other necessities of life in consumer pantries, billions of CARES Act dollars were instead misdirected into lotteries--creating record lottery sales, for example, in Georgia and Texas during the first 30 days of the CARES Act. While shutting down productive consumer businesses, governors declared lotteries to be ‘essential’--although historically states were receiving only 27 cents per gambled dollar. More importantly, U.S. lotteries take $85 billion out of the U.S. consumer economy each year (with only $23 billion going to state budgets). Accordingly, the cheapest and most effective way to pump-prime the consumer economy would be to shut down the lotteries. This $85 billion would thereby morph into a consumer economic multiplier resulting in approximately $255 billion in new economic spending on consumer goods (or over $1 trillion in 4 years). In his 1999 Martin Luther King Day speech in Chicago, Jesse Jackson emphasized that ‘[t]he new chains of slavery happen to be . . . lottery tickets.’ Later in 1999, the state lotteries were savaged by the congressional U.S. National Gambling Impact Study Commission, in its Final Report (‘NGISC Final Report’). Academically, it is well-established that lotteries make ‘poor people poorer’ and target-market to minorities contributing to gambling addiction rates of: African Americans (2-4%); Native Americans (2-6%), Hispanics (2-3%), and Caucasians (1.2-2%). As reported in the Wall Street Journal, these social and economic concerns prompted Mr. Les Bernal, the national director of the charity Stop Predatory Gambling (‘SPG’), to write to all U.S. governors and state attorneys general detailing the need to close the state lotteries. The 2020 movie Money Machine, however, documented the power of the gambling lobby in suppressing adverse facts. While Columbine and Sandy Hook remain in the psyche of the U.S. public, Money Machine details how the October 1, 2017 Las Vegas killings have been sanitized via ‘a web of corruption and cover-ups that make the Vegas of yesteryear, when it was still run by the mob, seem positively quaint.’ The biggest mass murderer in U.S. history, Stephen Paddock, killed 59 people including himself and injured 413 by gunfire. It would be difficult to argue that Paddock did not satisfy the American Psychiatric Association’s criteria for being an addicted or problem gambler. All of these facts and trends are well-known to the gambling industry, whose business model has morphed toward abandoning brick and mortar gambling facilities in favor of widespread internet gambling--utilizing sports gambling to build pressure on government decision-makers. Gambling lobbyists are looking to leverage the COVID pandemic and the public’s natural affinity for sports into real-time 24/7 gambling on cell phones and throughout video games. In the age of COVID, bans on sports gambling and lotteries would inexpensively and effectively pump-prime the U.S.

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic inflicted socioeconomic harm on an unprecedented scale. Across the world and to varying degrees, cinemas were closed, festivals were cancelled or postponed, and film releases were moved to future dates or delayed indefinitely. In 2020 the entire global theatrical and home/mobile entertainment market totalled $80.8 billion, the lowest figure since 2016 and a decline of 18% from 2019. Theatrical entertainment accounted for only 15% of the total global entertainment revenue, compared to 43% in 2019. While some has been written about the effects of Covid-19 on both international and local film industries, this article seeks to provide an African perspective focusing on the realities in Nigeria and South Africa, respectively. This article examines the importance of filmmaking industries in Nigeria and South Africa as well as the difficulties faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Copyright laws in both terrains are critically reviewed based on the capacity of these laws to protect the interests of film industries pre and post-Covid-19.

Abstract: Literature links sport, play, and similar leisure endeavors to numerous physical, psychological, and social benefits critical to a young person’s development. Unlike other nations, the United States lacks a national policy to fund structures supporting youth sport, play, and the like. Instead, a for-profit youth sport industry oversees this sector using a pay-to-play model, creating significant financial and access barriers. The COVID-19 pandemic created an inflection point and call for action to meaningfully reform youth sport. Advocates often claim, without providing legal justification, that access to sport and play is a constitutional right. Therefore, the purpose of this commentary is to move beyond aspiration or hypothetical rhetoric and investigate whether a persuasive legal argument exists that places a constitutional legal responsibility upon the United States federal government to create structures, allocate funding, and provide universal access to free sport, recreation, and play opportunities for youth. While review and analysis of relevant case law found that no constitutional right likely existed under United States law, this process confirmed that that such claims will have little chance of success under current precedent. Therefore, given the improbability of substantive voluntary reforms in the private sector, a deeper exploration of innovative legal theories is required to achieve the necessary structural change.

Abstract: It will take considerable time before it is possible to fully gauge the impact of Covid-19 on sports, but it is possible to see some possible and significant consequences and related legal issues that will follow in the wake of the virus. As often, most of these are related to the commercial aspects of sports and there are both short- and more long-term issues.

Abstract: The emergence of COVID-19 has been spreading around the world at a vertiginous growth rate. The generality of the countries of the world is affected, and the great majority of them have decided to postpone and/or suspend their sporting events. Without a doubt, the more relevant postponement has been that of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The economic effects on the sports industry that COVID-19 has involved are extremely high. In this paper, we will analyze the most relevant effects on Sports Law.
Summary. – I. State Of The Art. II. Legal Implications of Sport As A Socio-Economic Sector. III. The Postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Its Effects. IV. Conclusions. V. Bibliography.

Abstract: College athletics administrators have long known the importance of considering the legal implications of the decisions they make as part of their daily work. But now those legal considerations have increased in scope and complexity due to a completely changed environment.

Abstract: Macau’s new gaming bill passed, signaling casino request for proposals and re-tendering approach. COVID-19 travel restrictions and lockdowns in mainland China and Macau spanning over two years have meant dramatic and ongoing casino losses. While highlighting key articles in the new legislation, this article discusses the issues of the new legislative framework helping to navigate the city to casino and economic recovery.

Abstract: Traditionally, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been understood as difficult to reconcile with the gaming industry. However, in recent years, there has been increasing pressure in Macau for gaming operators to take a more active role in assuring the full development of the Region. The COVID-19 outbreak exacerbated the importance of CSR in Macau and provided a window into understanding the extent to which current gaming operators can be expected to voluntarily assume a role in achieving social and economic goals. By evaluating the CSR activities of the Macanese gaming operators in the 2020–2021 period, this article argues that gaming operators had a prompt reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak, which hints at the strong potential for these operators to contribute to the achievement of public policies. However, the evaluation of their CSR approach during this period must consider the proximity to the retendering process of current concessions and the discussions taking place around a revision to the Macanese Gaming Law. These arguably gave operators strong incentives to be particularly proactive in their outreach initiatives during this time.

Abstract: The article examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the future of collective bargaining in the National Football League (NFL), especially in the light of the collective bargaining agreement that was ratified before the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S.

Abstract: The article reports on the innovations by music industry players, particularly performing artists, in the delivery of live music performances due to challenges posed by the COVID-19 epidemic, including online streaming and the use of the metaverse. Also cited are the benefits of metaverse as a live music platform like the ability to interact with the audience in real time and the possibility of using an avatar or other visual representation of an artist.

Abstract: The European football industry has suffered an unprecedented shock from COVID-19. In this chapter, we reflect on how the sport’s administrators responded to the initial outbreaks and what lessons can be learned. We also look ahead to what football in the post-COVID-19 era could look like. We conclude that this largely depends on the decisions now facing the sport’s administrators and the powerful owners of the biggest football clubs: will they prioritise football as the inclusive and diverse game, at the heart of local communities? Or will their intrinsic financial interests dominate?

Abstract: The spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the measures adopted by public authorities to prevent health risks posed by COVID-19 led organizers of sport events worldwide to cancel all ongoing competitions. The Spanish Professional Football League or ‘La Liga’ was suspended for almost three months, and pending matches for the 2019-2020 season have now resumed with a new and tight calendar. Such unexpected changes in the championship have undoubtedly diminished the value of La Liga broadcasting rights and have generated losses to their national and international holders. This contribution discusses the application of Spanish contract law to identify any possible claims that broadcasters could have to seek some relief. On close inspection, it is unlikely that broadcasters could enjoy any remedies to claim damages, to terminate their payment obligations or to adjust their contracts with La Liga’s organizer. However, due to the particularities of the football broadcasting market, voluntary renegotiation of contracts is expected to occur.

Abstract: At the beginning of the 2021 school year, Western Michigan University (WMU) instituted a policy requiring student-athletes to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and sixteen student-athletes requested religious exemptions to this requirement, which the university denied. Barred from participation in team activities, these student-athletes sued WMU in federal court for allegedly violating their rights under the First Amendment. The case reached the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals as WMU sought a stay of the district court’s preliminary injunction, which kept the school from enforcing the vaccination requirement against the plaintiffs. Because the likelihood of success of a plaintiff’s claim is typically the determinative factor when the Sixth Circuit decides whether to stay a district court’s preliminary injunction, the court declined to stay the preliminary injunction in Dahl v. Board of Trustees of Western Michigan University. 5 The court’s analysis in Dahl delineates the distinctions between WMU’s vaccination requirement and mandates that are constitutionally valid. This decision also spotlights the precarious balance between proper deference to sincerely held religious beliefs and misguided deference to what may instead be political and social ideologies masquerading as—or entangled with religious beliefs.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed by governments around the world to limit the propagation effect of a virus outbreak have caused severe economic consequences and business interruption in relation to the affected party’s ability to perform its contractual obligation. The entire sports industry in the EU has been impacted by the COVID-19-related measures and many sporting events have been suspended, postponed or cancelled entirely at international, regional and national levels. Sports federations and organizers of sporting events at grassroots and professional level have been unable to perform their duties and to fulfil their contractual obligations to sponsors, media and other contracting parties. Additional problem was lack of business interruption insurance for sports or event cancellations insurance. In spite of various predictions of medical researchers and virologists about the course of the pandemic, coronavirus outbreak continues to spread at the regional and global levels. This creates uncertainty and it will continue to have drastic economic impact on sporting events, sports contracts and sports insurance. Disputes as outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic will certainly rise, including complex negotiations and sports arbitration focusing on the application of concept force majeure in cases where circumstances have changed due to unforeseen and unavoidable events, which interrupt performance under a contract. This chapter discusses the scope of the legal institute of changed circumstances on the performance of contract as grounds for relief from contractual liability in sports under Austrian law and the role of insurance to provide adequate insurance coverage for sport event organizers and their stakeholders for losses arising from COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought unprecedented havoc across the globe. Every sector of society has been impacted and forced to change business as usual, to re-evaluate priorities and systems, and to innovate amid the unknown and possible lasting impacts of this threat to public health and commerce. Sport worldwide is also profoundly impacted. Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, nearly all competitive sports have been suspended, postponed, or cancelled, raising significant questions about how to deal with the severe financial impacts, legal issues, and when and how to resume play safely amid continued uncertainty. Like other sectors, the impact on sports is likely to far outlast the pandemic. Sports has been, and will continue to be, forced to pivot, innovate, and remain vigilant to survive as an industry and to ensure player, personnel, and spectator health, safety, and security. Recognizing that the crisis is not yet over and the impact of COVID-19 on the global sports industry is in the nascent stage, this article nonetheless seeks to examine the impact of COVID-19 on major competitive sports, from a financial, legal, and problem-solving perspective. The article contends that, while many financial, legal, and practical outcomes remain pending and unresolved, the rules for operating sports as we knew it have changed. To survive, sport must put safety first, anticipate and plan for this and future crises, innovate, and find common ground, despite technical force majeure rights that could pose a disparate impact on one party, to preserve industry and the very sports we adore. The challenges and lessons that can be learned from this crisis will have a lasting impact on and throughout the sport industry.

Abstract: COVID-19 played havoc with professional sports. Events were postponed or cancelled; organisations were placed under enormous economic strain; and financial, commercial and governance tensions were exposed. The same organisations then faced the daunting task of having to reformulate competitions and events to be COVID-safe. These challenges raise complex legal and regulatory issues. This article examines one set of these legal and regulatory issues – namely those associated with managing the health and safety risks associated with resuming professional sport in a COVID-19 environment. While much has been written about managing these risks from a medical and scientific perspective, comparatively little has been written about them from a legal or regulatory perspective. This article contributes to filling this gap using Cricket Australia’s response to the pandemic as its case study. Cricket’s complexity of men’s and women’s international and domestic competitions, across different formats, and in every Australian State, provides an interesting and instructive case study from which valuable insights and lessons can be distilled to inform other professional sports faced with solving like problems in the future.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed sports administrators’ lack of crisis management preparedness and athletes, coaches, and support staff’s lack of mental preparedness for a pandemic. Sports administrators were in the unenviable position of having to protect the health of their athletes, staff, and the wider population by preventing the spread of the COVID-19 disease with restrictive policies, such as bio-bubbles and quarantines, while at the same time not restricting anyone’s liberty and unalienable rights to pursue happiness. This article informs sports administrators how to balance health instructions from regulatory bodies with measures protecting individual liberty. It provides sports administrator’s legal recommendations they can follow and psychological advice that they can pass on to their athletes, coaches, and support staff. The article also explains to coaches and support staff how to manage, and athletes how to successfully cope with, future bio-bubbles, quarantines, and the next pandemic.

Extract from Introduction: This Comment discusses the various contract doctrines under which the MLBPA’s performance could have been excused, ultimately assessing why these legal arguments reflect that the decision to play a 2020 MLB season was a bad idea (as implemented) regardless of whether the agreement was enforceable. Part II discusses the history of MLB negotiations (including negotiations for the 2020 Agreement), assessing why the 2020 season interruption is unique. Part III defines the legal doctrines the MLBPA could have relied on to defend a refusal to perform under the 2020 Agreement. Part IV of this Comment analyzes the potential arguments the MLBPA would make under each of the defined doctrines and assesses why the arguments the MLBPA could make under each doctrine are also arguments likely to cause a stoppage during 2021 collective bargaining agreement negotiations. Part V of this Comment analyzes the lessons the MLB and MLBPA can learn from their surprisingly successful 2020 season. Finally, Part VI predicts how the forced season and the ugly negotiations surrounding it could negatively impact the MLB moving forward.