Professor Jodi Balsam Discusses Regulation of Agents in LawInSport Article, Releases New Textbook

Professor Jodi Balsam, a sports law expert and former in-house counsel at the National Football League, recently published her first article in LawInSport, an educational platform and global community focused on sport and the law, since being named to the organization’s editorial board in November 2018.

The article, “How agents are regulated in the NFL and the potential lessons for FIFA,” compares the approaches used by the NFL and by FIFA in regulating those who represent players in contract negotiations. In anticipation of FIFA governance reforms to be implemented over the next two years, Balsam’s article examines the agent regulatory scheme that is considered a model across U.S. professional sports, the National Football League Players Association’s Regulations Governing Contract Advisors, suggesting that FIFA can draw some valuable lessons from the NFL’s approach.

The LawInSport editorial board is made up of leading sports lawyers, policy experts and rising stars of sports law from around the world in eight geographical regions.

Balsam and co-authors also have released the 6th Edition of Sports and the Law: Text, Cases, and Problems (West Academic, 2019). The book explores legal issues in professional and amateur sports, examining key subjects of labor, antitrust, intellectual property, and the law of private associations. Balsam edited the entire book and contributed three chapters: Intellectual Property Law and Sports (copyright, trademark, right of publicity); Agent Representation of the Athlete; and Health and Safety Issues in Sports.

At the Law School, Balsam teaches courses on Sports Law. She also serves as director of the Law School’s Externship Program. Balsam is regularly quoted in the media on a broad range of issues such as concussion lawsuits, wearable technology, legalized sports gambling, labor-management relations, and sports related controversies.

Read more: How agents are regulated in the NFL and the potential lessons for FIFA.

Find Sports and the Law: Text, Cases, and Problems here.