What is Sports Law? Some Introductory Remarks and Suggested Parameters for a Growing Phenomenon

While the term sports law has been used as a catch-all phrase to describe the increasing number of sports-related disputes being submitted to the courts for resolution, no substantive defmition of this phenomenon has been forthcoming. This paper suggests categorical parameters for the field through a descriptive case analysis of four types of sports disputes frequently litigated: traditional negligence liability claims, professional athletic contracts, social issues in sport (involving challenges to existing authority), and gratuitous violence. It is further argued that such litigation inevitably contributes to a d i i u t i o n of the mystique surrounding athletic heroes.