Last week Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez was in the news for meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to express the city’s interest in hosting a NHL franchise. This week Perez is in the news again – for his arrest on corruption charges.
The question for Whalers fans and Connecticut sports fans in general, is how will the Perez arrest affect Hartford’s chances of building a new arena and ultimately bringing a professional sports team to Hartford?
Hartford’s credibility has certainly been diminished. Perez was the face of the effort to lure the NHL to Hartford. The workings of his task force were shrouded in secrecy. The newly formed Sports Advisory Board has been quiet on the NHL issue, as has Governor Rell.
Recall when Hartford nearly landed the NFL’s Patriots in 1998. The effort was led by a powerful governor, John Rowland (who would later face his own charges of corruption) and an endlessly enthusiastic and charismatic mayor, the late Mike Peters. Peters even convinced officials of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to tour the city in 1996. Former House Speaker Tom Ritter has said that had Mayor Mike been brought into negotiations to keep the Whalers earlier, the team may not have left.
The point is that Hartford’s previous dealings in professional sports, although not ultimately successful, were guided by strong leaders. The present effort to bring the NHL back to Hartford needs a new face – whether it be the next mayor, governor (Jim Amann might be up to the challenge), business leader – or faces, in the form of a grassroots community movement.
A few weeks ago, the standoff between Boston College Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo and his handpicked Head Coach, Jeff Jagodzinski was the hot topic in collegiate sports law. DeFilippo and BC were applauded for standing firm and firing Jagodzinski for interviewing for the New York Jets head coaching vacancy. Jagodzinski became the characterization of the modern coach, who believes contracts are a one-way street. But while BC may have played the victim in this scenario, colleges and universities are quite familiar with unequal bargaining power in a contractual context. Just ask the players that these colleges and universities recruit.
College recruits often sign National Letters of Intent (NLI), pledging to attend a particular college and university. Josh Wright on the blog Truth on the Market, explains:
The NLI gives the school the option of allowing a player who wishes to leave to do so without penalty. The default, however, is that the school does not release the player. The student-athlete can still transfer of course, but must incur the penalty of sitting out a full year at his next school plus losing a year of eligibility.
For a recruit there are advantages to signing a NLI. By way of the NLI, the school is bound to the athlete and cannot withdraw the scholarship offer. The NLI also prohibits other schools from contacting the recruit, ending what can become a time-consuming recruiting process.
However, the NLI includes a major disadvantage, especially considering the virtual free agency within which coaches operate. Provision No. 19 states:
I understand I have signed this NLI with the institution and not for a particular sport or individual. If the coach leaves the institution or the sports program (or is not retained), I remain bound by the provisions of this NLI. I understand it is not uncommon for a coach to leave his or her coaching position.
This provision is at odds with the reality of the college coaching profession. Although schools are reluctant to acknowledge this fact, players often pick a school by the coach. While the coach is free to leave for the next best job that presents itself, the player can only escape from his or her commitment with the consent of the school. Perhaps worse, when recruits have sought to add more equitable terms to the NLI, schools have balked (See Wright’s post regarding DeMarcus Cousins).
At the highest level of collegiate athletics, recruiting and coaching are big business. Mistakes on either front can set a school back competitively and financially. But when collegiate administrators complain about the unequal bargaining rights with coaches, it represents no more than schools finding themselves on the wrong end of a business transaction – an inequity that often reverses itself when schools deal with their recruits.
For more on NLIs, see this article by Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis.
Although many have weighed in on the likelihood of the NHL’s return to Hartford, few have examined what the city can offer to an NHL franchise. While a new downtown arena is crucial to lure the NHL, Hartford has much more to offer. Here are two of Hartford’s primary selling points:
1. An Untapped Media Market
The Hartford-New Haven region represents the largest media market in the United States without a major league team, and no. 30 on Nielsen’s Rankings of Local Television Markets. Historically, Springfield and Western Massachusetts were Whaler television territory, and the Whale previously played games in Springfield. If you add Springfield-Holyoke to Hartford-New Haven, the region becomes the 21st market, just north of St. Louis and ahead of other NHL markets such as Pittsburgh (23), Raleigh-Durham (27), Nashville (29), Columbus (32) and Buffalo (51). Naturally, there are no other major league teams in Connecticut competing for sports dollars. In fact, the biggest competition facing an NHL team in Central Connecticut would be UConn basketball. Although often cited as arguments why Hartford is not suited to host a professional sports team, the New York and Boston teams are not legitimate attendance competition. As a life long hockey fan, I find it hard to believe that many people are leaving the greater Hartford area regularly to attend Ranger or Bruins games. It is a convenient excuse, but not a real issue.
2. Breaking Away from the (Wolf) Pack Mentality
Howard Baldwin, former owner of the Whalers, argues that the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack needs better attendance figures for Hartford to warrant serious consideration for a NHL franchise. I disagree. Minor league sports market to different interests than the major leagues. Minor league franchises, especially in cities that previously hosted major league teams, simply do not draw the corporate support, media attention or large crowds on a nightly basis.Furthermore, the NHL is thriving in cities where minor league hockey teams never drew large crowds, such as Dallas, Denver, and Columbus. Las Vegas continues to be rumored as a potential NHL city, but the ECHL’s Wranglers have drawn 4,275 a game on average midway through the 2008-2009 season. Kansas City is mentioned as a candidate for a NHL team (on account of KC’s new arena) and no minor league teams have even played in that city since the IHL’s Blades folded in 2001.Although I agree with Baldwin that large Wolfpack attendance figures would be helpful to raise Hartford’s profile as a potential NHL market, attendance at a minor league event is not a proper barometer of Connecticut’s ability to sustain major league hockey.
Relocation seems inevitable, and the question remains whether the NHL needs Hartford to remain a 30 team league.The construction of new arena, in challenging economic times, remains the greatest roadblock to bringing the NHL back to Hartford. Considering all that Hartford has to offer in terms of a previous NHL history and the size of the media market, a new NHL team may in fact find that Hartford is the most attractive of the cities commonly mentioned as potential destinations for NHL franchises.
Dan Canavan is an attorney at Updike, Kelly & Spellacy in Hartford, Connecticut, and fan of the former Hartford Whalers. He can be contacted at dcanavan@uks.com or 860-548-2672.
Last week’s meeting between Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman renewed excitement for the return of an NHL team to the City of Hartford. Although the fact that Bettman took a meeting with Perez is intriguing, the question on the minds of Connecticut sports fans is whether anything has changed in Hartford’s pursuit of a replacement for the Whalers?
The relocation of an NHL team to Hartford is entirely dependent on a single factor – whether the City can finance and build a new downtown arena to replace the aging XL Center. It is doubtful that the NHL will entertain serious discussions concerning a franchise in Hartford until an arena is constructed and operational. A mere promise to build will not be enough. Although Mayor Perez formed a task force to gauge corporate support for for the NHL, is there any evidence that talk of a new arena has progressed to an actual plan? Perez himself cites the current state of the economy as a significant challenge to the prospective project.
The Whalers’ history in Hartford and enthusiastic fanbase appears to be a good fit for the NHL, whose attendance continues to struggle in non-traditional hockey areas. In fact, four of the five teams with the lowest attendance in 2009 play in Phoenix, Atlanta, Columbus and Nashville, respectively. And the team formerly known as the Hartford Whalers – the Carolina Hurricanes - rank twenty-third of the thirty NHL teams in attendance. While Hartford certainly provides a better atmosphere for the NHL to flourish than the aformentioned cities, the real indication of whether Hartford will once against host the NHL will be whether a new arena can be built without an explicit promise of an NHL franchise.
For now, the return of the Whalers can be filed in the same speculative category as the possibility of a UFL franchise in Hartford and the relocation of the New England Revolution to Hartford. Those teams, however, would not require a new stadium to make Hartford their home.
According to Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post, the United Football League has owners in place for 4 of the 6 franchises for its inaugural season. For those unfamiliar with Mr. Lombardi and the National Football Post, the site not only provides unique perspectives on the NFL, but now its writers are out in front of some of the league’s major stories.
Today is draft day in MLS (ESPN2 @ 2:00 p.m.), and the 2009 version has some Connecticut connections and some unique legal spin. UCONN senior O’Brian White is one of the top forward prospects in the draft despite the strong likelihood that he will miss portions of the 2009 season with an ACL tear. White was the 2007 Hermann Trophy (the soccer Heisman), and elected to play his senior year rather than enter the draft early. A consensus top five pick last year, his injury could drop him at least a full round.
Graciano Brito of Quinnipiac is hailed as another top forward prospect. The two-time Northeast Conference player of the year is also a two-time All-American. Akeem Priestly made first team Atlantic Sun conference as a freshman before transferring to UCONN. He also made Second Team All-Northeast and is a member of the Jamaican National Team. Defender David Tyrie of Central Connecticut also has a chance to be drafted. He was named to the all-region team three times.
Teams also have the option of drafting players from the Generation Adidas program. Designed to promote an influx of young talent into the league, the Generation Adidas program allows highly rated underclassmen to forgo their remaining college eligibility to enter the draft. The players selected for the program sign special contracts that grant them scholarship money to complete their educations if they wash out of the league. These players command higher salaries than the rest of the draftees, receive a three year contract and do not count against the salary cap. Read more about the program, and the 2009 class, click here and here.
Because of the international talent pool available to MLS teams, the draft is not the only source of new talent. Teams can lock up rights to foreign talent by filing discovery claims on potential prospects. By filing these claims, teams get the first opportunity to sign the discovered players or trade their rights within the league. These claims apply to the MLS only, and have no effect on the players ability to sign with other leagues. In addition, some players (especially those with foreign passports), head to leagues outside MLS rather than report to camp with their MLS teams in February. MLS rules allow teams to retain the rights to these players for a couple of years. Teams frequently use late round picks on players who have announced their attention to go abroad in the hope that they will return to the US or change their mind. This ploy can land first round talent with a fourth round pick.
We will update this article after the draft with a report on the Connecticut players. The draft can be tracked here.
Attorney Ben Berger, an avid fan of soccer and MLS, is an attorney at Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, in Hartford, Connecticut as well as Connecticut Sports Law’s resident soccer expert. Ben can be reached at bberger@uks.com or 860-548-2636.
One of the joys of playing in a golf tournament is lining up your shot for the hole-in-one prize. With the shiny new car parked by the tee box, you ignore your previous slices, hooks and duffs and briefly believe that you can make the shot and drive off with the new car, or with an oversized check, Happy Gilmore-style. However, even if you make the shot, your greatest challenge – collecting the prize – may lie in front of you.
As reported by the Hartford Courant, the Connecticut Department of Insurance fined Hole-in-Won Worldwide and Golf Marketing Worldwide $5.9 million for illegally operating an unlicensed insurance business. The businesses, operated by Kevin Kolenda, allegedly failed to pay for holes-in-one at the 2007 Travelers Championship and a 2008 tournament in Trumbull. Now Kolenda and his companies face an investigation by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who will look into possible violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. Blumenthal believes that an unfair trade practices action might provide a better chance of restitution than the hefty fine levied by the Department of Insurance.
Kolenda, whose companies have been fined in Washington and Massachusetts, denies the most recent allegations. However, according to this 2005 article from the San Diego Union Tribune, Kolenda and his companies are no strangers to controversy.
Connecticut Sports Law has discussed Patriots Quarterback Matt Cassel and his golden opportunity of becoming a starting quarterback in the last year of his contract. Having outperformed everyone’s expectations, not to mention the uncertainty concerning Tom Brady’s status, Cassel has become a very valuable commodity and is ready to cash in. Accordingly, it was no surprise that the Patriots used the franchise tag to either retain Cassel’s services or ensure that they will receive compensation for him. For more on Cassel and the workings of the NFL salary cap, see Andrew Brandt’s article on the National Football Post.
Here’s a quote of UConn AD Jeff Hathaway from Elsberry’s piece:
It gave the university community and it gave the state of Connecticut something to embrace, something to wrap their arms around, whether you were an alumni of the university or just a fan or friend. That success gave people something to believe in and call their own, and in so many ways became the pride of the state of Connecticut.
Accolades Continue to Roll in for UConn’s Donald Brown
The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is the nation’s largest athletic conference and only multi-divisional conference, with 321 member institutions and over 122,000 student-athletes ranging across 16 states from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois.
For now, the only thing that is clear is that the Sox have assumed almost no additional risk this offseason, while giving themselves at least a chance to improve upon the 95-win club of a year ago.
The power struggle between college football coaches and the universities for which they work, has taken some interesting twists and turns over the last year or so. Coaches have long operated in a system of virtual free agency, with little regard for the binding nature of contracts. Universities have attempted to fight the flight of their coaches by way of expensive buyout provisions. Coaches and their agents have been up to the challenge, negotiating creative contract terms that allow a coach to leave a university if the university does not follow through on its promises, such a stadium renovation or construction of new workout facility.
At its core, this case demonstrates the most simple rule of contracts: get the entire agreement on paper. Coach Jagodzinski’s contract reportedly contains no clause that prevents him from interviewing for other coaching positions. Boston College Athletic Director Gene DiFilippo has claimed that he and Jacodzinski had an oral agreement that this partnership would be long-term, and not a stepping-stone for the coach. In court however, evidence of oral agreements is inadmissible to alter the terms of written contract. So why didn’t BC include these supposed oral terms in the contract? After all, this hiring was not a small investment – Jagodzinski earned over $1 million per year. Honor and integrity are wonderful things – but for $1 million I want everything on paper.
Account for the Goals of Both Parties
Another issue that comes to mind is whether Jagodzinski’s contract accurately reflected the goals of both parties, and provided mechanisms to achieve those goals. Assume that BC wanted a long-term coach and a winning football program and Jagodzinski wanted to coach BC, but leave open the opportunity to land his ultimate dream job, head coach for an NFL team. A contract provision could be negotiated where Jagodzinski would be allowed to escape from his contract only if he led BC to a certain number of wins and an NFL team offered him a head coaching position. Such a “dream job” provision is not unprecedented. Lou Holtz exercised such a clause when he left the University of Minnesota to coach Notre Dame.
Robert Boland of the National Football Post suggests that a retention bonus is an underutilized mechanism to secure the services of a coach on a long-term basis. In fact, Boland cites Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who recently received a $1 million bonus for coaching at OU for ten years, as a prime example. (Boland’s article, which also discusses BC’s legal remedies in the Jagodzinski matter, is excellent).
What Happens Next?
The BC-Jagodzinski saga will surely affect contractual language insisted upon by both universities and coaches alike. For universities, loyalty clauses and retention bonuses may be more seriously considered. For coaches, the right to interview or dream job provisions may be insisted upon. For Jagodzinski, the Boston Globe reports that he will not return to BC and will meet with DeFilippo to work out a resolution to the remaining three years on his contract.
Following a record-setting performance in the International Bowl, UConn running back Donald Brown announced that he will enter the NFL Draft, a reversal of his previous announcement that he would return to UConn. From a business perspective, Brown’s decision is rock solid.
As discussed in Connecticut Sports Law a few weeks ago (Should Donald Brown Stay at UConn?), the time is right for Brown to go pro. He has accomplished almost everything that he can at UConn: he rushed for a staggering 2,083 yards and 18 touchdowns this season; he is at or near the top of most rushing categories in UConn’s record book; and Brown was UConn’s first All-American since UConn began competing at the NCAA’s highest level. Despite some well-reasoned disappointment that Brown has not received the national attention that he deserves, there was nothing else for Brown to accomplish at the collegiate level.
Brown’s dominance this season caused UConn’s offense to rely upon him heavily, sometimes exclusively, perhaps to an unreasonable degree. The International Bowl served to emphasize that point. With the complete and utter lack of a passing game (UConn QB Tyler Lorenzen’s threw only 6 passes all day), Brown took UConn’s entire offense on his shoulders running for 261 yards and a touchdown. If he returned, he’d be signing up for another year of carrying a heavy load for UConn, which will be breaking in both a new quarterback and offensive coordinator. As impressive as Brown has been, another 2,000-yard rushing year would likely concern NFL scouts as much as it would impress them, notwithstanding that Brown would be risking injury.
The National Football Post has listed Brown as number 82 on its list of the top 100 collegiate prospects. Of course that number is subject to change once Brown works out for NFL scouts and gets timed in the 40-yard dash.
For Donald Brown, the time is right to enter the NFL. Here’s hoping that Brown continues his success and shows fans across the country the explosive running ability and nose for the end zone that UConn fans have come to know.
Last week Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez was in the news for meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to express the city’s interest in hosting a NHL franchise. This week Perez is in the news again – for his arrest on corruption charges.
The point is that Hartford’s previous dealings in professional sports, although not ultimately successful, were guided by strong leaders. The present effort to bring the NHL back to Hartford needs a new face – whether it be the next mayor, governor (Jim Amann might be up to the challenge), business leader – or faces, in the form of a grassroots community movement.
Posted by Dan Fitzgerald 
A few weeks ago, the 
By Dan Canavan
Dan Canavan is an attorney at Updike, Kelly & Spellacy in Hartford, Connecticut, and fan of the former Hartford Whalers. He can be contacted at 
Last week’s 
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One of the joys of playing in a golf tournament is lining up your shot for the hole-in-one prize. With the shiny new car parked by the tee box, you ignore your previous slices, hooks and duffs and briefly believe that you can make the shot and drive off with the new car, or with an oversized check, Happy Gilmore-style. However, even if you make the shot, your greatest challenge – collecting the prize – may lie in front of you.
Patriots to Use Franchise Tag on Cassel
The 
