K&C Sports & Entertainment Law Weekly Roundup – January 2026 #3 | Kaufman & Canoles

Sports:
NCAA

• The evidence against the college basketball players indicted Thursday on federal sports gambling charges, and the alleged fixers involved in enticing and paying the players, appears strong enough for the NCAA to focus on preventing future scandals rather than on denying the problem existed, sports law experts say. College Gambling Busts Show That Getting Caught Is Easy
• A Tennessee federal court rejected a bid from five Division I college football players to preliminarily block the NCAA from denying them a full fifth season of play, finding they didn’t sufficiently show the NCAA’s four-season limit is anticompetitive. Judge Rejects Bid To Block NCAA’s 4-Season Limit
• Federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced criminal charges Thursday against 26 people, including more than a dozen former college basketball players, accused of conspiring to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games. Ex-NCAA Players Among 26 Accused Of Rigging Games

NBA

• Madison Square Garden’s quest to get former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley to pay court-ordered attorney fees will continue, according to a Thursday order by the New York federal judge overseeing the litigation over his 2017 arena ejection. MSG Bid To Punish Oakley Over $642K Owed Will Go Forward

Golf

• TaylorMade Golf Co. Inc. in a California federal lawsuit accused its rival Topgolf Callaway Brands of running a disparaging smear campaign meant to convince consumers it has inferior, poor-performing products, in violation of the Lanham Act. TaylorMade Claims Golf Rival’s UV ‘Test’ Misleads Consumers

MLB

• The First Circuit on Friday largely affirmed the dismissal of a trademark infringement lawsuit that sons of late MLB Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente lodged against the Puerto Rican government, but said a lower court was “off base” when dismissing a few claims against Commonwealth officials in their personal capacities. 1st Circ. Revives Some Of Baseball Legend’s Sons’ TM Claims

Entertainment:

LAWSUITS OF THE RICH & FAMOUS

FILM & TELEVISION

MUSIC

• A musician alleging that John Mellencamp‘s 1996 hit song “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)” stole from his own noncharting track denied to a CA federal judge that he wrote a report attributed to his music expert and then failed to make him available for a meaningful deposition. Musician Accusing Mellencamp Of Theft Denies Faking Report – Law360