Founder of @HeitnerLegal, focusing on Sports, Entertainment, Intellectual Property & Business Law. Teach NIL at Miami Law. Daddy to Maxx, Aliya, and Jesse.
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Joined March 2007
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Thank you @FOS for profiling my practice and the state of #NIL law today. Transfer disputes. Eligibility fights. Revenue-sharing litigation. It's all happening, and athletes need counsel before they sign anything. frontofficesports.com/darren…
We have reached the stage at which well-financed interests are deploying scare tactics to pressure members of Congress to support deeply flawed college sports legislation.
First at FOS: College sports now has a dedicated Super PAC.
The College Sports United PAC was created to ensure the current version of the Protect College Sports Act passes the House without amendments.
Story by @achristovichh ⬇️
frontofficesports.com/articl…
In June, an NCAA VP swore the Manual's eligibility rules "determine who competes." In October, the NCAA told a court the Manual is a "courtesy." If Bylaw 12.6 is wrong, Bylaw 9.3.1.1.1 offers a fix. Why no rule change? This week's #NIL newsletter digs in. linkedin.com/pulse/newslette…
All state governors can and should sign executive orders that give schools clear cover to roster Class of 2022 players. That produces uniformity, eliminates chaos, ends the split in court rulings, and tracks what the NCAA bylaws already require. It ties the NCAA's hands.
The Governor of Ohio can’t “legislate” NCAA eligibility rules. That’s true. It’s also not what’s occurred. He can order that Ohio schools don’t apply an eligibility restriction on Class of 2022 athletes. It’s cover if schools choose to roster such players. xitter.cf/achristovichh/status/2…
The Governor of Ohio can’t “legislate” NCAA eligibility rules. That’s true. It’s also not what’s occurred. He can order that Ohio schools don’t apply an eligibility restriction on Class of 2022 athletes. It’s cover if schools choose to roster such players. xitter.cf/achristovichh/status/2…
This is a MASSIVE move by the governor of Ohio. Will we see other state governors follow? This should provide sufficient comfort for all Ohio schools to roster Class of 2022 athletes.
The Heisman bonus is real. But in the revenue-share contracts I review, the most carefully negotiated incentive is whether the player is on the roster for a bowl game. This week's #NIL newsletter takes you inside the contracts that pay for performance. linkedin.com/pulse/newslette…
Every powerful backer of the Protect College Sports Act got something: pooled TV money, a frozen conference map, capped labor costs, an antitrust exemption. Who was negotiating for the revenue athletes, and why is Sen. Maria Cantwell all in? My thoughts: linkedin.com/pulse/newslette…
Ted Cruz, Cody Campbell, President Trump, Randy Levine, Nick Saban, Deion Sanders, Charlie Baker, and Maria Cantwell can’t be happy that the Protect College Sports Act, which passed easily in the Senate, may never become law.
I’ll try my best at concisely explaining each of their motivations in tomorrow’s #NIL newsletter.
Ted Cruz, Cody Campbell, President Trump, Randy Levine, Nick Saban, Deion Sanders, Charlie Baker, and Maria Cantwell can’t be happy that the Protect College Sports Act, which passed easily in the Senate, may never become law.
I’ll try my best at concisely explaining each of their motivations in tomorrow’s #NIL newsletter.
News: Sen. Ted Cruz has been adamant the House will pass his Protect College Sports Act quickly. But House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that won’t be the case and the bill likely won’t even pass as-is.
Scalise told The Sun that there are “differences between the House and the Senate” on the legislation that will be “addressed in some amendments that will keep the focus of the bill on letting the schools govern themselves.”
“There's some good elements in the bill, but you saw there were some other problems that a number of our chairmen of the committees of jurisdiction in the House have with that bill, that would need to be fixed,” Scalise said.
W/ @dougherty_jesse
washingtonsun.com/us-news/te…
It’s very unlikely that the House votes on the Protect College Sports Act in October.
Denzel Aberdeen has sued the NCAA in Gainesville, FL, seeking a 5th year of eligibility. His motion notes that 35+ courts have already blocked the NCAA from carving out the Class of 2022. He's already on Florida's roster, won't bump anyone off the team, and won't earn revenue-share $.
The motion also points out that the NCAA is lobbying Congress (re: Protect College Sports Act) for the very relief it has denied Aberdeen.
Aberdeen is represented by @JessePanuccioFL, who is a former Acting Associate Attorney General and former general counsel to Governor Scott.
Denzel Aberdeen's biggest challenge may be a decision handed down yesterday in Alex Steen's case against the NCAA. The judge denied Steen's emergency injunction and said, "at this early stage, it does appear that plaintiff is not likely to prevail on the merits of several, if not all, of its claims."
None of that binds a judge in Gainesville, FL. But the NCAA will use the decision against Aberdeen however it can.
Expect Aberdeen's counsel to be prepared to fight the part about how forcing the NCAA to provide eligibility "could displace roster spots, playing time, scholarship commitments, and capped revenue-sharing allocations, burden current and incoming student-athletes and member institutions, and undermine uniform national governance."
Todd Golden signed a declaration that counters such a narrative.
247sports.com/college/florid…
“They don’t even think this bill can get through rules.”
Bad sign for the Protect College Sports Act.
Senators Booker and Murphy filed an amendment capping coach pay under the Protect College Sports Act. I don't support it.
But it raises an important question.
If capping what athletes earn is fine, why does that logic stop at the coach's contract? linkedin.com/pulse/newslette…
Congratulations to Stephen Daley, Kellen Wyatt, and the many other college athletes granted a preliminary injunction in Monroe Circuit Court. They can compete this season after a hard-fought challenge to the NCAA’s eligibility limits. Well earned.
NEW: Indiana's Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt have been granted a preliminary injunction against the NCAA, @PeteNakos reports.
Both 5th year players are now eligible for the Hoosiers.
on3.com/teams/indiana-hoosie…
The Protect College Sports Act is Cody Campbell's playbook. The wealthy co-founder of Texas Tech's NIL collective has become the muscle behind a bill that would give the NCAA an antitrust exemption. It's tough to reconcile with his writings from just a year ago.
When and why did the "free-markets advocate" who said an antitrust exemption is a "Trojan horse" go from believing that the "NCAA is broken" and that "America thrives on competition, not cozy cartels blessed by D.C." to one of the biggest backers of a bill that blesses such a cozy cartel?
Is this really about "saving college sports" or something else? If the mission remains the same, then why did Campbell tell us not to fall for the Trojan horse, only to, one year later, put his full support behind it?
This won't get the same attention as an advertisement featuring Nick Saban or Deion Sanders, but it should. thefederalist.com/2025/03/20…
The Senate scored its largest procedural gain in the history of #NIL bills. Then the Speaker sent the House home for 6 weeks.
Even a well-funded campaign may not have a real path to a House floor vote before midterms. It could be tabled til January. linkedin.com/pulse/newslette…
Sen. @CoryBooker, right now, on the Protect College Sports Act: Why isn't one athlete group in this country trumpeting the greatness of this bill? They all know this bill undermines their rights.
This bill takes away rights for athletes to legally challenge anything that the cartel of the NCAA actually does. It undermines their ability to win more court cases in the future.
If transfer sensibility is so important for players, why isn't there transfer sensibility for the coaches? There's 1 standard for players and another standard for coaches.
The bill puts red tape on the ability for athletes to make money, but not the same for coaches. Why are you treating that elite class differently than you treat athletes?
The bill is a threat to college sports and a threat to college athletes.
Booker says he will do everything possible to put on the Congressional record why the bill is a betrayal of college athletes.
More from Sen. @CoryBooker on the Protect College Sports Act: Why do the things that protect women and Olympic Sports expire? Why are we giving an antitrust exemption to a monopolistic organization that has consistently violated women's rights?
What doesn't seem to be understood by folks is that athletes right now across this country are begging for this bill not to pass. And what we are doing here in Congress is truly exemplary. We are giving a permanent antitrust exemption that conservative justices have said is rarely seen in other areas.
Athletes have been winning in courts, and now we are taking away their leverage and their bargaining power. We are settling issues that are still open.
Nobody can justify why college coaches don't get the same exact treatment in this bill as the people playing on the field. Why are you treating the college kids differently than the coaches if it's all about the money?
Booker says he will come back and read sections of the bill and explain why they are so outrageous before switching to a discussion on AI.
Sen. @CoryBooker's only intention this morning was to discuss AI, but he felt compelled to respond to Sen. Cantwell's speech on the Protect College Sports Act. She was completely outmatched by Booker, who seems determined to give every ounce of his energy to fighting its passage.
If Dae’Quan Wright and/or Zxavian Harris were to pursue claims against the SEC and/or LSU, then Lane Kiffin’s conversations with ChatGPT would be discoverable.
Those conversations and others could be quite revealing. Communicating with AI doesn’t create atty-client privilege.
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The big issue now is that the NFL has rendered the 2 players ineligible. Thus, the “whole courtroom drama” may not end “with a fizzle.” Wright and Harris have been damaged. Will they seek relief?
Here’s the now deleted Tom Mars tweet I was responding to. espn.com/college-football/st…
