Sports embody a passion that is commonly shared across the world. The virtues, attitudes, and habits of sport activities such as determination, teamwork, self-discipline, fair play, other civic virtues and the pursuit of human excellence historically elevated Western civilization and have become part of our culture and way of life. Sport satisfies the basic human need for camaraderie, a sense of community, and the opportunity to align with and derive pride from endeavors larger than one’s own self. 

 At the same time, sports have evolved into a thriving industry with commercialization and professionalization. As a consequence, contracts, various state regulations, encompassing labor relations, employment, antitrust, agency, anti-discrimination, intellectual property and dispute resolution, are assuming a progressively significant role within this industry as well.      Furthermore, with the development of European integration as well as with the advancement of globalization, the regulation of sports-related activities and disputes have been internationalized.

This Budapest Lecture event delves into the intricacies of sports governance models in the United States and the European Union, exploring the functions and constraints of professional leagues and examining the regulatory and constitutional challenges in modern-day sports relations. These and similar issues are to be addressed by Jodi Balsam, Professor of Clinical Law at the Brooklyn Law School and Krisztián Kecsmár, Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union in a conversation with Lénárd Sándor, Head of the Center of International Law at the MCC and Gabriella Érdi, researcher of the Center of International Law at the MCC.

Lecturers: 

  • Jodi Balsam is a Professor of Clinical Law and Director of Externship Programs at Brooklyn Law School. She is a recognized authority      in sports law and teaches the Sports Law course at both Brooklyn and NYU School of Law.
  • Krisztián Kecsmár is a Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxemburg. He previously served as a State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice and at the European Commission. His field of expertise include competition law, state aid law and sports law.

Moderators:

  • Gabriella Érdi has been a student of the School of Social Sciences and History at MCC and she is currently completing her research thesis in the Center for International Law of MCC.

Registration for the event: HERE