While action sports fans love the thrills and spills inherent in action sports such as skateboarding, motocross, snowboarding and snowmobile climbing, promoters of action sporting events are often interested in less exciting pursuits, such as minimizing potential legal risks from these newer forms of sporting events. Action sports create many of the same legal challenges as their traditional counterparts, from ensuring spectator and participant safety to avoiding and even preventing marketing catastrophes such as “ambush marketing.” This article addresses some of these issues and how organizers can effectively deal with them.
Brian R. Socolow is a partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP. He represents organizations in the sports industry and other businesses.
Reprinted from Sports Litigation Alert, Volume 5, Issue 22, December 5, 2008. Copyright © 2008 Hackney Publications. Permission for article reprint has been granted.