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The Jurisprudence of Sport: Sports and Games as Legal Systems

1st Edition
Mitchell N. Berman | Richard D. Friedman
ISBN: 9781684678907
Subject: Sports Law
Format: Print - Softbound
Page Count: 625
Copyright: 2021 | Status: In Stock
Other Formats Available

This textbook, the first of its kind, makes it easy—and fun!—to teach an exciting new course on the “jurisprudence of sport.” Unlike sports law, which treats sports as objects of regulation by ordinary legal systems, this course treats sports and games as legal systems to be studied in their own right. The book is appropriate not only for law students but also for undergraduates; it offers an introduction to legal thinking but requires no background in legal doctrine.

Student-friendly and deeply comparative, the text draws examples from the world’s most popular team and individual sports and games (including baseball, football, soccer, tennis, golf, gymnastics, chess, boxing, and esports) and also from less widely known competitions (competitive eating, cornhole, etc.). Chapters are organized in an intuitive sports-focused manner, covering such issues as scoring systems, penalties, league structure, player eligibility and assignment, amateurism, officiating, replay review, and cheating.

The jurisprudence of sport is a fast-developing field of academic study. The authors, one of them a leading figure in the field and both professors at top law schools, maintain a high degree of analytical rigor and theoretical sophistication. Icons sprinkled throughout introduce students to fundamental concepts, some law-particular (such as rules vs. standards and prices vs. sanctions) and others from cognate disciplines (such as agency costs, the Coase Theorem, and psychological biases and heuristics).

Richly filled with comments, questions, and exercises, the text facilitates a large variety of pedagogical approaches and is suitable for 2- to 4-credit courses.


Imprint: West Academic Publishing
Series: American Casebook Series
Publication Date: 04/26/2021
Related Subject(s): Comparative Law, Jurisprudence

Mitchell N. Berman, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Richard D. Friedman, University of Michigan Law School

CasebookPlus™

This title is available in our CasebookPlus format. CasebookPlus provides support beyond your classroom lectures and materials by offering additional digital resources to you and your students. Anchored by faculty-authored formative self-assessments keyed to our most popular casebooks, CasebookPlus allows students to test their understanding of core concepts as they are learning them in class – on their own, outside of the classroom, with no extra work on your part. CasebookPlus combines three important elements:

  • A new print or digital casebook
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Multiple-choice self-assessment questions, including:
  • Chapter questions keyed to the casebook
  • Black Letter Law questions (available in select subjects)
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Essay and short answer questions with sample answers and expert commentary, in 1L and select upper-level subjects

Leading digital study aids, an outline starter, and audio lectures in select subjects

Students can still utilize CasebookPlus digital resources if they’ve purchased a used book or are renting their text by purchasing the Learning Library at westacademic.com.

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Learn more about this series.

“Whether we are simply besotted sports fans, students of jurisprudence, or institutional designers, all of us have reason to be grateful to Berman and Friedman for their clearly assiduous efforts to cover the field. They have earned a 10.”
—Sandy Levinson, Balkinization

“[A] terrific book. . . . [A]n outstanding classroom textbook, both for law students and to introduce advanced undergraduates to the fundamentals of legal theory.”
—Yuval Abrams, Balkinization

“[A]n excellent resource for law students and law tutors (and not just those interested in sport) . . . . [P]rovide[s] a wealth of examples, extracts, problem scenarios and questions which are used effectively to engage the reader and deepen thought and debate. . . .”
—Jonathan Cooper, Journal of the Philosophy of Sport

“The book is ostensibly designed for law students, but the variety of topics and the richness of the material will equally appeal to students of philosophy (of sport) or sports studies . . . . This book is an impressive piece of work. I whole-heartedly recommend it to the reader.”
—Miroslav Imbrišević, Nordic Sport Science Forum

“[A]ccessible and comprehensible for firstyear law students and undergraduates . . . [and] equally as effective for teaching more advanced students . . . , this is an invaluable resource that can be used as a primary or supplementary sports law text.”
—Alexander Amir, Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law

“Berman and Friedman have penned the seminal treatise at the intersection of jurisprudence and sports. The book is as thought-provoking as it is comprehensive.”
—Ryan M. Rodenberg, Sydney Law Review