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Browse the latest legal alerts, case analyses, explainers, and strategic commentary on the forces reshaping sports and entertainment.

Business & Deals

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When Can the NCAA Waive an Eligibility or Transfer Rule? Here’s How the System Actually Works.

Sep 12, 2026

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9 min read

When Can the NCAA Waive an Eligibility or Transfer Rule? Here’s How the System Actually Works.

NCAA rules often look absolute until an athlete’s circumstances fall outside what the rule was designed to address. But “getting a waiver” is not one process, one standard, or even always the right question. Here is how exceptions, legislative relief, transfer-window waivers, eligibility rules, appeals, and documentation actually work in 2026.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde

College Sports & NIL

+1

The Transfer Portal Has Deadlines. The NCAA Also Has an Escape Hatch.

Sep 12, 2026

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5 min read

The Transfer Portal Has Deadlines. The NCAA Also Has an Escape Hatch.

The NCAA granted former LSU center Kate Koval permission to enter the transfer portal months after women’s basketball’s window closed. The unusual facts reveal something important about college sports’ increasingly rigid transfer rules: there is still a safety valve, but it is much narrower than “personal reasons.”

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde
Before You Transfer: What Every Ohio High School Athlete Should Know About Eligibility

Sep 11, 2026

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16 min read

Before You Transfer: What Every Ohio High School Athlete Should Know About Eligibility

How Ohio’s high-school transfer rules work in 2026, the exceptions that can preserve eligibility, how to challenge an eligibility ruling—and why the best time to solve an eligibility problem is often before the transfer happens.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde
The 10 Things an Ohio Athlete Should Do Before Transferring High Schools

Sep 11, 2026

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11 min read

The 10 Things an Ohio Athlete Should Do Before Transferring High Schools

Thinking about changing schools? Before you withdraw, enroll somewhere else, attend a practice, or rely on what someone told you about eligibility, work through these ten questions first.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde
College Sports Has a Governance Problem, Not Just an Eligibility Problem

Sep 11, 2026

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15 min read

College Sports Has a Governance Problem, Not Just an Eligibility Problem

The fight over who gets to play is exposing a larger question: who gets to make—and enforce—the rules when the NCAA, conferences, schools, the College Sports Commission, and courts all claim a piece of the same territory?

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde
Venture Capital Isn’t Just Investing in Sports Tech Anymore. It’s Buying the Team.

Sep 11, 2026

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7 min read

Venture Capital Isn’t Just Investing in Sports Tech Anymore. It’s Buying the Team.

Collaborative Fund’s reported investment in D.C. United and Audi Field is more than another minority sports deal. It points toward a new model in which the franchise, stadium, fan base, and commercial ecosystem become a distribution platform for venture-backed companies.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde
The Hearing Moved. The Athletes Keep Playing: Why Three Days Matter in Indiana’s NCAA Eligibility Fight

Sep 11, 2026

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6 min read

The Hearing Moved. The Athletes Keep Playing: Why Three Days Matter in Indiana’s NCAA Eligibility Fight

Indiana’s Class-of-2022 case shows why temporary relief in sports litigation is not always temporary in practice. Games get played while courts deliberate—and no later ruling can put those games back on the calendar.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde
Manchester United Banned 685 Ticket Accounts. What Does a Season-Ticket Holder Actually Own?

Sep 11, 2026

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8 min read

Manchester United Banned 685 Ticket Accounts. What Does a Season-Ticket Holder Actually Own?

United’s anti-touting crackdown exposes a larger shift in sports business: a season ticket may feel like property, but modern digital ticketing increasingly operates as a revocable, data-driven contractual license. That gives clubs enormous control—but not unlimited control.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde
Ric Flair Spent 40 Years Building His Identity. He Says a Talent Agency Got a Perpetual License in 14 Minutes.

Sep 11, 2026

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11 min read

Ric Flair Spent 40 Years Building His Identity. He Says a Talent Agency Got a Perpetual License in 14 Minutes.

His new lawsuit is about much more than a bad contract. It sits at the intersection of NIL, publicity rights, talent representation, social-media control, fraud—and an increasingly important question: who controls a person’s digital identity after the relationship ends?

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde
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The Game Behind The Game

Sports & Entertainment Law + Business Analysis

© 2026 The Game Behind The Game

The Game Behind The Game provides commentary and analysis for informational purposes only. Nothing published here constitutes legal advice, creates an attorney-client relationship, or should be relied upon as a substitute for advice from qualified counsel regarding a particular matter. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s law firm, its attorneys, or its clients.

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