Sports Law in the United States: Transgender Athletes and Legal Issues

This report provides an overview of sports law, with a specific focus on the legal and ethical considerations surrounding transgender athletes. It begins by defining sports law and its scope, including contractual agreements, antitrust issues, and constitutional matters. The report then delves into the complexities of transgender individuals' participation in sports, exploring the challenges and advantages, including the role of hormone levels and the impact of gender identity. It examines the existing regulations and guidelines set by organizations like the International Olympic Committee and the NCAA. Furthermore, the report analyzes the recent Iowa law related to transgender athletes, discussing its implications and the ongoing debates surrounding inclusivity and fairness in sports. The report concludes by summarizing the key points, highlighting the evolving legal landscape and the need for regulations that balance inclusivity with competitive fairness.

Running head: SPORTS LAW
SPORTS LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Sports law is considered to be an amalgamation of the laws and the regulations that are
applicable to the athletes to the games or the sports they are considered to play. The sports law is
considered to touch several matters which are inclusive of the contractual agreement along with
tort or agency, antitrust, constitutional as well as labor, along with sex discrimination as well as
criminal and tax issues. The NCAA is considered to be the regulating or the governing body for
the intercollegiate sports and the NCAA’s members are considered to be sponsored by the state
governments. The Supreme Court has also provided a suggestion regarding the eligibility rules
for the NCAA and such are not considered to be based on the state actions for any constitutional
law purposes1.
This paper discusses and analyzes the sports law in the United States and provides a brief
introduction regarding the concept and it moves on to analyze the transgender individuals and
their participation in the sports. Furthermore, it is also considered to look into the matter relating
to the recent Iowa law on this particular topic. Thus, in conclusion, it summarizes the points that
have been discussed in the paper.
Discussion
The sports leagues are considered to be particularly governed or regulated in accordance
with the rules and regulations of the regulatory procedures which would be provided in the
league and such would be through organizing of the documents as the league constitutions are
considered to be the by-laws. In many instances it has been understood that the documents that
have been organized are considered to be establish a board of governors who would be
1 Weston, Maureen. "Can a Sports Sanction Constitute an Illegal Work Restriction? A Review of NCAA V. Coach
Todd Mcnair." A Review of NCAA V. Coach Todd Mcnair (April 16, 2019). LawInSport (2019).

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comprising of the team owners along with their representatives who have been responsible for
the establishment and the management of the league governance as well as the regulatory
policies. The Board of governors are also considered to be typically responsible for the
appointment of the league commissioner who is considered to be serving as any chief executive
officer and along with such for the management of the daily activities for the operation of the
league. Although, the organizational structure are considered to be for each of the league they are
different from the foundational documents that are considered to typically endow the
commissioner with a certain broad authority that would help in managing all the aspects of the
operations of the league and in majority of the cases it also helps in enforcing the rules laid down
for the league2.
It has been stated by the author that the state along with the federal governments are
considered to typically not regulate or govern the daily operations for any professional sports
leagues that has been situated in the United States. Regardless of such, it has provided the
leagues with a wide latitude that would help in the regulation of the activities internally in order
to set the rules on their own. The sports participants are considered to be normally protected
from the liability for the on field actions as the civil and the criminal laws are considered to vary
from each state to state. In the context of the civil actions the courts are considered to hold the
decision regarding the sports participants by assuming the ordinary as well as the foreseeable
risks that are related to the particular or specific activity3. Therefore, these injuries are considered
to occur as the outcome for any on-field actions that have become incidental to the participation
in the sport and that are not considered to generally give any kind of rise to the civil liability as
such can be observed from the case of McKichan v St Louis Hockey Club LP, 967 SW2d 209
2 Mitten, Matthew J., et al. Sports law and regulation: Cases, materials, and problems. Wolters Kluwer Law &
Business, 2019.
3 James, Mark. Sports law. Macmillan International Higher Education, 2017.

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(Mo Ct App 1998)4. The participants are considered to be subjected to that of the civil liability
but nevertheless, it can be understood that the actions are considered to be outside the ordinary
scope that would be for the sport and such would be considered to be unforeseeable or be
particularly reckless in nature. It had been described by a court that such would be considered to
give rise to a certain kind of liability in the realm of sports and the conduct for it would be
considered as a deliberate and wilful attempt and reckless disregard for the safety in connection
to the other player which would be considered to cause injury to that player5. As it can be
understood from the case of Nabozny v Barnhill, 334 NE2d 258 (Ill App Ct 1975)6.
However, the sports participants are not considered to be immune from any criminal
liability for the on-field actions and along with such the criminal charges that are considered to
be increasingly rare. The minority states are considered to have codified various sports
exceptions in order to make such complaint to the criminal statutes. The courts as well as the
prosecutors are considered to appear in order to prefer to permit the leagues and along with such
on-field officials to punish all the offenders but they have considered to be interrupted due to
certain instances and such are generally where the on-field conduct are considered to exceed for
the bounds that would help in providing with a normal game-play7.
According to the author, it can be understood that the transgender individuals are
considered to be those individuals who experience incongruence between the gender which was
considered to be assigned to them by birth and the identity and the gender they have experienced.
The gender identity or the experienced gender is considered to be defined as an individual’s
internal sense of gender whether the individual feels like a male or a female. It can also be
4 McKichan v St Louis Hockey Club LP, 967 SW2d 209 (Mo Ct App 1998).
5 Leeds, Michael A., and Peter Von Allmen. The economics of sports. Routledge, 2016.
6 Nabozny v Barnhill, 334 NE2d 258 (Ill App Ct 1975)
7 Lysiak, Jordan, Aurusa Kabani, and Molly Harding. "2018 Annual Survey: Recent Developments in Sports
Law." Marq. Sports L. Rev. 29 (2018): 571.

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neither or somewhere along with the gender conitinuum. There are several transgender
individuals who would try to choose or affirm their gender identity by socially transitioning and
some other individuals would choose medical transition with the cross-sex hormones as well as
gender confirming surgeries. Some of the transgender individuals are considered to experience
stigma as well as transphobia and prejudice or discrimination along with violence which are
considered to act as consequences of their gender identity. It had also been found that these
individuals were more likely to prevent and avoid any situations or any circumstances that would
make them afraid of being harassed or identified as transgender or be outed as such in gyms or
any public toilets or any shops. Therefore, it is significant to create a certain inclusive
environment which would help in establishing a certain kind of mental as well as physical health
that would benefit the physical activity as well as the sport. It has been found that the transgender
individuals are considered to have depression and anxiety and such could be considered to be
managed by the physical activity. In addition to such, the physical activity can also help and
contribute towards the maintenance of the appropriate weight that is necessary in order to
undergo any gender-confirming surgery8.
It has been stated that the premise regarding the competitive sport is considered to be fair
and owing to any such fears are considered to be surrounded by the perceived athletic advantage
that would be present for the transgender individuals and the question regarding such would be
permitted which would be in accordance with the gender identity among the sport organizations.
It has also been commonly believed that the androgenic hormones are considered to confer
certain athletic advantage and thus, the transgender female individuals are considered have high
endogenous as well as testosterone levels that would be perceived in order to hold a certain kind
8 Flores, Andrew R., et al. "Public Attitudes about Transgender Participation in Sports: The Roles of Gender, Gender
Identity Conformity, and Sports Fandom." Sex Roles (2020): 1-17.

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of advantage in sport. However, it has also been stated that there has been a certain scarcity of
research which would be directly explored as to how the hormone levels are considered to be
related with the athletic competence9.
There has been a scope for the transgender athletes to participate and compete in the
International Olympic Committee’s affiliated sports. However, with the similar guidelines the
states like that of South Dakota are considered to be looking in order to secure. It had been
mandated by a committee in the year 2016 that the transgender female athletes would be able to
demonstrate their testosterone level which would be below a certain specific point that would be
at least before a year of competing but the male counterparts have no such restrictions or
limitations. Our society is considered to shift more and more towards the all-inclusive
membership which also have the legitimate reasons in order for the boundaries to exist. There
would be no reason for any of the transgender athletes to not compete with other transgender
athletes. However, such would be blindly supporting all the women who are considered to be
competing against men who have identified themselves as women and such makes no biological
sense. The life is not considered to be perfect or even fair in spite of having strong, misguided
efforts that would help in manufacturing utopia. It would be in the process to equalize the
opportunities for many of the advocates which would particularly be in female trans-athlete
inclusion that would be making the social strata even more unbalanced than it already is10.
It has been stated by the author that the Iowa law is considered to presently prevent any
discrimination that has been based on the gender identity or the race, creed, color, sex, sexual
orientation or national origin or religion, ancestry and along with such disability. The gender
9 Carroll, Helen J. "Including transgender students in United States’ school-based athletics." Transgender athletes in
competitive sport (2017): 143-155.
10 Hacke, Ray. "Girls Will Be Boys, and Boys Will Be Girls: The Emergence of the Transgender Athlete and a
Defensive Game Plan for High Schools That Want to Keep Their Playing Fields Level-for Athletes of Both
Genders." Sports Law. J. 25 (2018): 57.

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identity was considered to be added by the lawmakers in the year 2007 when the Democrats had
regained their control of the Iowa legislature and had held the office of the governor with the
election. The civil as well as the gay rights were also considered to be advocated in an immediate
manner that would be considered to be criticized by the measure. Discrimination against any of
the transgender individuals or the individuals who were considered to be Iowans would continue
to remind the legislators of the prevalence of the transgender individuals and large sections of the
communities in Iowa are considered to be fighting for the equality as well as the dignity right
alongside the transgender individuals. However, it has also been stated that since most of the
society in the United States have been moving forward to a more inclusivity towards that of the
LGBT individuals these bills are considered to be from the Iowa Republicans that are considered
to be moving in the opposite direction and such introduction of them would be considered to hurt
the LGBT students who are often considered to feel ostracized. Although, the bill that was
considered to remove the transgender individuals from that of the Iowa Civil Rights Act
ultimately died it did not come as a surprise that all the other LGBT related bill are considered to
be continuing in order to be introduced11.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be understood from the above discussion that the transgender
individuals are considered to be getting more opportunities and support from the communities in
the United States and the government are considered to be taking certain initiatives in order to
benefit and protect them by providing and introducing new bills into the legislature that would
protect the individuals from any unfair or prejudiced attitude. They are also trying to reduce
11 "Iowa bill to end transgender civil rights protections is dead". NBC News, 2020. Online. Internet. 20 Apr. 2020. .
Available: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/iowa-republicans-try-ax-transgender-protections-state-law-
n1126426.

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certain restrictions as well as limitations in the world of sports and are permitting them to play at
the professional as well as amateur level which is considered to open up variety of opportunities
for the transgender individuals. However, in spite of various initiatives there are few restriction
and inequalities that are being faced by these individuals in the field of sports and the
government needs to come up with certain regulations and guidelines in order to reduce or bridge
the gaps that are persisting and existing in this field of sports. Apart from such, it can be
understood that there are various opportunities that are being introduced and given or
implemented for the transgender individuals in order to provide them with equal rights in the
society and also in the field of sports.

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Bibliography
"Iowa bill to end transgender civil rights protections is dead". NBC News, 2020. Online. Internet.
20 Apr. 2020. . Available: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/iowa-republicans-try-ax-
transgender-protections-state-law-n1126426.
Carroll, Helen J. "Including transgender students in United States’ school-based
athletics." Transgender athletes in competitive sport (2017): 143-155.
Flores, Andrew R., et al. "Public Attitudes about Transgender Participation in Sports: The Roles
of Gender, Gender Identity Conformity, and Sports Fandom." Sex Roles (2020): 1-17.
Hacke, Ray. "Girls Will Be Boys, and Boys Will Be Girls: The Emergence of the Transgender
Athlete and a Defensive Game Plan for High Schools That Want to Keep Their Playing Fields
Level-for Athletes of Both Genders." Sports Law. J. 25 (2018): 57.
James, Mark. Sports law. Macmillan International Higher Education, 2017.
Leeds, Michael A., and Peter Von Allmen. The economics of sports. Routledge, 2016.
Lysiak, Jordan, Aurusa Kabani, and Molly Harding. "2018 Annual Survey: Recent
Developments in Sports Law." Marq. Sports L. Rev. 29 (2018): 571.
McKichan v St Louis Hockey Club LP, 967 SW2d 209 (Mo Ct App 1998).
Mitten, Matthew J., et al. Sports law and regulation: Cases, materials, and problems. Wolters
Kluwer Law & Business, 2019.
Nabozny v Barnhill, 334 NE2d 258 (Ill App Ct 1975).

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Weston, Maureen. "Can a Sports Sanction Constitute an Illegal Work Restriction? A Review of
NCAA V. Coach Todd Mcnair." A Review of NCAA V. Coach Todd Mcnair (April 16, 2019).
LawInSport (2019).