In this episode, host Jeremy M. Evans explores how Hollywood has increasingly borrowed business concepts from professional sports—particularly around branding, talent leverage, and deal-making—while overlooking the core structural elements that actually make sports models work.

Jeremy breaks down the fundamental differences between how sports and entertainment industries govern labor, allocate risk, and share revenue. While leagues rely on collectively bargained systems that balance competitive interests with long-term stability, Hollywood continues to operate through fragmented, deal-by-deal frameworks that often magnify conflict rather than resolve it.

The episode examines what sports get right—from standardized contracts to centralized governance—and why selectively copying surface-level ideas without adopting the underlying structure has created inefficiencies across the entertainment industry. Jeremy also discusses what meaningful reform could look like if Hollywood were willing to embrace the less glamorous, but more effective, parts of the sports model.

For lawyers, executives, creators, and anyone interested in the intersection of sports, media, and labor law, this episode offers a clear-eyed look at why imitation without structure falls short—and what real progress would require. (Season 8, Episode 4).

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In this episode, host Jeremy M. Evans examines how the original vision for name, image, and likeness (NIL) in college athletics has drifted far from its intent and why current compliance systems are no longer fit for purpose. Rather than remaining outside athlete-driven market activity, many schools and conferences are now managing, approving, and enforcing NIL arrangements themselves, blurring the line between independent compensation and institutional control.

Jeremy discusses how this shift has reshaped college sports economics, including the impact on athlete mobility, transfer decision-making, and contract disputes. Compliance frameworks were not designed to manage compensation over time, and their expanded role has increased uncertainty and legal exposure across the college sports landscape.

The episode also outlines potential paths forward, including reducing institutional involvement, relying more heavily on contract-based solutions, and adopting governance approaches better aligned with modern market realities. For athletes, administrators, and legal professionals, this episode explains why NIL compliance must evolve and where meaningful reform can begin. (Season 8, Episode 3).

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In Episode 2 of Season 8, host Jeremy M. Evans examines one of the most urgent and unsettled issues in modern sports and entertainment: how artificial intelligence is reshaping media rights in ways that existing contracts, leagues, and laws never anticipated. As AI-generated content, synthetic voices, automated highlights, and data-driven distribution accelerate, Jeremy explores the growing disconnect between traditional media rights frameworks and emerging technology.

This episode breaks down how AI challenges long-standing assumptions around ownership, licensing, publicity rights, and collective bargaining. Jeremy analyzes where current agreements fall short, why many stakeholders are exposed to unforeseen risk, and how leagues, teams, athletes, and broadcasters may find themselves in conflict over control and compensation.

From intellectual property and right of publicity concerns to league governance and future-proof contracting, this discussion highlights why AI is not just a technological shift—but a legal and economic inflection point for sports media. Whether you are a lawyer, executive, creator, or investor, this episode provides critical insight into why proactive legal strategy matters as AI continues to redefine the value and control of sports content. (Season 8, Episode 2).

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In the Season 8 premiere, host Jeremy M. Evans breaks down one of the most compelling financial contrasts in global sports today: why American professional sports franchises command significantly higher valuations than iconic European clubs, even when those clubs often have larger global fanbases. Jeremy explores the legal, structural, and economic frameworks that make U.S. teams uniquely attractive, stable, and scalable investments.

This episode examines how closed league systems, centralized governance, predictable media rights revenue, and strong investor protections contribute to higher franchise values in the United States. In contrast, European clubs face relegation risk, fragmented governance, and financial volatility that suppress long-term valuations despite on-field success and global popularity.

From ownership structures and revenue sharing to league control and downside risk, Jeremy explains how legal architecture—not just wins and fan engagement—drives valuation in modern sports. Whether you’re a fan, executive, investor, or lawyer, this episode offers a clear lens into the business of sport and why structural design matters more than ever. (Season 8, Episode 1).

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This week on the California Sports Lawyer Podcast, host Jeremy Evans unpacks how 2025 pushed college sports into the "algorithm era," where control is shifting away from tradition and toward platforms, data, and contracts.

Jeremy breaks down how NIL has evolved from simple endorsement deals into valuation models and roster management systems increasingly driven by analytics, audience metrics, and predictive tools tied to the transfer portal and collective spending.

The episode also explores what’s coming next, including why athlete data—such as performance and biometric inputs—is becoming a central ownership and consent battleground, and why 2026 may be defined more by contract law than court rulings as schools, conferences, platforms, and athletes negotiate new rules in real time. (Season 7, Episode 51).

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This week on the California Sports Lawyer Podcast, host Jeremy Evans breaks down why Netflix’s sports strategy is increasingly about conversation before games—using culture, creators, and shoulder programming to drive engagement without taking on the full cost and scheduling risk of traditional live sports rights.

Jeremy examines Netflix’s move into exclusive podcast distribution and what it signals about the growing value of sports-adjacent content, including video podcasts, documentaries, and creator-led shows as foundational tools for fandom, data collection, and advertiser-friendly inventory.

The episode also explores how this approach could position Netflix for a larger play in the sports media ecosystem—potentially aligning conversation-driven content with established live-sports infrastructure—and what that shift could mean for leagues, platforms, and the future of sports media deals in light of the potential Warner Bros. Discovery sale. (Season 7, Episode 50).

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This week on the California Sports Lawyer Podcast, host Jeremy Evans examines a growing question in modern sports: who owns probability. As leagues, sportsbooks, data firms, and media platforms expand real-time analytics and betting content, win probabilities, predictive models, and live odds are becoming valuable assets.

Jeremy explains how probability is created, packaged, and monetized across broadcasts, apps, and betting platforms, and where the legal lines fall between raw sports data, proprietary modeling, and intellectual property. The episode also explores what this means for leagues and teams asserting control over official data, sportsbooks building differentiated products, and media partners using probability to shape fan engagement.

Finally, we look ahead at how rights deals and disputes may evolve as probability becomes a core part of the sports product. (Season 7, Episode 49).

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This week on the California Sports Lawyer Podcast, host Jeremy Evans breaks down the rise of the "franchise sports studio" — how leagues, teams, and media partners are quietly rebuilding sports to look a lot more like Hollywood. Using the new UFC–Paramount deal as a roadmap, Jeremy explores how live games and fights are becoming the tentpole "blockbusters", surrounded by year-round universes of shoulder programming, docuseries, origin stories, rivalries, and archival content that keep fans locked in between events.

We unpack how this shift is reshaping dealmaking: rights packages moving from "games only" to "games plus universe," athletes being treated as long-term IP with life story and likeness rights in play, and why control over the narrative engine around a property is becoming as valuable as the event itself. Jeremy explains what this means for leagues, athletes, streamers, networks, and sponsors — from contract negotiation and editorial control to NIL leverage, brand building, and new revenue streams across platforms.

Finally, we look ahead at where the franchise sports studio model goes from here: more crossovers between sports and entertainment, deeper integration of archives and storytelling, and how stakeholders can protect competitive integrity while still embracing cinematic, year-round engagement. If you care about where the business of sports is headed — and who owns the stories that keep fans watching — this episode is for you. (Season 7, Episode 48).

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