Friday, August 22, 2014

The Latest on the Zuffa vs. New York Lawsuit

NEW YORK


The latest round of filings (i.e., the responses to the recent motions for summary judgment) in the Zuffa vs. New York State lawsuit were filed today, and while I'm still going through them, I just thought I'd post this little gem here. It's from the State's side and it's about how their interpretation of the law in regards to amateur MMA has been "consistent" throughout the years.

The interpretation of [the Combative Sports Law] among State officials with respect to amateur MMA events has been consistent. Any differences in approach appear to be the product of changes over time in the number of amateur events that came to the State Athletic Commission's attention, as well as personality differences... From 2002 to 2007, Mr. Spindola read the statute to focus on professional and since inquiries about amateur MMA events were rare, he assumed a proposed event was professional unless he received satisfactory proof of its amateur status, which he never received.
This bit of revisionist history is especially grating because I know personally of many instances where promoters approached Spindola (who was the athletic commission's legal counsel) with requests to do amateur events - not just MMA but grappling - and were told to GTFO.

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