Sport Law Midterm: Sports Law Case

Sports Law Midterm
I. (A) After reviewing the case that was given to us, I do not believe we have enough valuable information to fully comprehend what had happen that night Sarah Smith got struck in the head with a hockey puck. But given what we do know, there is no way that Sarah’s estate can bring a claim against the Blue’s organization for hiring Kyle Albert. It was clearly an accident, there was no way Albert had intentionally deflected the puck into the stands to purposely hit Sarah. On the other hand, Sarah’s estate can bring a claim to the Blue’s organization for owning the hockey arena because it obviously wasn’t a safe area for fans to be in. After doing some research, there was one incident where a puck hit a fan in the head, causing the girl to die less than 48 hours later. Brittanie Cecil in 2002, age 13, “died less than 48

In this case, the puck had hit another fan before hitting Cecil, and she was still able to make her way to the first aid station at the rink. After this incident, the NHL implemented mandatory safety netting to be behind the glass on all areas around the ice. Since it has been 13 years since the accident, it is important to understand that the Blue’s hockey rink does follow all safety regulations, for both the players and the fans.
(B) If Sarah’s estate was to bring a claim against the St. Louis Blue’s organization on the count of an unsafe venue, the Blue’s organization can come back with a very strong defense. One defense the Blues could use was that when attending a hockey game, there is an assumption of risk. There is no way that in an