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UFL’s $150,000 Transfer Fee Has A Victim

On November 22, I talked about the United Football League’s $150,000 Transfer Fee, which is embedded into Section 3(b)(iv) of the UFL Uniform Player Contract.  The fee is only being applied to NFL teams that wish to sign a UFL player directly to their active rosters.  It may be waived by the Commissioner of the UFL, as was done last year; however, Commissioner Huyghue has resisted any temptations to change course this year.

We now know that the Transfer Fee is affecting talented football players who wish to play in the NFL right now.  It has been reported that former FSU tailback Lorenzo Booker was ready to sign with the Minnesota Vikings until the Vikings backed out when the UFL refused to waive the Transfer Fee.

My stance continues to be that there is no excuse for players and their agents to say that they did not know about the Transfer Fee; it is clearly embedded in the Uniform Player Contract that each UFL player signed prior to competing in this year’s championship season.  Will the UFL suffer because of its hard-line stance regarding this fee?  Quite possibly.  Maybe it will deter players from going the UFL route in the future.  But the fact of the matter is that the clause existed prior to the start of this season, so players with knowledge of that provision who felt it could negatively affect them should have considered it prior to executing the contract.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

One reply on “UFL’s $150,000 Transfer Fee Has A Victim”

Seems to me that the real issue remains whether or not he clause should be enforced. Have any of these players even taken the position that they didn’t know about the clause?

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