Thank you for the elaborate discussion on a waiver in the athletics contract. You have provided different explanations regarding the enforcement of waivers. Noting that a waiver is an exculpatory contract (Sadler, 2019), you have explained that it excuses a party, in this case, a school or sports managers, from taking liability for injuries to a participant participating in both known and unknown risks in a sporting activity. Besides, you have noted that while waivers are legally binding, they are not honored in some jurisdictions. For instance, under the principle of unfair dominance, an athlete is protected against the unfair coercion to sign the waiver agreement because a huge power disparity exists between them and the institution (Sharp et al., 2014). In this case, the waiver cannot be upheld if the school benefiting from the waiver has excessive contract transaction power.
However, while the paper focuses more on managers' and colleges' protection from being held accountable in the event an athlete is accidentally exposed to risk during activity participation, it contains little on the athletes' protection. I would like to draw your attention to the recently enacted Booker - Blumenthal legislation, which protects athletes rather than their sports managers or host colleges. According to the United States Senate (2020), the Booker - Blumenthal legislation sponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) recognizes the exceptional circumstances caused by the novel COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation anchored the senators request to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) president, Mark Emmert, to prohibit "member schools from requiring athletes to sign liability waivers exempting institutions from being held accountable for the spread of COVID-19" therefore, apart from the managers and schools, athletes should be protected from the waiver requirements during exception disease pandemics.
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References
Sadler, J. (2019). Are waiver/releases worth the paper on which they are written? https://www.sadlersports.com/riskmanagement/sports-insurance-waiverrelease.php
Sharp, L.A., Moorman, A.M., & Claussen, C.L. (2014). Sport law: A managerial approach (3rd ed.). Scottsdale, AZ: Holcomb Hathaway Publishers
United States Senate. (2020, August 6). NCAA revokes covid-19 liability waivers for college athletes in response to Booker & Blumenthal demand. https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/ncaa-revokes-covid-19-liability-waiversfor-college-athletes-in-response-tobooker-and-blumenthal-demand
