Motorsports legal conference exploring immigration issues, racetrack gambling

The lawyers attending The Racing Attorney Conference, or TRAC, in Indianapolis this week are, as the name implies, specialists in the small, highly rarified field of motorsports.

And while the conference for about 75 attorneys is relatively small, the list of issues to be discussed will be quite crowded—from the immigration issues faced by foreign nationals who crowd the sport to the looming prospect of gambling on races.

“It’s just an incredible group of professionals,” said Ed Holloran III, national chair of motorsports law at Quarles and one of TRAC’s organizers. “I don’t know if there’s a more niche specialty in the country. And while there’s competitive issues there, it’s a very, very welcoming group.”

The gathering took a several-year hiatus incited by COVID, but was revived last year.

That comeback was in part organized by Jaclyn Flint, partner at Riley Bennet Egloff LLP.

At the time she served as chair of the Indianapolis Bar Association Sports and Entertainment Law Section, which presents TRAC.

“I helped spearhead a lot of that effort to get everybody back onboard, post-COVID,” she said. “It was something that was important in our industry. It helped bring racing to the forefront of the sports industry, especially post-pandemic.”

During the conference Flint will chair a panel focused on issues faced by female auto racing attorneys.

“I think that we’re actually more prevalent than people might guess, and the panel will be helpful with that,” she said. “We have some prominent females in the industry. You see a lot of the leaders in a very male-dominated industry who are women.”

Unsurprisingly, many of the attorneys attending TRAC won’t have far to travel. While some hail from racing hotbeds such as North Carolina and Florida, the bulk come from the Indianapolis area.

Holloran wins the award for closest proximity, living as he does on Main Street in Speedway, approximately 450 feet from the Hulman Terrace Suites at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

He proposed to his wife while standing on the famed Yard of Bricks.

“The IMS is my Disney World,” he said. “I grew up in Speedway. It’s part of the fiber of my being. I want my ashes scattered there.”

Holloran has parlayed that devotion, becoming the national head of his firm’s racing law program. One of the best ways to help build a rep in this field, he says, is by attending TRAC.

There’s lots of panels on various issues, but there’s also a chance to network with quite literally everyone in this very small specialty.

“It’s just a very collegial group,” he said. “Sometimes we’re going to be on opposite sides of deals and transactions, but at least if we know each other and respect each other, I think we’ll do better work for our clients.”

One perennial area that’s getting increased attention these days is the immigration status of the foreign-born drivers and team members who stay in the U.S. for months or even years with their employers.

“Forty to 50 percent of the teams are made up of foreign nationals who will need some sort of immigration guidance or visa guidance to legally work here,” Holloran said. “There are people who do that as their exclusive practice, and it’s very lucrative and very common. It’s maybe the low-hanging fruit of motorsports.”

Some of the newer topics facing the racing industry include the effect of AI on motorsports and the looming issue of gambling – something TRAC will touch on this year but likely explore more deeply in future gatherings.

“There was at least one moment in time where the IMS talked about having some gambling infrastructure at the facility,” Flint said. “I don’t know if that’s ever going to be a reality, but I think it shows the impact of this. I think there’s a lot of room in sports gambling for racing. It seems like a natural fit to me.”

Such a move would require a lot of legal work to institute, though perhaps not as much as the layman (or anyone not knee-deep in the nuances of sports betting) might imagine.

“I think a lot of the groundwork is already there with the legislation that’s been put in place for sports gambling in general,” Flint said. “I don’t know that there’s a ton that’s unique to racing.”

What will be unique is deciding how gambling should be integrated into the sport. Or whether it should be integrated at all.

“I don’t think there’s a panel on gambling this year, but we’ve talked about doing some small group discussions and there’s always some other things that come out of each conference that influence the next one,” Flint said. “So I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s something that’s forthcoming.”

One of the big issues TRAC perennially deals with are updates to waivers and releases. That’s generally the miles of fine print on the back of race tickets explaining all the ways the venue and event organizers aren’t liable in case of an accident.

“If you as a fan want to go into a restricted area, we want to make sure that we have the right language when you sign a release,” said Kyle Fairchild, corporate counsel at Penske Entertainment, a member of TRAC’s planning committee and one of its conference chairs.

Not surprisingly, fine tuning that release language is a moving target, constantly in need of updates. For instance, cases in which a release agreement was challenged in court are typically reviewed quite carefully.

“That’s always something of a hot ticket item,” Fairchild said.

Jimmie McMillian, senior corporate counsel for Penske Entertainment and one of TRAC’s organizers, agrees about the importance of staying current on automotive issues, particularly when it comes to waivers and consent.

“We always do a review of the most recent trends in releases and waivers and consent,” McMillian said. “We want to understand how that landscape changes so that we can protect our clients. Ticket back language, the wording on our credential releases, those are the tools we use to do this, along with insurance.”

There’s also a panel this year about non-compete agreements. This can be a very big deal in motorsports, where an important team member could, in theory, provide a priceless inside view of a rival’s operations if he switched employers.

“This has been news from a federal standpoint,” Fairchild said. “They were at one time going to disallow the whole non-compete agreement concept. So we’re going to learn about that and where things currently stand.”

A great deal of energy and attention will also be devoted to the latest news about sponsorships.

“The other big ticket item that’s always discussed in motorsports is sponsorships and how you navigate through that,” Fairchild said. “That’s really how the sport is run from a financial standpoint.”

McMillian will also chair a diversity panel that includes representatives from the Indianapolis Urban League, Indiana Black Expo and Indianapolis Public Schools.

“We are bringing in those folks to talk about the partnerships that we have engaged in here at the track to open up our sport to new and diverse fans,” he said. “To remain committed to what we call doing the right thing. To initiatives that make sure every person in this community knows that we want you as a fan of the sport.”

McMillian, who is also Penske Entertainment’s chief diversity officer, says those local efforts have already borne fruit.

At one time, he says, people of color not only made a point of stating that they’d never been to the race but also weren’t shy about stating that they felt unwelcome there.

“I believe that has now changed in the four short years of our activation of our Race for Equality and Change initiatives, and our efforts to make sure that all communities know they are invited here,” he said. “Now you have people say, ‘I wouldn’t miss it.’ We’re creating traditions in places and with people in a sport that most folks four or five years ago just associated with Dixie flags.”

Though TRAC is taking place in Indianapolis on April 22 and 23 , none of its official events will be held at the IMS itself. The first day’s activities took place at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, and the second at the Dallara IndyCar Factory on Main Street in Speedway.

Next year TRAC will be held in another race-intensive city (perhaps Daytona Beach) but will likely return to Indianapolis regularly.

“We want to do it at racetracks,” Fairchild said. “And going forward to bring it back to Indy every so often, because the Indianapolis Bar Association is sort of the host. We might do it every four or five years, the way the NCAA Final Four does.”•