Redress for a No-Win Situation: Using Liquidated Damages in Comparable Coaches' Contracts to Assess a School's Economic Damage from the Loss of a Successful Coach

Abstract:     
This essay addresses the difficulty of proving the financial harm that results when a head coach departs a college or university during the contract term and the institution thereby abruptly loses a valuable asset — a successful and stable athletic program. Due to the unique and specialized nature of head coaches’ services and the industry in which they work, ordinary measures for assessing damages based on substitute performance and transaction costs are insufficient. This essay offers a theory of measuring a university’s damages within the construct of a lost-income-producing-asset valuation, using a methodology based on liquidated damages amounts in comparable coaches’ contracts.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 32

Keywords: coaches' contracts, measuring university's damages

Accepted Paper Series