The International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA) recently announced the two recipients of the 2018 Shannon Bybee Scholarship Award. This annual program awards prizes for the best scholarly research papers on relevant gaming topics by accredited North American law school students as part of their school-year class work. Submissions are judged by a committee of IAGA member attorneys who specialize in gaming law. The awards were presented at the IAGA’s G2E cocktail reception in Las Vegas.
The 2018 scholarship recipients are:
• Francisco Olea, University of Arizona College of Law, for “The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and its Legal Implications: How Its Invalidation Will Impact Indian Gaming’s Legal and Regulatory Framework.”
• David M. Stern, University of Nevada Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law, for “It’s Time for Wizards to Give Up the Illusion and Show Their Cards: How Wizards of the Coast Circumvent Gaming Law to Make Millions.”
The two winning papers may be viewed at www.theiaga.org/shannon-bybee-scholarship-award/.
Bybee Scholarship Committee Co-Chair Jennifer Roberts, associate director of the University of Nevada Las Vegas International Center for Gaming Regulation, said “The Bybee Scholarship is an excellent way to encourage the next generation of gaming industry legal experts to become engaged in critical gaming issues. With so many interesting topics to cover, this year we received a diverse selection of submissions covering everything from exploring problem gambling issues in Victoria, Australia to online gaming regulations in Canada and the U.S. and the impact of the sports betting invalidation of PASPA for tribes. We are pleased that we continue to receive such excellent submissions.”
The Shannon Bybee Scholarship Award was established to honor the memory of Shannon Bybee, an IAGA founder, who had a distinguished career as a gaming attorney, Nevada regulator, industry executive and pioneer in the field of education in casino operations and gaming law. Bybee was inducted into the American Gaming Association’s Hall of Fame in 2002 because of his significant contributions to responsible gaming. He also played an important role in problem gambling regulations and advocacy development.
