Online casino operator Golden Palace.com got a victory in court Thursday when a Clark County District Court Judge granted a temporary restraining order against the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC). The move prohibits the NAC from enforcing its Feb. 13 decision to ban fighters from wearing temporary body markings in the ring.
The practice was first started by Golden Palace last year and gained wide recognition, and scrutiny, when the online casino branded its URL on the backs of contenders, some of whom have now become champions.
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"It's a victory for free speech."
- Eric Amgar
Golden Palace
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The injunction followed Golden Palace's filing of a request for a hearing last week after the NAC voted 5-0 to ban the practice because it felt it was "demeaning" to the sport of boxing.
Las Vegas-based attorney Paul Larsen, from the firm of Lionel Sawyer & Collins, argued that, by banning the practice the Commission was infringing on the First Amendment right's of boxers.
Clark County Judge Mark Gibbons agreed with the argument and ruled that the ban was an improper "ad hoc" regulation and that it was an "overbroad" infringement of free speech in violation of the First Amendment.
Eric Amgar, the promotional division manager for GoldenPalace.com and the creator of the temporary tattoo idea, said the ruling came just in time for the company to go ahead with plans to temporarily tattoo Clarence "Bones" Adams for his super bantamweight title bout at Mandalay Bay on Saturday. The fight is being televised live on HBO.
"It's a victory for free speech, really," Amgar said. "It's a victory for boxers. Now they can make money for themselves with their own bodies. It also rewards companies like ours that come up with unique ways to advertise."
Depending on the fight and the fighter, Amgar said boxers can earn "five- to six-figure" paychecks for wearing the tattoos, which disappear naturally days after they are applied.
The ruling could also unleash a wave of additional advertisers using the same method for boxing and other sports where skin is exposed.
Larson called the ruling a major victory in the latest battle for Golden Palace, but also acknowledged that the war is far from over. The court scheduled an evidentiary hearing for March 7, when District Court Judge Valerie Vega will determine whether to issue a preliminary injunction that would allow all boxers to wear such tattoo ads in Nevada bouts.
"It doesn't apply to anyone else but Bones Adams until after the hearing on March 7," Larsen explained.
Larson is confident Golden Palace will prevail, even if the NAC appeals the court's decision to the Nevada Supreme Court.
"I think it would be imprudent to appeal," Larsen said. "I think our case is pretty strong."
On Feb. 13, the Commission, which regulates boxing in the state, voted unanimously to ban temporary tattoos on the bodies of boxers.
The issue was raised by GoldenPalace.com, which pioneered this form of advertising nationwide by contracting with Adams, middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins and other boxers to wear a temporary "henna" tattoo featuring the text "GoldenPalace.com" on their backs during televised fights.
While the injunction will allow Adams to wear the tattoo during his title fight at Mandalay Bay, the decision didn't effect cruiserweight champion Virgil "Quicksilver" Hill, who will display a "GoldenPalace.com" tattoo as he defends his title against No. 1 contender Jean Marc Mormeck in Marseille, France.