Are the liability waivers that I'm asked to sign for a sporting event enforceable?

 

A: It used to be against public policy to have an enforceable waiver of liability against an event holder.  If the waivers are unambiguous and they are agreed to, they may serve as an effective bar against any claim that you may have for any injuries that you incur even if the party mentioned in the release is negligent.

These releases are tricky and should be looked at by a lawyer.  When in doubt, try and alter the release by striking out the words involving negligence.  Ususally the event holder won't look anyway.  If you cannot alter the release, your choices would be to avoid the event or release everyone from everything.