Launching a new league or team in the sports industry is a complex matter, and requires trusted counselors and partners to navigate through the various legal issues that arise. Our firm’s platform, depth of experience, and holistic view of the sports industry offers clients practical, efficient advice for new sports organizations.
Emerging teams and leagues turn to our global Sports Industry team as trusted advisors as they break into the market and establish themselves. Our lawyers have extensive experience and draw upon the multidisciplinary strength of our firm’s platform to guide new sports teams and leagues through all phases of growth in this rapidly expanding industry, from the initial stages of entity formation to assisting with the development of growth and expansion plans once the venture has been established. We have experience in organizing and structuring entities in both the single-entity and franchisee models and regularly counsel clients on the pros and cons of each approach.
Raising capital is one of the most important–and necessary–goals of a new team or league, and our lawyers can help with financing, capital offerings, shareholders agreements, convertible notes, and debt offerings. Another priority for newly established teams and leagues is reviewing real estate and facility ownership needs. Our lawyers harness a vast knowledge of opportunity zones and other tax incentives to help clients secure the best option financially for their facility or stadium.
We help emerging teams and leagues draft and negotiate a broad range of contractual agreements, including player and coach contracts, sponsorship and naming rights agreements, suite licenses, venue use agreements, apparel contracts, broadcast and media rights deals, and other strategic collaboration agreements.
We also help emerging leagues or teams with intellectual property, data privacy, immigration, and labor and employment matters–all critical issues that face new organizations.
On 3 September 2025, The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) announced a series of proposed amendments to its listing initial and continued standards aimed at strengthening market integrity.
Continuing with the rapidly evolving immigration landscape in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security will publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register on 24 September 2025 seeking to overhaul the US Citizenship and Immigration Services selection process for registrations for H-1B cap subject petitions.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes major changes to the Internal Revenue Code’s clean energy tax provisions, particularly to the provisions that were extended, expanded, and established as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
On 29 September 2025, the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued notice of an exemptive application filed by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, et al. Seeking relief to offer index-based or actively managed funds that have one or more mutual fund share classes and an exchange-traded fund share class.
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