Sports
Our Sports practice has been servicing the legal needs of individuals and businesses involved in the sports sector for over 20 years.
We have advised on some of the biggest deals and disputes, involving many of the key operators and stakeholders in the sector relating to some of the world’s leading sports events, personalities and properties. We have worked on high profile matters involving every major American sports league, as well as the Premier League, the Olympic Games, WWE, FIFA World Cup, Formula 1, and various eSports properties.
We have a market-leading international team of sport and entertainment lawyers throughout the United States, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. We offer the benefits of a global business law firm, with a network of experience extending throughout the United States and across the world. Leveraging our global platform, our sports law practice is equipped to provide assistance to clients swiftly and on an informed basis from our offices around the world, utilizing not only our legal skills and local market knowledge, but also our extensive networks and lobbying capabilities.
Our team has deep collective experience representing clients in the sports industry, particularly around:
- Media rights (ownership, protection, exploitation, strategic joint ventures, and traditional and over-the-top methods of distribution)
- Stadium related real estate finance and tax incentives in connection therewith
- League expansion
- Acquisition and disposition matters
- Strategic value-add partnerships between various stakeholders in the sports sector
- General corporate and financing matters
- Government relations
- Sponsorship, naming rights and endorsement deals
- Event bidding, staging, hosting, participation arrangements, and venue and stadium hire agreements
- Intellectual property protection
- Ticketing and hospitality
- Merchandising
- Concessionaire agreements
- Antitrust law
- Domestic and international regulation
- Sports integrity (anti-doping, corruption, and investigations)
- Sports-related litigation
Thought Leadership
On 22 December 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments (the final rule) to Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the Advisers Act) to modernize the regulation of investment adviser advertising and solicitation practices.
On 22 August 2024, the Senate passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (the Bill), which requires certain organisations to make mandatory climate-related financial disclosures in their annual reports for financial years commencing after 1 January 2025.
In a landmark ruling with far-reaching consequences for federal agencies and the regulated community, the Supreme Court overturned the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine.
Following a year's 'grace' to allow businesses to be prepared, changes to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act), which commenced on 9 November 2023 means that Unfair Contract Terms (UCTs) now contravene these legislations.