Our Sports industry sector group has been serving 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 industry sector group 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)
Congress created a new framework around payment stablecoins but has done more than regulate a digital asset class—it has quietly set in motion a potential transformation of the regulation of core payment systems.
This edition of The Essentials coincides with the close of California’s 2025 legislative session and summarizes the most significant employment-related bills enacted this year. We have highlighted key provisions of the new laws taking effect in 2026 and one related to the use of artificial intelligence that took effect in October 2025.
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 23 October 2025, the Council of the European Union announced the 19th EU package of sanctions against Russia, reflecting the continued commitment of the European Union to respond to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and to increase economic and political pressure on Russia and its economy.
We welcome your email, but please understand that if you are not already a client of K&L Gates LLP, we cannot represent you until we confirm that doing so would not create a conflict of interest and is otherwise consistent with the policies of our firm. Accordingly, please do not include any confidential information until we verify that the firm is in a position to represent you and our engagement is confirmed in a letter. Prior to that time, there is no assurance that information you send us will be maintained as confidential. Thank you for your consideration.
Emerging Teams and Leagues
Sports IP
Sports Labor and Employment
