Overview
We actively engage in the business aspects of sports and are committed to ensuring that clients can make the most of exciting new opportunities in this rapidly expanding industry.
Our team advises governing bodies, organising committees, sporting clubs and associations, players and agents, sponsors, broadcasters, and venues on the key commercial, contractual, and regulatory challenges that the sports industry encounters today. Our focus is primarily on the entertainment aspects of modern sports, such as mega-events, ceremonies, commissioned content, and sports presentation.
The team advises across a wide range of sports, including football, cricket, basketball, tennis, athletics, golf, boxing and motor racing. This can include reviewing and advising on anything from general commercial contracts to sponsorship and endorsement deals, management agreements or even rights clearances for large events.
Our media and entertainment connections allow us to also represent a wider network of clients associated with sport more broadly e.g., sport presenters, commentators and influencers.
The sport team frequently works together with other departments, such as our corporate, intellectual property, employment, reputation and disputes teams. As well as our covering the overlap between esports and traditional sports through our gaming and esports department. This seamless departmental collaboration allows us to offer full spectrum guidance to our sports clients throughout their entire sports careers.
Expertise
Our areas of expertise include the following:
- Event staging
- Event rights clearance
- Competition law
- Cross-border competition structures
- Governing bodies
- Broadcasting rights
- Development and protection of brands
- Sponsorship and endorsement
- Merchandising
- Data protection
- Intellectual property
- Sports-related mediation and litigation
- Player and manager contracts
- Management agreements
- Advertising compliance e.g. gambling
- Transfer agreements
- Image rights
- Tax planning
- Agency agreements
- Reputation protection
- Sports integrity
- Child safeguarding and welfare
- Employment
KEY CONTACT
KEY CONTACTS
Our lawyers have in-depth sport expertise and deliver high-quality, pragmatic and commercial advice.
Charlie Edwards
Associate
Charlie Edwards
Associate
They are experts in their field, provide very focused and commercial advice and are responsive to tight deadlines.
They take a sensible pragmatic approach to a contentious situation. Their legal analysis of the issue is good and they provide a number of options to me as the client as to how to move forward.
They were incredibly understanding of our unique needs and collaborated in a very flexible way. I would describe the team as very approachable and capable – they took time to listen to our requirements and made recommendations accordingly.
