Sports
The sports industry has developed into a serious, valuable and complex business, which continues to grow at an ever increasing rate. The commercialisation of the industry over the last decade, along with the increased media exposure, has made the skills with which we made our name in other sectors essential in sport.
Why we are different
Our Sports Group is comprised of lawyers who are passionate about sport. We understand the ever changing complexities associated with the industry and the increasing need for sporting professionals to seek professional advice to manage the risks they face.
Our unique understanding of sporting matters is highlighted by the fact that one of our members is both a licensed football agent and a member of the FA’s Agents Panel. We are uniquely placed to understand and advise individuals and clubs on regulatory compliance and breaches of rules. We have built up good working relationships with governing bodies; have experience of sport-specific tribunals, such as the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and have acted in major doping cases and disciplinary hearings.
Our positioning inside the world of sport enables us to understand not just the regulatory elements but the corporate and commercial angles too. We have experience in takeovers, restructuring, sponsorship contracts and rights. We have acted for clubs, owners, sponsors, governing bodies and talent on how to make the most of their assets. We can also act in transfer negotiations as a professionally qualified, less expensive alternative to agents.
As the prominence of the sports industry has grown, so has the need for strong expertise in the area of dispute resolution. Utilising our award winning Tulip® product (Turning Losses Into Profit) we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for brands worldwide that have had their intellectual property rights infringed, including major names in the sporting arena.
Services
Our multi-disciplinary sports law team offer a truly comprehensive service to individuals and organisations.
We advise on:
- Corporate
- Dispute Resolution
- Employment
- Family
- Immigration
- Intellectual Property - including brand protection & sponsorship
- Insolvency
- Reputation Protection
- Tax
- Trade Marks
Experience
- Acting for prospective purchasers on the takeover of one of the country's biggest football clubs.
- Acting as the sole legal advisors to the Lord Stevens Inquiry, which was set up by the Premier League to investigate transfer irregularities.
- Acting for a key FA partner in negotiating its anchor sponsorship deal with The FA.
- Advising English Premier League, Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga football clubs on sports merchandising issues and advising on disputes for top-flight football players, managers and club officials, ranging from family matters to employment and sponsorship issues.
- Advising various cricketing associations, including the International Cricket Council on the exploitation of its television rights, the West Indies and South African Cricket Boards in relation to the Cricket World Cup participation agreement and the Professional Cricketers Association on the County Cricket contract.
- Representing high profile sports stars in various doping disputes before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
- All areas of intellectual property; ranging from Worldwide trade mark filing, prosecution and enforcement to litigating trade mark, design, copyright and patent cases for a variety of household sports brands.
- Advising the British Greyhound Racing Board on regulatory issues.