Sports & Entertainment

Professional Sports League and Team Ownership

• ATL Investco in its acquisition of the Atlanta Hawks as well as in connection with various corporate financings and governance matters and Dyal HomeCourt Partners’ minority equity investment in the Atlanta Hawks
• Daniel Och in connection with Tampa Bay Lightning Chairman & Governor Jeff Vinik and Vinik Sports Group’s sale of a portion of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vinik Sports Group to a group of investors, including Daniel Och
• Dean Spanos in connection with matters related to his interests in the Los Angeles Chargers
• First Football in connection with all matters relating to its approximately 20% ownership interest in the Las Vegas Raiders NFL franchise
• Frank McCourt and his affiliated entities in the $2.15 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and Dodgers Stadium, in the acquisition of Olympique de Marseille from Margarita Louis-Dreyfus and all ongoing ownership matters

• Joe Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba Group, in connection with the issuance of a minority interest in BSE Global to investors Julia Koch and her children, in his purchase of the Brooklyn Nets, the Barclays Center and the WNBA’s New York Liberty, and his investment in the Premier Lacrosse League and ongoing matters related thereto
• Mountain & Co. I Acquisition Corp., a SPAC, in its proposed business combination with FC Barcelona, later terminated
• MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM) in numerous transactional matters, including in MLBAM’s formation of BAMTech (a digital streaming technology business) and the Walt Disney Company’s acquisition from MLBAM, in a series of transactions, of all of MLBAM’s interests in BAMTech, and MLBAM in the formation of BAMTech Europe and related partnership with Discovery Communications and several early-stage technology acquisitions
• Major League Baseball (MLB) in substantially all of its ownership, governance and other transactional matters
• New York Giants, and the owning Mara and Tisch families, in connection with all financings, ownership, stadium and other team and NFL matters
• The New York Knicks and the New York Rangers on numerous financings and general corporate and ownership matters
• N&P Holdings, a vehicle indirectly owned by the former CEO of Softbank Group International, Marcelo Claure, in the sale of its interest in the Major League Soccer team Inter Miami F.C. to the team’s existing co-owners, Jorge Mas, Jose Mas and David Beckham
• Robert Pera in connection with a buy/sell transaction and his buyout of certain minority investors in the Memphis Grizzlies
• Various minority investors in acquisitions and dispositions of interests in the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Football Club, the Memphis Grizzlies, Nashville SC and Oklahoma City Thunder
• Bidders in auctions for various sports franchises, including the Carolina Panthers, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Denver Broncos, the Washington Commanders, the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Clippers
• c0ntact Gaming in its acquisition of the Paris franchise in the newly created Call of Duty League
• DM Esports in its agreement to join The Overwatch League as the owner of an expansion franchise in Paris

Sports & Entertainment Litigation and Disputes

• Major League Baseball (MLB) and various MLB clubs on a variety of litigation matters:
• Chapter 11 proceedings of Diamond Sports Group, including a decisive trial victory
• securing dismissal of class action claim brought by DraftKings participants alleging sign stealing by MLB teams had “corrupted” fantasy contests
• various litigations arising out of MLB’s reorganization of the minor leagues
• successfully defeating an attempt to force MLB to return All-Star Game to Atlanta
• New York Racing Association (NYRA) in obtaining a dismissal of a high-profile action filed by Thoroughbred horse trainer Bob Baffert stemming from Baffert’s suspension from racing after his horse, Medina Spirit, was disqualified for testing positive for controlled substances following the Kentucky Derby
• New York Giants and New York Jets in connection with their claims and litigation against the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and affiliates of Triple Five Group Worldwide related to the $3 billion American Dream/DreamWorks entertainment and retail development at the Meadowlands Sports
• San Francisco Giants in connection with its MLB territorial dispute with the Oakland Athletics
• A national sports league in connection with allegations in the press regarding the culture at one of the teams in the league, including allegations that the team owner and a high-level executive reportedly made racist and sexist comments. S&C conducted an internal investigation into the merits of these allegations.
• A major professional sports league in the procurement of the dismissal of age discrimination and retaliation charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by a former employee
• Bank Hapoalim in a DOJ investigation concerning alleged money laundering and corruption in connection with international soccer confederations and competitions
• Thomas W. Weisel in matters relating to the doping scandal surrounding Lance Armstrong and the United States Postal Service Cycling Team, including in a Justice Department investigation, in successfully defending a qui tam action brought on behalf of the government by relator Floyd Landis, and in related civil litigation
• Société Nautique de Genève in litigation with Larry Ellison’s Golden Gate Yacht Club over the America’s Cup, obtaining a key ruling that allowed the 33rd Cup to be decided on the water, instead of in court
• Syracuse University in connection with its decision to withdraw from the Big East Conference and to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, including negotiations with the Big East concerning the terms of Syracuse’s early withdrawal

Sports & Entertainment-Related Real Estate

• Atlanta Hawks in connection with the development of The Centennial Yards (previously known as the Gulch) in downtown Atlanta
• Frank McCourt in various matters relating to the potential development of the parking lots surrounding Dodgers Stadium and associated joint ventures with affiliates of the team
• Giants Development Services (an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants) in connection with Mission Rock, a 28-acre, mixed-used development adjacent to Oracle Park
• Joe Tsai, chairman and co-founder of Alibaba Group, in the renegotiation of the Brooklyn Nets’ arena license at the Barclays Center and his subsequent acquisition of the arena
• Jujamcyn Theaters in various matters, including a $200 million refinancing of its Broadway theater business and the combination of Jujamcyn’s operations with those of the Ambassador Theatre Group
• Madison Square Garden Entertainment in the $275 million secured credit facility to fund the construction and development of content at the MSG Sphere entertainment facility in Las Vegas
• Madison Square Garden Sports (formerly The Madison Square Garden Company) in connection with various arena and NBA and NHL franchise-related developments, including its bid to redevelop Nassau Coliseum
• New York Giants and New York Jets in connection with the development and financing of, and other matters relating to, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey
• The San Diego Padres in connection with the potential development of Tailgate Park adjacent to Petco Stadium
• UBS in connection with its 20-year naming rights agreement for UBS Arena, the home of the New York Islanders

Other Sports & Entertainment Transactions

• Advance in its $730 million acquisition of The IRONMAN Group from Wanda Sports Group Company
• Anheuser-Busch InBev in the extension of its nearly 40-year partnership with FIFA as the official beer sponsor of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ and the FIFA World Cup 2026™, and its Worldwide Olympic Partnership through 2028 with the International Olympic Committee, through which AB InBev’s Corona Cero will be the global beer sponsor of the Olympic Games
• Bill Ackman, CEO and Portfolio Manager of Pershing Square Capital Management, in connection with The Professional Tennis Players Association’s launch of Winners Alliance and its $26 million equity raise
• Candy Digital in its merger with Palm NFT Studio
• DraftKings in its $1.6 billion acquisition of Golden Nugget Online Gaming and commercial agreement with Fertitta Entertainment; combination with Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. and SBTech; acquisition of Vegas Sports Information Network; and in approximately $4 billion in equity offerings and a $1.265 billion convertible notes offering
• Investor group led by entrepreneur and sports card collector Nat Turner, D1 Capital Partners and Cohen Private Ventures in its $853 million acquisition of Collectors Universe and Collectors in raising $100 million in new funding at a $4.3 billion valuation, its acquisitions of Card Ladder and SGC, and in a series of transactions with eBay that included a commercial agreement, the sale of Goldin from Collectors to eBay, and the sale of the eBay vault from eBay to PSA
• Madison Square Garden Sports (formerly The Madison Square Garden Company) in the separation of its sports and entertainment businesses, which included a spin-off of its entertainment businesses into a separately traded public company, and sale of Fuse Networks to SiTV Media
• MUSIC as the lead investor in Soundtrack Your Brand’s $15 million pre-growth round and as a co-investor in connection with Francisco Partners’ investment in Kobalt
• Pershing Square, L.P. and Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, the largest SPAC of all time, in its initial $4 billion merger agreement with Universal Music Group (“UMG”) (Netherlands) and subsequent assignment of PSTH’s rights and obligations to acquire 10% of UMG to investment funds affiliated with William Ackman
• RedBird Capital Partners in connection with Skydance Investor Group’s investment of more than $8 billion as part of Skydance Media and Paramount Global’s agreement to form “New Paramount” and in connection with the launch by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and RedBird Capital of Artists Equity
• Wasserman Media Group in connection with various matters, including its acquisition of Brillstein Entertainment Partners, acquisition of CSM Sport and Entertainment Holdings, a strategic investment from Providence Equity Partners and its acquisition of Paradigm Talent Agency’s North American live music representation business