The lawyers in S&C’s Sports & Entertainment Practice handle matters across all disciplines. We regularly advise on domestic and cross-border acquisitions and sales, stadium/arena developments, mixed-use real estate projects, team and stadium/arena financings, joint ventures and recapitalizations, and licensing, naming rights and sponsorship deals.
We also represent prominent professional sports leagues and franchises, as well as executives and owners, in high-profile disputes and governance matters. Our practice has also expanded alongside the industry and we are experienced in high-growth areas, such as sports technology, SPACs, gambling, fantasy sports and eSports.
Our recent achievements in the sports and betting field include:
- advising DraftKings in its $3.3 billion dollar business combination and SPAC IPO, creating the world’s first vertically integrated sports betting and online gaming company;
- assisting UBS in securing an exclusive 20-year naming rights sponsorship agreement for the New York Islanders’ new home;
- steering Advance, a private, family-held business, in its acquisition of The IRONMAN Group;
- representing Joe Tsai, executive vice chairman and co-founder of Alibaba Group, in his purchase of the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center;
- assisting Major League Baseball in securing the dismissal with prejudice of a putative class action suit alleging electronic sign stealing in violation of the League’s rules; and
- advising the San Francisco Giants, the Atlanta Hawks and the San Diego Padres in their respective major mixed-use real estate developments.
To learn more about our Sports & Entertainment practice, contact Ivan Deutsch.