Sports

Paul Hastings advises investors, owners, teams, leagues, governing bodies, media businesses, financial institutions and other strategic participants across the global sports industry on their most significant transactions, financings, commercial arrangements, regulatory matters and disputes.

Modern sports are shaped by the flow of capital, the value of media and commercial rights, the development of infrastructure, the impact of regulation and the increasing convergence of sports, entertainment, technology and data. The most important matters in the sector rarely sit neatly within a single discipline or jurisdiction. They demand legal advisers who understand not only how sports assets are bought, sold, financed and commercialized but also how governance, competition law, intellectual property, employment, privacy and contentious risk can materially affect outcomes.

Our Sports practice reflects that reality. We combine sector familiarity with an integrated international platform across corporate, finance, real estate, tax, employment, intellectual property, data protection, antitrust, investigations, litigation and arbitration. Our work spans the increasingly connected worlds of sports, media and entertainment, including football, Formula One, rugby, esports, sports marketing, premium hospitality, ticketing, and related media and technology businesses.

Our group is supported by an integrated international platform across the Americas, Europe and Asia. We advise on matters spanning major sports markets and across the full life cycle of sports assets and sports-related businesses, combining sector knowledge with cross-border transactional, financing, regulatory, intellectual property and disputes capability.

What We Do

• M&A, Investments and Strategic Transactions: We advise on acquisitions, disposals, minority and control investments, joint ventures, consortium arrangements, restructurings and other strategic corporate matters across the sports sector. Our experience includes club acquisitions, investments in sports-related platforms and businesses, expansion and multi-club ownership strategies, and broader transactions involving media, gaming and entertainment-adjacent assets.
• Financing, Infrastructure and Capital Solutions: We advise borrowers, lenders, sponsors and other capital providers on financings across the sports ecosystem, including acquisition financings, refinancings, corporate facilities, bondholder-side situations, rights-related financings and venue or infrastructure-related capital structures. We also advise on development and project matters connected to stadiums, venues and broader sports infrastructure.
• Media, Rights, Commercial and Technology: We advise on the development, exploitation and protection of sports-related rights and assets, including broadcasting rights, media rights, licensing, sponsorship, naming rights, endorsements, image rights, merchandising, digital content, NFTs, esports-related arrangements and other strategic commercial agreements. We also advise on technology, data and platform-related issues affecting the sports ecosystem.
• Regulatory, Investigations and Disputes: We advise on the regulatory and contentious issues that shape the sports industry, including competition law, governance issues, broadcasting regulation, privacy-related claims, employment and athlete-related issues, investigations, arbitration and major commercial disputes. Our experience includes advising governing bodies, clubs, athletes’ associations, rights holders and commercial participants on business-critical issues in the sector.

REPRESENTATIONS

Club Ownership, Investment and Strategic Transactions

• City Football Group on the $500 million investment by Silver Lake, valuing City Football Group at approximately $4.8 billion.
• City Football Group on the $400 million investment by China Media Capital.
• City Football Group on its acquisitions of Sichuan Jiuniu Football Club in China and a majority stake in Mumbai City Football Club in the Indian Super League.
• CMC Capital Partners on its $1.2 billion indirect acquisition of Infront Sports & Media AG, the international sports marketing business.

Financing, Infrastructure and Capital Markets

• Formula One on commercial and business arrangements relating to the hosting of the Miami Grand Prix.
• New York City Football Club in the development of Etihad Park, including a 49-year ground lease with New York City, a $425 million construction loan, a strategic equity investment and related site agreements.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers on development, zoning and entitlement matters in connection with Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
• Los Angeles Football Club on securing governmental approvals and entitlements for the development of a new Major League Soccer stadium and related entertainment complex, including navigating discretionary approvals, land use entitlements, and coordination with local agencies.

Media, Rights, IP and Regulatory

• The French National Rugby League on the sale and marketing of NFTs, the sale of international and domestic television broadcasting rights to Canal+, and the renegotiation of those broadcasting rights during the Covid-19 period.
• European Professional Club Rugby, the governing body and organizer of the two major European rugby union club competitions, on the sale of French television broadcasting rights for the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup to beIN Sports and France Télévisions.
• Fédération Française d’Athlétisme on the sale to Altice (SFR Sports) of French broadcasting rights for French athletics competitions.

Disputes, Governance and Contentious Matters

• Leading sports regulatory bodies and governing bodies in relation to the application of EU and U.K. competition law, and global telecommunications companies on competition issues relating to the acquisition of football broadcasting rights.