Linklaters

Our global, cross-practice sports sector team combines a real passion and understanding of the sector and its specific requirements and pressures (including increased regulatory scrutiny) with exceptional multi-jurisdictional expertise across all areas of corporate/M&A, finance and banking, capital markets and equity financing, commercial, technology and media, crisis management, data protection, IP, dispute resolution, regulatory and compliance investigations, real estate, restructuring and insolvency, anti-trust, employment and tax matters. This puts us in a unique position to be able to provide our clients with a full and seamless end-to-end service to help them successfully navigate the most complex and high-profile matters arising in the sector.

Our clients include corporates, financial sponsors and high-net-worth individuals as well as sports teams, clubs and governing and regulatory bodies, who we act as trusted advisors to in relation to a full range of matters, including:

• M&A and investment opportunities (including investments in clubs/teams and competitions and acquisitions of media and television rights)
• debt and equity financing and securitisations
• a variety of commercial matters that affect individuals, teams and bodies within the sector (including sponsorship, branding, image rights, IP, data protection and events planning)
• dispute resolution and reputation management
• a wide scope of regulatory and anti-trust matters (including large-scale investigations and governance and compliance reviews)
• real estate transactions (including stadium development/expansion and financing)

A short selection of our recent experience in the sports sector includes advising:

• MetLife Investment Management on the £117.5m funding package into the English Football League
• Man Capital LLP, the UK-based investment arm of the Egyptian Mansour Group, on its investment in and partnership with Right To Dream, the global opportunity-creating ecosystem of football academies, professional football clubs and partnering colleges and universities
• A national rugby union on the sale of minority stakes in annual rugby union competitions the PRO14 and The Six Nations Championship to CVC Capital Partners Fund VII
• Dugout on the establishment of a digital football business and a joint venture between Europe’s leading football clubs
• The underwriters on the €300m rights issue by Juventus Football Club S.p.A.
• CCPIB and TCV on their acquisition of a majority stake in Sportradar, including advising on shareholder/governance arrangements, regulatory and anti-trust matters and financing aspects of transaction
• Real Madrid Club de Fútbol on the appeal to the General Court of the European Union against a European Commission decision that forced Spain to recover €18.4m from Real Madrid alleged illegal state aid

Office Locations (if more than one):  

• Abu Dhabi
• Amsterdam
• Antwerp
• Bangkok
• Beijing
• Berlin
• Brisbane
• Brussels
• Dubai
• Dusseldorf
• Frankfurt
• Hamburg
• Hong Kong
• London
• Lisbon
• Luxembourg
• Jakarta
• Madrid
• Melbourne
• Milan
• Moscow
• Munich
• New York
• Paris
• Perth
• Sao Paulo
• Seoul
• Shanghai
• Singapore
• Stockholm
• Sydney
• Tokyo
• Warsaw
• Washington DC