Sports
Drew & Napier’s Sports practice group is led by of a team of seasoned professionals who are recognised as world class market leaders.
We advise across a range of sporting disciplines, including cricket, football, golf, and tennis.
International sports federations, national governing bodies, national associations, sports marketing and entertainment agencies, sports venue operators, event organisers and other sports rights holders as well as individual players/athletes have engaged our team for advice on contentious and non-contentious issues in the Sports sector.
Our expertise in the Sports sector spans:
- Brand and talent management
- Broadcasting, Digital Media, Social Media and Data
- Disciplinary and anti-doping proceedings
- Dispute Resolution
- Event Organisation and Venues
- Image Rights
- Individual Representation
- Investigations
- Merchandising and licensing
- Regulatory and governance
- Sponsorship & Partnership Arrangements
We also tap on the firm’s other renowned experts from our first-rate practices such as Competition Law & Regulatory, Dispute Resolution, Employment, Intellectual Property and Tax to provide clients with the competitive edge.
Our Experience
- Acted for professional golfers in the Court of Appeal to resist an injunction application relating to restraint of trade. This case involved unique issues of whether and how the doctrine of restraint of trade might apply to a sporting association and its members. The golfers in this case were suspended by The Asian Tour after they had competed in a rival golf tour.
- Represented a former world number one professional tennis player in a dispute involving an international tennis competition featuring world-class players such as Serena Williams and Andre Agassi.
- Acted as counsel in three international arbitrations relating to the Indian Premier League for cricket before three different arbitral panels. The dispute arose in the context of a billion-dollar project. These three separate arbitrations concerned the international broadcast rights for the league and involved allegations of fraud, conspiracy and breach of contract. The total value of the claims and counterclaims exceeded US$200 million. The subject matter of the disputes was also a matter of intense public interest and judicial scrutiny in India.
- Acted for a major sports marketing, media and event management group in a dispute with a middle-eastern state linked entity. The case concerned rights arising from a regional/international football tournament.
- Represented a major Asian sporting venue in an investigation into its operations by a government regulator. The brief required an in depth understanding of the operations of the sporting venue, including its ticketing and event booking operations.
- Represented the CEO of a company running a major sporting facility in Singapore. The dispute concerned allegations about the CEO’s running of the sporting facility and the adequacy of corporate governance in the organisation.