Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams is legal counsel for NBC Sports Group, advising its international sports technology and digital businesses, across the UK, Europe and Australia. 

Prior to moving in-house, Ryan trained and qualified into the commercial and sports department of a UK200 corporate law firm in Leeds, where in 2016 he also won the Trainee Solicitor of the Year at the Yorkshire Legal Awards (founding the UK Sports Law Competition being cited as one of the key factors in being awarded the accolade). 

​Ryan is a Non-Executive Director and Trustee of the Irish Football Association, a member of the Ethics Commission of the International MMA Federation and a member of the Legal, Compliance & HR subcommittee of England Boxing. 

Furthermore, Ryan holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Sports Law from De Montfort University, having received a scholarship from the British Association for Sport & Law (BASL) in 2017. 
 
1. When and how did your interest in sports law begin? 

When you marry the law with sport, the law becomes ever so much more interesting and relevant. I found this out in my third year of university whilst studying a Sports Law module. 

Most of us who have played the game Football Manager will have experienced the gut-wrenching moment when you’ve failed to re-sign and lost a key player at the end of the season, the reason being “due to the Bosman ruling”. The first lesson on the Sports Law module was all about the Bosman ruling. Suddenly, I understood why I lost those players and that EU law wasn’t so boring after all!

We then discussed the Watson v British Boxing Board of Control case and, being a massive boxing fan, it made the legal principles of negligence and the duty of care make so much sense. 

I realised that the law isn’t standalone; it affects absolutely everything. If you’re going to be a lawyer, why not practice the law alongside something you absolutely love? Some people love fashion, food, music, cars – I love sport so that’s where I wanted to focus my career. 
 
2. How do you find working in-house for such a large organisation? 

Working for one of the world’s biggest media conglomerates is truly fantastic. Everything is bigger and better. The access to resources and technology, as well as the work and opportunities I have been given, are unbelievable.

Being the sole legal counsel based in Belfast, you would think I would be forgotten about, but it is quite the opposite. I regularly meet (via Teams) with lawyers from across the world (London, New York, Orlando, Madrid, Sydney), and pre-COVID I regularly travelled to the companies’ various offices around the world for in-person meetings and offsites (and of course attending some golf tournaments).

Obviously, working for a large organisation does have its downsides - high level decisions can slow down deals and projects - and being so prevalent in the public arena poses its own challenges from consumers but also business customers alike. 
 
3. What is the most interesting project you have worked on? 

One of the best projects I have worked on relates to a product that the NBC Sports Group launched in partnership with Rory McIlroy - GOLFPASS.  

GOLFPASS is a direct-to-consumer golf subscription business that offers golfers a multitude of benefits, including access to exclusive video content (live and on-demand), instructional training videos & series’ from the world’s best coaches, cash credit to be used to purchase tee times at over 7,000+ golf clubs around the world, and enhanced shopping and travel experiences. Think of Amazon Prime but for people that are seriously into their golf. 

I have been extremely busy working across a variety of teams, from marketing, technology & product, and the business teams to help launch GOLFPASS in the UK & Ireland and Australia. 

4. What are some key legal developments in sport at the moment? 
 
I think there are lots of interesting developments in sport, but two that hit close to home are:  transgender participation; and sports betting. 

Being involved with two combat sports’ governing bodies, the issue around transgender participation has been the elephant in the room for quite some time. Unfortunately, there is no sport taking the lead to find a real solution for this, and what is out there, in my view, is not fit for purpose (or at least cannot apply to every sport generally). I do not believe there is a simple tick-box solution, but I think it is time that the issue is addressed by bringing together stakeholders and all affected parties with a view to moving the debate forward in a positive and fully inclusive way. We have to take into account human rights, health & safety, politics and legal ethics. Unfortunately, common sense is not very common and so I only foresee the issues being resolved via the courts.
​
Sports betting has been around for many years. Nearly every football club is involved with or backed in some way by a betting company via sponsorship. With the UK Government recently mooting to ban sports betting companies from “advertising and sponsoring” (similar to what happened to the tobacco companies), this poses some serious commercial issues. Being involved in football, from a commercial point of view I worry that there will not be a replacement industry to plough in the same levels of investment, if an outright ban is imposed. I think there are many alternatives to imposing an outright ban, but if it does happen, I think there will be some fantastic legal battles to be had.

5. Please could you describe a typical ‘Day in the Life of Ryan Adams’? 
 
I look after a few different businesses, so my role requires me to cover a myriad of different legal and business functions from negotiating and drafting commercial contracts, advising on technology & product development, assisting the business teams with strategic growth initiatives and assessing market trends, threats and opportunities.  

As cliché as it sounds, genuinely, no day is ever the same. The best days are those when you are left alone and have the time to draft that non-urgent agreement that’s been on the “to-do list” for a while or delve into some research around any forthcoming legislation that might affect the businesses. I had one of those days today - I spent this morning with our Privacy team based in Madrid discussing the proactive steps we have been taking since the invalidation of Privacy Shield, and the rest of my day I’ve spent drafting a marketing collaboration agreement with a leading golf coaching business. The venture will see one of our golf businesses help implement training programmes at hundreds of golf clubs around the UK (specifically aimed at children) to increase participation in golf.  

Pre-COVID lockdown, I would usually break my day up by heading into the golf simulator in the office, but now working from home and being a new dad, my breaks come in the form of changing nappies and making bottles of milk – whilst my handicap is suffering, I am absolutely loving the time I get to spend with my new born daughter (the one and only benefit COVID has brought)!
 
6. What advice would you give to students and lawyers looking to build a career in sports law? 

A quote on success that resonates with me is from the founder of the GOLF Channel and golf icon, Arnold Palmer:
 
“If I hadn't tried to hit it through the trees sometimes in my life, none of us would be here.”
 
The lesson here is, do not be afraid to take chances, embrace the challenge and never give up. There is no blueprint to success, but I would advise any budding sports lawyer to:
 
1) Be a great lawyer. You cannot be a sports lawyer without first being an expert in the area of law you have specialised in. Whether it’s litigation, employment, commercial contracts, IP, whatever area of law you choose, you need to be the best lawyer you can be. 
 
2) Network, Network, Network. Connect and learn from others. Engage with the many sports law publishers and platforms out there and keep up to date with the latest trends in sport, the law and the world. Remember, opportunities will present themselves in the most obscure places!

3) Don’t panic. Getting a Training Contract or Pupillage is hard enough, let alone landing a career in sports law. Rome wasn’t built in a day and Leeds United have taken 16 years to get back into the top flight of English football. If you’re dedicated, passionate and fully invested in becoming a sports lawyer, it will happen.