An Introduction to Sports Law

Welcome to the first article of Sports Law Central! This is intended to simply be a quick introduction to sports law through describing what ‘sports law’ actually is, detailing why sports law has been on the rise and giving a flavour of the sort of the work that sports lawyers may find themselves involved in.
 
What is ‘Sports Law’?
 
Defining ‘sports law’ is a difficult task. Contrary to what the term ‘sports law’ would imply, sports law in itself is not a single, legal area of practice. Instead, it refers to a field of law which incorporates a number of different practice areas, such as contract and intellectual property, within the sports sector. However, sports law is not simply ordinary legal principles applied to disputes which arise in sports. Rather, it also covers the internal regulations and the like set out by both local and international sports governing bodies, such as the FA, UEFA and FIFA. Generally, the UK operates a non-interventionist policy, allowing the governance of sport to be left to such relevant governing bodies. Moreover, sports law even has its own court: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Based in Switzerland, it acts as the supreme legal body in sports-related disputes. Therefore, sports law involves not only many ordinary areas of law, but the specific regulations and practices which are involved in sports.
 
The Rise of Sports Law
 
In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of niche law firms established solely to practice in the area of sports law, such as Northridge Law and Morgan Sports Law. This may seem like a risky move to some observers, as one could reasonably presume an economic downturn or similarly significant event may suddenly see the demand for work in this area decline considerably. However, interest in sport is such a common feature amongst the general public, so much so that one would expect those who, for example, pay to regularly watch their favourite football team, continue to do so even if consumer spending and economic prosperity as a whole declined. It is the fans who are the end-users of this sector, and any form of economic or political event, including Brexit, would be unlikely to stifle their interest. This security and key feature of the sports sector is recognised by businesses, as shown by the continuous growth of the value of broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals.
 
Sports law arguably began to be recognised as a practice area during the late 1990s. Since then, it has grown enormously, particularly in the last decade. This is largely thanks to heightening broadcasting revenue. For example, Sky’s first five-year Premier League deal, which lasted from 1992 until 1997, was worth £191m. The current deal, which secured Sky and BT the right show Premier League matches for three seasons beginning with the 2016-17 season, cost the pair £5.136bn, representing a 70% increase on the previous deal (which was in place from 2013 until 2016).
 
Today, the unprecedented commercialisation in the sports sector, especially in football, has meant that sports law is thriving. Ultimately, disputes become more important to clients as the amount of money involved in them increases. With sports disputes nowadays involving vast sums, there is a greater demand for sports lawyers and outsourcing legal support has become more common, as receiving a tailored and high-quality service is more valuable given the higher stakes.
 
The Two Main Sides of Sports Law
 
Commercial
 
The sort of deals touched upon above represent the commercial side of sports law, which includes advising on (lucrative) right sales and sponsorship contracts. An example of the former is Mishcon de Reya’s representation of Matchroom Boxing on their ground-breaking $1bn deal with Perform Group, which granted the exclusive right for the latter to stream the relevant shows of the former in the States. In addition, sponsorship contracts are, like broadcasting deals, growing massively in value, at least in many sports. The introduction of UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations (FFP) in football, for example, heightened the importance of sponsorship revenue to clubs and made such lucrative sponsorship deals all the more attractive and, for many, necessary in order to ensure no FFP breaches occur. It is these sponsorship contracts that commercial sports lawyers would advise on.
 
Regulatory
 
The other side of the practice area involves dealing with regulatory issues. We have seen a rise in the popularity of sport (partly due to the increased number of platforms which one can use to view sports on), along with an influx of money into the industry. This has led to greater exposure and scrutiny of the conduct and integrity of not only athletes and clubs, but also the governing bodies and sports organisations themselves. In turn, this heightened publicity has resulted in high-profile investigations and scandals in sport in recent years, including alleged match-fixing in tennis, doping in boxing, and, of course, corruption and bribery in FIFA. The outburst of such cases has only added to the growth of sports law, as athletes and bodies seek professional advice on how to prevent such regulatory issues emerging, as well as how to resolve them as quickly as possible if such issues do occur.