At Squire Patton Boggs, we pride ourselves on having a Sports and Entertainment team comprised of remarkable individuals, and today, we are thrilled to introduce Gabe Pennington, Corporate associate in our Manchester office, who will be Captaining the England Mixed Team at the Touch World Cup 2024, taking place 15-21 July in Nottingham, UK. In … Continue Reading
The men’s Rugby World Cup (“RWC”) 2023 will be remembered for its nail-biting knockout games, not least the heavyweight quarter-final clashes between the northern and southern hemisphere. The tournament also saw the emergence of Tier 2 teams, such as Portugal and Uruguay. Amidst this backdrop and four days prior to South Africa being crowned World … Continue Reading
This article was written for and first published by LawInSport. The original version is available to view here The UAE government has always placed a strong emphasis on physical education for Emirati and expat youth and as early as 2010, the government started introducing binding regulations 1 in that space. In time, this also started trickling down … Continue Reading
This article was written for and first published by LawInSport. The original version is available to view here During Australia’s 2022 National Rugby League season, seven players from the Manly Sea Eagles, a team in the National Rugby League competition, refused to play in a jersey that featured rainbow trim. The design, called the “Everyone … Continue Reading
As discussed in part one of this blog series, the landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in the Alston case effectively paved the way for collegiate athletes to profit from their own name, image, and likeness (“NIL”). While many states quickly enacted legislation addressing NIL, it remains to be seen whether and how … Continue Reading
In the United States, college athletics are as popular as professional sports, generating revenues of over $1 billion for the 2021 fiscal year. Despite this popularity, college athletes have long been classified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) as having amateur status. The NCAA—which promulgates the rules and regulations pertaining to student-athletes’ participation and … Continue Reading
This article was written for and first published by LawInSport. While nearly all of the column inches relating to recent FIA stewarding decisions have (unsurprisingly) focused on the fall out of the ‘Hamilton v Verstappen’ F1 2021 season finale, an interesting recent decision1 in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC3)2 underlines just how impactful decisions in the fast-paced world of … Continue Reading
This article originally appeared in Law360 on February 15, 2022. Authored by Alexis Montano, Real Estate Associate, Phoenix, AZ. The metaverse is a mix of augmented virtual reality that operates with the help of blockchain functions such as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, and cryptocurrencies. Think of the metaverse as a universe with several platforms making … Continue Reading
On 3 September 2021, The FA announced that Marc Bola (“the Player”), of Middlesbrough FC, had been charged with misconduct for an alleged Aggravated Breach of the FA Rules, 2021/2022 (“the 2022 Rules”), rules E3.1 and E3.2 (“the Charge”). The Charge related to a Tweet the Player posted from his Twitter account on 14 April … Continue Reading
Introduction Andre Onana, the first team goalkeeper for AFC Ajax (“Ajax”) and the Cameroon national team played his first competitive match for over nine 9 months on 13 November 2021, when he started for Cameroon in a 4:0 victory over Malawi in a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African Qualifier. Prior to this match, Onana had … Continue Reading
On July 21, 2021, the Seattle Kraken, the newest franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL), stocked its roster through what is known as an expansion draft. The consensus seems to be that the Kraken used the draft to select a solid, if not star, roster whilst leaving flexibility to sign higher profile free agents … Continue Reading
NCAA student athletes are entitled to education-related benefits, such as paid post-graduate internships, scholarships for graduate school, tutors, laptops, science equipment, musical instruments, and annual awards for academic achievement up to $5,980. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion for the unanimous Supreme Court ruling, holding that the now-former NCAA prohibition for such things violated antitrust … Continue Reading
Last Thursday marked the NBA trade deadline, meaning teams can no longer trade players on their rosters. However, after the deadline, there remain no restrictions on teams signing free agents. Coincidentally, after the trade deadline, some players and teams enter into buyouts whereby that player is bought out of his current contract and becomes a … Continue Reading
Owing to a 92% drop in attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Football League (NFL) salary cap will be 8% lower this season, going from $198.2 million in 2020 to $182.5 million in 2021. The NFL has had a salary cap since 1994. The cap regulates the amount that teams can spend on players … Continue Reading
Sports as an industry has realised the potential that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies can bring to further monetise fan engagement, attract sponsors and engage a global market in ways that were unimaginable decades ago. Passionate fans, each a citizen of digital technology, consume sports and related content beyond the actual duration of a match. Teams, … Continue Reading
Football’s handball law has been under scrutiny from pundits, players and fans alike for some years now. Last year, Sports Shorts assessed the controversy of the new handball law, which has continued to depend on interpretation with little uniformity in its application across world football.… Continue Reading
In November, FIFA announced that its Stakeholders Committee (the “FSC”) had approved reforms aimed at strengthening employment rights for female players. These reforms offer necessary protections, such as guaranteed maternity leave, to all female football players playing for a club that is regulated by FIFA. At this stage the changes are only ‘proposed’, but they … Continue Reading
On Sunday evening, a clash of heads between David Luiz and Raul Jimenez in the Premier League match between Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers gave public attention (again) to the issue around concussion protocols in football. Alan Shearer considers it a matter of “life and death” as he urged the sport to change the rules on … Continue Reading
After a very short off-season (71 days to be exact), the NBA is gearing up to commence the new 2020/21 season on 22 December with a 72-game regular season schedule. In the interim, fans can enjoy the NBA Draft and an unusually short free agency period. In order to facilitate plans to begin a new … Continue Reading
Following the near global suspension of football activity, many clubs were put in the unfortunate position of being unable to satisfy their existing contractual obligations as significant revenue streams from gate receipts, sponsorship and broadcast were all severely impacted. FIFA has recently published a decision which concerns the extent to which the global pandemic has … Continue Reading
It is being reported that the Los Angeles Lakers have filed a career-ending injury application with the NBA in relation to Luol Deng’s contract. Luol Deng signed a four-year, $72 million contract for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016. In 2018, the Lakers agreed a buyout with Deng, which allowed the Lakers to renegotiate the … Continue Reading
Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers who won their 17th NBA championship on Sunday night after beating the Miami Heat 4-2 in an entertaining series. After an incredibly challenging and unprecedented season, the LA Lakers were crowned champions. The NBA, and Commissioner Adam Silver, have pulled off a meticulously executed project, which has been an … Continue Reading
It’s no secret that gambling has become a huge part of football. With over £349 million in kit sponsorship being paid to Premier League football clubs in the 2019/20 season alone, it is clear that betting companies and the gambling sector as a whole make a significant contribution to the ongoing financial sustainability of professional … Continue Reading
The Premier League resumed on 12 September 2020 and initially plans had been in place for an October return for fans to be allowed in stadia, with home fans only. Yesterday, following an announcement from the government of a spike in coronavirus cases in the UK, those plans were put on hold indefinitely. Back in … Continue Reading
