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Gambling on Top Flight Footballers: ASA Ruling

The Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) has issued its first ruling under the new rules that prohibit gambling ads with “strong appeal” to under-18s, providing a useful example as to how the new rules will be applied. Updated Gambling Ad Rules As covered in more detail in a previous article for this blog, on 1 October … Continue Reading

The Future of Sports – Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology

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

Gambling sponsorship and advertising shakeup in Spanish football

The Spanish Government has published a proposal for measures which, if passed, will restrict gambling advertising in Spanish football. One of the proposed measures is the ban of gambling sponsors on football shirts. Although the measures are designed to protect consumers, they could have significant financial implications for Spain’s top clubs. It is worth noting … Continue Reading

Intermediaries and contractual certainty – lessons from Winlink Marketing Limited v The Liverpool Football Club and Athletics Grounds Limited

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 postponement of Tokyo 2020: Sponsor perspectives

The global COVID-19 pandemic has affected many areas of the sporting world, resulting in cancellations and postponements across the globe. The Olympic and Paralympic Games (together, the “Games”) are just two of many high-profile events that have been affected by the pandemic. The Games were due to take place in Tokyo, Japan between July and … Continue Reading

Wales. Golf. Madrid. Esports. In that order? Gareth Bale sets up a new esports team

Last year, Sports Shorts reported on the opportunities for football clubs looking to get involved in the world of esports. Recent news indicates that other footballing stakeholders are also alive to these opportunities; earlier this month Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale launched a new esports team called ‘Ellevens Esports’. Bale co-founded the new … Continue Reading

A slam-dunk? Sweeping and dramatic changes may be coming to the NBA

Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe dropped, what is known as a Woj Bomb, last week as they announced that the NBA is in high level discussions with the NBPA (the National Basketball Players Association) and broadcasting partners concerning “sweeping and dramatic changes to the league calendar that include a reseeding of the four conference finalists, … Continue Reading

The LeBron Effect, Grand Slams and Record Sales: Matching Rights in Football Kit Sponsorship Deals

On 25 October 2019 Mr Justice Teare handed down his judgment in the kit sponsorship dispute between New Balance Athletics (“NB”) v Liverpool Football Club (“LFC”). The dispute concerned whether NB had validly exercised its matching right set out in the contract between the parties entered into on 3 June 2011 (the “NB Agreement”) in … Continue Reading

Sponsorship of women’s sport – the time is now

Last month, in recognition of International Women’s Day, Sports Shorts celebrated recent successes in women’s sport (apologies to Dina Asher Smith who wasn’t mentioned… there were too many examples to choose from!). While we celebrated the achievements of women in sport, we also recognised that work still needs to be done to improve the overall … Continue Reading

Motorsport’s new proposed ‘W Series’ – a chance for female drivers to move to the front of the grid?

“I don’t know whether a woman would physically be able to drive an F1 car quickly, and they wouldn’t be taken seriously.” “I don’t know if they’ve got the mental aptitude to race hard, wheel-to-wheel.” Regrettably, these inflammatory comments were not made by loose-lipped pub-goers, but by former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone and International Motorsports … Continue Reading

All bets are off, as Italian Ministers are accused of gambling away the future financial security of Serie A?

Italy’s Council of Ministers has approved a blanket ban on gambling advertising in the country, which will take effect on 1 January 2019. The Council of Ministers has the power to pass decrees with legal force in cases where Parliament has expressly delegated legislative authority to the Council. In recent years, there has been a … Continue Reading

Sun, sand and… collective bargaining? Beach volleyballers form players’ association

Most professional sports have players’ unions that are charged with representing the interests of the people who play the sport at the highest level. Until recently this was not the case for individuals who play that ever-popular Olympic sport, beach volleyball, but now almost 100 professional beach volleyball players have united to form the International … Continue Reading

Cricket Australia v the Australian Cricketers’ Association – Picket lines at the Ashes?!

It has been rumbling on for some time, stories here and there in the press suggesting that negotiations regarding pay in a sporting context were going to come to a head and potentially turn into an ugly dispute.  It is not unusual to see such stories in sport, particularly given the salaries some sports stars … Continue Reading

Breaking up is hard to do: what are the key considerations on ending a commercial partnership?

In the past week, two high-profile, long-term commercial relationships have come to an end. First came the announcement that the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) and McDonald’s had mutually agreed to end their worldwide partnership with immediate effect, three years before it was due to expire (the commercial background to the break-up, and any financial terms … Continue Reading

Loi Évin: How Law Makers in France Have Forced a Divide Between Alcohol & Sport

Recently, rugby legend Dan Carter made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. After being pulled over by the police on Avenue des Champs-Élysées for speeding, police discovered that he was over the alcohol limit. He was subsequently dropped by his sponsor Land Rover for what seems to be a breach of a morality clause, … Continue Reading

CrossFit and WME-IMG – the rise of non-traditional sport

I do CrossFit. There. I said it. At the very beginning of this post, thus conforming to most stereotypes about those wedded to the strength and conditioning programme first devised by husband and wife team Greg Glassman and Lauren Jenai. Since first “Forging Elite Fitness”™ in 2000, CrossFit has become the largest gym organisation globally … Continue Reading

One tweet, one Mexican racing driver and 20,000 pairs of sunglasses: Morality clauses in the spotlight again

Sports Shorts recently wrote about morality clauses in the context of Sharapova and Head, asking whether we are seeing a shift in sponsors’ attitudes.  Last week, in the wake of a Trump electoral victory, morality clauses were once again brought into focus when Mexican racing driver Sergio Pérez announced on Twitter that he was severing … Continue Reading

Sharapova and Head: are we seeing a shift in sponsors’ attitudes towards morals clauses?

Earlier this month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) published its decision in the case of Maria Sharapova in her appeal against a 24-month ban imposed by an Independent Tribunal following a positive test for the prohibited substance meldonium. The CAS reduced Sharapova’s ban from 24 months to 15 months (she will be free … Continue Reading
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