Squire Patton Boggs and Women in Sports Law were delighted to co-host a breakfast panel event in London on 9 May 2024, showcasing four esteemed women working in the sports industry. The panellists included Edwina Haddon (Senior Counsel, Chelsea Football Club), Janice Shardlow (Director of Governance, Commonwealth Games Federation), Julia Lowis (Senior Legal Counsel, International … Continue Reading
On Leap Year Day 2024, Squire Patton Boggs held its inaugural women’s sport symposium, Leap into the Future of Women’s Sport. Bringing together key figures from across the sports industry, the Symposium focussed on what is next for commercialisation, investment and growth, and maternity and parental policies. For a flavour of the talking points, please … Continue Reading
Our dedicated Women’s Sport Group hosted its inaugural Women’s Sport Symposium on 29 February 2024 to discuss key issues across the women’s sporting landscape. Amongst other topics, a panel of key figures and experts, which was chaired by Sarah Butler (Founder of Sports Business Connected), discussed the pertinent issue of the commercialisation of women’s sports … Continue Reading
The 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball national championship averaged 9.9 million viewers, becoming the most-watched women’s college basketball game and ESPN platforms’ most-viewed college basketball game (men’s or women’s) on record, and it was not even playing in a prime-time slot. This shows a tidal shift in the interest and growing opportunity in women’s sports, and … Continue Reading
On 23 February 2023, the English High Court ruled that amateur rugby player Natasha King had been negligent when she executed a “tackle” on opponent Dani Czernuszka “without any regard for the well-being or safety of the [latter] and intent only on exacting revenge” during a women’s developmental match.[1] As such, Ms King (the Defendant) … Continue Reading
Unlike the men’s competition, which is set to restart in August following a COVID-19 enforced suspension, the top tier of English women’s rugby, the Tyrells Premier 15s (“Premier 15s”), was declared null and void back in March. Regulation 22.9 of the Rugby Football Union (“RFU”) Regulations brought the season to a premature end: “The Tyrrells … Continue Reading
A new and historic agreement has been reached between the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), which includes higher salaries, improved benefits and better work and travel conditions. Following the 2018 season, the WNBPA exercised its option to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the … Continue Reading
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
Last Friday was International Women’s Day – a day where women are celebrated in countries around the world. In March alone, UK sportswomen have more than earned recognition for their achievements. Laura Muir retained her European 1,500m and 3,000m titles, beating the 31-year-old British indoor mile record by 5 seconds at the European Indoor Championships, … Continue Reading
On Monday 3 April, the FA council unanimously approved a “strong package of reforms” put forward by Chairman Greg Clarke, unanimously accepted by the FA board, last month. The announcement comes after pressure on the FA to reform, most recently in light of Sport England and UK Sport’s new Code for Sports Governance and its … Continue Reading
In recent weeks, salaries in women’s sports have been featuring frequently in the headlines. In the US, female ice hockey players are locked in heated negotiations with USA Hockey (the IOC-recognised governing body of organised amateur ice hockey in the USA) over wages, with the players threatening to boycott the upcoming wold championship if an … Continue Reading
8th March, is International Women’s Day (“IWD”). Observed in one form or another since the early 1900s, IWD is a “a collective day of global celebration and a call for gender parity”. IWD can be traced back to 1908, when a group of women marched in New York, demanding better pay and voting rights. Today, … Continue Reading
On Monday, Sports Shorts commented on the launch, by UK Sport and Sport England, of a new Code for Sports Governance (“Code”). As we noted in Monday’s post, much of the initial press coverage focused predominantly on the Code’s gender diversity provision (see, for example, here, here, and here), with the BBC even labelling it … Continue Reading
