Representation of teams, owners, players and/or sponsors in each of
Major League Baseball, the
NBA, the
NFL and the
NHL. Regular representation of the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from Major League Baseball, the
St. Louis Blues from the NHL,
AEG, one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters, a leader in venue management, marketing and development, the
NCAA, the
PGA and
Ping.
The Mitchell Report on steroid use in Major League Baseball.
Bringing NFL football back to St. Louis. The sale and purchase of the
Arizona Diamondbacks,
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim,
New England Patriots, Phoenix Suns and St. Louis Blues and representation of potential buyers of the
Anaheim Ducks, Denver Broncos and St. Louis Rams. The
largest known naming rights deals on each side of the Atlantic. Representation of the City of Kansas City in connection with a
public/private partnership for the construction, funding and operation of Sprint Center.
Personal interactions with the
NBA Commissioner and
NHL Commissioner in connection with the relocation efforts of NBA and NHL franchises. Major stadium and other event venue development, financing and leasing projects, including for
The O2 in London,
Edward Jones Dome, Scottrade Center, Peabody Opera House and
The Pageant in St. Louis and
Sprint Center in Kansas City. A
$350 million contract damages dispute and a
$100 million class action successfully decided in favor of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. TV contracts with
FOX Sports. Player contract and salary arbitration matters involving players such as
Wayne Gretzky and
Ozzie Smith. Employee benefits advice with respect to the pension plan sponsored by
Michael Vick’s MV7, LLC.
These are just some of the matters that Bryan Cave has handled – and some of the experiences that members of our Sports, Sponsorship and Event Venue Group can draw upon – in representing our valued clients.
The world of sports, sponsorship and event venues has become a world of big business. This is true both for sports, event venue and other entertainment businesses whose ability to compete on the field or the stage is dependent on their ability to generate revenues and compete in the business world and for businesses in other industries increasingly looking to sponsorship opportunities as a means to advertise their products and services. As the complexity – and the stakes – of the business of sports, sponsorship and event venues continue to grow, we believe that so too does the need for sophisticated counsel with a deep understanding of the issues that matter to you, the experience necessary to effectively and efficiently help you achieve your goals and a track record of delivering results for our clients on the matters that mean the most to them.
The Sports, Sponsorship and Event Venue Group draws on the diverse practices and expertise of our members and colleagues to offer our clients the depth of experience needed to effectively and efficiently represent them in the wide range of projects that fall within the sports, sponsorship and event venue realm. Among the types of projects which we have handled for our clients are:
- Purchase, sale and relocation of sports teams
- Investments in ownership groups and other joint venture arrangements
- Development, financing and leasing of stadiums, arenas and other event venues
- Naming rights, suite license, promotional and other sponsorship agreements
- Telecast and other media agreements
- Defense of class action and other lawsuits against sports teams
- Dispute resolution involving sports teams, including player salary arbitrations
- Labor and employment and human resources counseling
- Antitrust counseling
- Representing current and former players and owners of professional sports teams in connection with various post-retirement business, transactional, estate planning and charitable ventures
- Representing clients in the areas of merchandising and licensing
- Trademark, website and other intellectual property counseling
- Advising charitable foundations with respect to tax and corporate law issues
- Advising clients with respect to legislative issues
- Advising clients with respect to sweepstakes issues
With offices around the world and a "one firm" philosophy which fosters cooperation among lawyers across client services groups and offices throughout the Firm, we provide our clients with prompt, efficient, sophisticated and reliable advice and service. Because members of the Sports, Sponsorship and Event Venue Group also focus on other areas of the law and regularly draw upon Bryan Cave lawyers in other practice groups throughout the Firm, we offer our clients a wealth of perspectives and expertise, including in the following areas:
In addition, our significant investment in technology allows us to offer our clients unique and valuable technological resources as well. For example, through our proprietary "Octagon software" technology (patent pending), we offer our clients a unique visualization tool that provides an easily understandable, 360¡ view of how a player compares against his peers which we believe can serve as a powerful tool in salary arbitrations.
Our Commitment to You
- Valued Partner. We are committed to being your valued partner. We are committed to knowing your business, the challenges you face and the opportunities in front of you, and our advice with respect to a particular matter will reflect our deeper understanding of your business and your goals and objectives in addition to the legal issues that you face.
- High Quality Service and Sound Judgment. We are committed to consistently providing high quality service and sound legal and business advice and judgment. We understand the unique intricacies of negotiating with sponsors and other business partners, and we have the experience and judgment to understand the issues which are most important to you.
- Cost-Effective Service. We are committed to providing you with cost-effective service. We have deep and well-managed resources to help maximize efficiency and manage costs. While the majority of the representations that we undertake for clients are based on the traditional hourly rate concept – and while we believe that our billing rates and the comparative level of our fees provide us a distinct advantage over other firms of comparable depth, expertise and reputation – we have experience using alternative fee arrangements and are happy to work with clients to develop fee arrangements which meet their needs.
- Communication. We are committed to listening carefully and thoughtfully to your goals, objectives and challenges, to working with you to formulate strategies to help you achieve your goals and objectives and face your challenges and to keeping you informed and engaged as we help you achieve your goals and objectives and overcome your challenges.
- The Bottom Line. We are committed to providing world-class service to every single client, every single engagement, every single time.