Polsinelli’s Sports & Entertainment group represents professional and amateur sports teams, conferences and leagues, corporate sponsors and brands, media companies, and marketing, advertising and talent agencies. Recognizing the overlap between the sports and entertainment industries, we have assembled a national team of attorneys with the necessary experience to advise clients on all types of business transactions, real estate development and financing, and litigation matters.

Sports Industry

While some firms may concentrate on a particular service or sector within the sports industry, Polsinelli’s national sports practice covers both professional and collegiate sports and draws from multidisciplinary areas, including:

• Media Rights, Naming Rights and other Commercial Transactions
• Private Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions and other Investments
• Antitrust, Commercial, Class Action and Multidistrict Litigation
• Corporate Governance
• Government and Internal Investigations
• Real Estate and Sports Facility Finance
• Government Incentives and Negotiations
• Licensing, Trademark, Copyright and other Intellectual Property-related Transactions
• Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
• Public Policy
• College Athletic Conference Governance and Realignment

We serve a broad spectrum of clients across sports industry verticals including:

• Professional sports teams and leagues
• Collegiate and amateur conferences, athletic departments and associations
• Facilities operators, including stadiums, other sports-related facilities and their investment activities
• Private equity firms, strategic buyers and target companies across a range of industries, including professional sports, eSports, entertainment, retail, media and technology in the structuring and negotiations of mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, carve-outs and leveraged buyouts
• Public and private companies in connection with team and venue sponsorships, athletic event and venue partnerships, individual endorsement relationships (including NIL) and technology licensing
• Sports equipment manufacturers, retail brands, apparel companies, athletic event operators, sports television broadcast networks and sports technology entities
• Professional and amateur coaches, broadcasters, athletic administrators and sports executives
• NIL collectives

Entertainment

Polsinelli’s national entertainment practice draws from multidisciplinary areas, including:

• Media Rights and Commercial Transactions
• Private Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions and other Investments
• Real Estate and Facility Finance
• Government Incentives and Negotiations
• Commercial and Multidistrict Litigation
• Government and Internal Investigations
• Licensing, Trademark, Copyright and other Intellectual Property-related Transactions

We serve a broad spectrum of clients across the entertainment space including:

• Facilities operators, including arenas, concert theatres, museums and theme parks
• Private equity firms, strategic buyers and target companies
• Events agencies and promoters
• Corporate brands staging events or sourcing content
• Media companies, including film and podcast production companies
• Advertising, talent and marketing agencies