Sport
Specialist solicitors for the sports sector
From sports employment contract disputes and disciplinary matters to stadia construction projects, we can provide you and your business with pro-active, sharp and cost-effective advice for all your legal issues.
Clarke Willmott has more than 25 years of experience working with sports clients and our reputation within the marketplace is reflected by the calibre of the individuals and organisations we work with. We frequently advise some of the biggest names in professional sport on English law and our clients include professional sports clubs, leading professional players and sports celebrities, elite athletes, national governing bodies, international sports agencies, and leading global brands.
Our sports sector team is a leading sports law practice in the United Kingdom and is ranked as a top tier team in The Legal 500 legal directory.
Why choose Clarke Willmott
Professional sport is an international business, with transactions often involving acute timeframes. We provide practical, commercial solutions and offer extremely high levels of service, allowing issues to be resolved as quickly as possible.
Our team is responsive and committed to long term relationships. We want to know what’s important to you so we can help you achieve your aspirations.
Many of our solicitors play sport and/or have a sporting background. We talk your language, understand your goals, and the special considerations needed when you operate in the business of professional sport.
Whilst we’re diligent, knowledgeable, and technically capable, we frequently receive feedback from clients that our sport solicitors “are not like other lawyers”. The team prides themselves on being able to deliver cutting-edge legal advice on very high-profile matters whilst advising you in an accessible, user-friendly, and clear manner on your options.
How we can help you
Examples of our specialist work within the sports sector and how we can help you include:
- Corporate law advice on sports company mergers and acquisitions, advising on club constitutional issues, shareholder and loan financing agreements
- Drafting and negotiating elite manager and club executive agreements, including leading football manager contracts, Director of Rugby, and Director of Cricket employment contracts
- Advising on settlement agreement negotiations and the terminations of professional player contracts for Premier League and Championship footballers and Premiership rugby players
- Advising on National Governing Body investigations, regarding concerns of discrimination (for example on the grounds of race or sex), match-fixing, anti-corruption, and whistleblowing
- Advising on large scale sports sector construction projects, including stadium developments, training ground redevelopments, and sport venue property and infrastructure legal issues
- Commercial property, including disputes, land swap for golf clubs, acquisition and disposal of stadium grounds, energy saving developments and property management
- Advising international sports agencies and player management companies on commercial, employment law, and regulatory sports law issues and disputes
- Advising on medical negligence within professional sport, serious injury compensation claims, and incapacity terminations
- Commercial advice on sponsorship agreements, licences, sports events, data protection compliance, and legal issues arising through sport marketing and brand experience activation projects
- Helping professional rugby or football players to achieve rapid exits from their former clubs – freeing them up to arrange a transfer or retirement, or advising on contractual disputes (such as the distribution of team promotion bonuses)
- Sport regulatory issues such as Rule K arbitration, anti-doping, Olympic selection disputes, and advising on disciplinary matters both on and off the field of play, including RFU disciplinary tribunals
- We advise many people in the sports industry with considerable wealth and complex family dynamics on relationships and family matters such as relationship breakdowns, divorce proceedings and the impact of separation on their joint and sole financial assets. We also assist in often complex childcare arrangements and maintenance.
- Private wealth advice, including Wills, Lasting Power of Attorney and tax planning
- Our specialists are at the forefront of navigating the legal complexities of family law financial planning and issues impacting modern families including the use of nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, surrogacy and fertility law.
- We can also advise on international family law issues, including finding favourable jurisdictions in divorce proceedings, international nuptial agreements and overseas assets, and cross-border child arrangements.
- Advising sports professionals and rights holders on intellectual property protection, image rights, and intellectual property disputes – whether domestic or international
- Debt recovery for sports clubs, including debts owed by members who have defaulted on paying annual fees for seats they hold under a membership agreement and claiming unpaid charges from suppliers to sports brands.
