Arent Fox Named Sports Practice Group of the Year by Law360

To read the full article, click here.

“Representing the Tampa Bay Rays in buying the Tampa Bay Rowdies, and helping to move the New York Islanders to the Nassau Coliseum are some of the deals that earned Arent Fox a spot as one of Law360’s 2018 Sports Practice Groups of the Year,” reported Law360. “A key to the firm’s success is the broad base of practice experience applied to the sports group.”

“We understand the business of our clients, and that’s been one of our great strengths,” said San Francisco Managing Partner Richard L. Brand, who leads the firm’s 35-member Sports industry group. “Sports isn’t really a practice, although we call it a practice — it’s an industry. And we have depth in that industry in that we have labor and employment people who do labor and employment sports work, we do M&A, we do IP, we do acquisition. And so we’re pretty well-suited, because of the diversity of our practice in general in the firm, to pretty much handle any sports matter that comes up, because in the end, it’s a business matter.”

In highlighting the firm’s naming rights and sponsorship practice, Law360 pointed to more than 20 naming rights deals, including six in the NFL. “The firm has also had success with mergers and acquisitions in the sports world, such as facilitating a deal for the Rays to buy the Rowdies, a United Soccer League team operating out of St. Petersburg,” wrote Law360.

Law360 reported that, as the firm’s roster of clients continues to expand to more than 30 teams across several professional sports leagues, the practice has added Partners Robert L. Capers, Glenn C. Colton, and Jennifer O’Sullivan.

Mr. Capers is the former US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and co-leads the Government Enforcement & White Collar practice, which has extensive experience in the areas of investigations and compliance. He also leads the firm’s sports compliance group. Mr. Colton is a former Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York and a member of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association Hall of Fame. He regularly advises companies in the fantasy sports industry on a wide variety of issues including gambling law, compliance, and intellectual property. Ms. O’Sullivan is former Commissioner and CEO of Women’s Professional Soccer and served as general counsel for RSE Ventures, a private investment firm focused on sports & entertainment. She is a trusted advisor to sports leagues, teams, and companies operating in and around sports, and media and technology companies.

“They are additions to a strong, broad-based practice,” Mr. Brand told Law360. “We are always looking to expand that practice and I am always interested in finding other sports practitioners to build it up.”

Arent Fox was one of only four firms selected for recognition in the Sports category. In total, Law360 received more than 750 submissions in its ninth year running the awards program.

From coast to coast, Arent Fox boasts one of the most experienced and diverse sports law practices in the country, with clients spanning individuals, organizations, and teams involved with major league, minor league, and Olympic sports and Games.