Arent Fox Partner Richard Brand Recognized as Top Sports Lawyer by Legal 500 and Chambers

Mr. Brand is ranked among an elite group of only 11 attorneys to be named a Leading Lawyer in the field of Sport. Arent Fox was also recognized as a top Sports practice and Legal 500 reported that the firm’s “top-notch negotiators are renowned for their impeccable deal structuring.”
 
In addition, Chambers USA named Arent Fox’s Sports practice among the best in the country and highlighted the firm as a leading force in the specialist area of naming rights and sponsorship. Mr. Brand was named a top attorney in  his field and touted as being “widely respected for advising a multitude of high-profile sports entities on stadium naming rights matters.”
 
Mr. Brand leads Arent Fox’s Sports group and is the firm’s San Francisco Managing Partner. In the past year alone, he has been involved in numerous major naming rights agreements, including representing:

• The Seattle Seahawks in a renewal of their naming rights transaction with CenturyLink, Inc. for CenturyLink Field.
• Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment in the naming rights transaction for the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, presented by New York Community Bank.
• The LA Lakers in a naming and health provider rights deal with UCLA Health for UCLA Health Training Center.
• The Miami Dolphins in an 18-year naming rights agreement with Hard Rock International for Hard Rock Stadium.
• Inova Health System in connection with its multiyear training facility and headquarters naming rights and sponsorship transaction with the Washington Redskins for Inova Sports Performance Center at Redskins Park.

Mr. Brand has also notably counseled the Brooklyn Nets on their media rights agreement with YES Network and the leasing and construction of their multimillion dollar training facility. Other major naming rights deals include advising Mercedes-Benz, Golden 1 Credit Union, and the San Francisco 49ers on their stadium and arena naming rights agreements.

Mr. Brand regularly negotiates media rights, acquisitions of professional sports franchises, arena/stadium licenses, executive contracts, concession agreements, suite and club seat licenses, and financings for teams and facilities
 
Legal 500 is a prestigious annual guide recognizes individual lawyers and law firm practice areas based on more than 250,000 interviews with attorneys, clients, and corporate counsel. Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business identifies a law firm’s excellence in key practice areas and notable achievements by individual lawyers by using full-time researchers to interview thousands of attorneys and their respective clients.
 
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. The group regularly advises companies and organizations in the football, baseball, basketball, tennis, cycling, hockey, soccer, wrestling, collegiate, and high school sports industries and within the Olympic Movement on a wide array of issues, including those involving acquisitions and sales of teams, property and event companies, financings, media and technology agreements, intellectual property matters, and naming rights and other sponsorship transactions.