Sports & Entertainment Law

Protecting careers and reputations

Sports and entertainment professionals need to be supported by a legal team that mirrors their own passion.

Our Sports & Entertainment practice covers the full gamut—intellectual property (IP), employment law, commercial agreements, corporate, property, events and sponsorship, broadcasting, digital advice, competition, antitrust and governance issues.

We bring together our decades of experience to advise some of the top names in Australian sports and entertainment, including athletes, stars (and rising stars!), organisations, government departments, venues and sponsors.

Our IP team advise on brand protection, sponsorship and licensing, trade mark registration, patents, trade secrets, copyright and enforcement, particularly in the social media/online environment. And they cover athlete and entertainer rights, too—to deal with defamation and privacy issues.

Our Workplace experts have been siding with sports organisations to document player conditions, non-disclosure agreements, leasing and club facilities agreements, management agreements and ambassadorships, player and sponsorship contracts for a long time. They cover employment, immigration clearance, restraint of trade, workplace safety, and harassment and discrimination issues.

We know insurance—all types of insurance—joint venture and shareholder agreements, franchise agreements, purchase and divestment of commercial assets, merchandising agreements, commercial contracts and advertising clearance. We support e-commerce agreements, venue management agreements and publishing, licensing and distribution deals.

If the media comes knocking— especially in defamation cases—we offer crisis management and pre-publication advice. We chair disciplinary tribunals. We act on behalf of clients involved in competition and fair trading disputes, including defence of ACCC enquiries and proceedings. And we’ve spent plenty of time in the Court of Arbitration for sports matters, dealing with litigation and integrity matters, including gambling and match fixing.

Our digital advice covers cybersquatting, brandjacking, website terms and conditions, Privacy Act compliance and policies, Spam Act compliance and policies, and online publishing deals, should you need it.

You’re passionate about what you do—and we are, too.