How to negotiate sport sponsorship agreements — 7 key legal considerations & emerging trends

With the sports sponsorship landscape evolving rapidly, we explore the key legal considerations for rights holders when negotiating agreements.
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3 min read
Sport, Property & Construction, Commercial & Contracts, Company News

The Times lists Brabners’ ‘commercial dispute resolution’ and ‘entertainment and sport’ practices as among the best in England and Wales in its Best Law Firms guide for 2024.
The Times Best Law Firms “recognises the most highly regarded law firms as recommended by legal professionals”.
This is the only ranking available that is determined by a survey of practising lawyers themselves. Managed by independent market research company Statista, it determines the ‘lawyers’ lawyers’ — and those firms with the most votes from thousands of respondents are included in the guide.
In its write-up, The Times says:
“Acting on some of the UK’s most high-profile casework propelled Brabners, a firm anchored in the north but with national reach, to post its sixth consecutive year of growth, with revenue up by more than 50 per cent since 2017.”
“This year Brabners secured B Corp certification, making it the largest UK law firm to do so and the first outside London. This followed on from 2020 when it secured carbon-neutral status.”
The Times also recognises our efforts on diversity — including our insight days and vacation scheme opportunities, available to all trainee candidates — as well as our Maurice Watkins Rising Stars Bursary, which helps disadvantaged aspiring lawyers to kickstart their careers.
Where our sports law team is concerned, The Times references how we are “continuing to grow [our] stable of celebrity clients” and our work on the ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel case for Colleen Rooney, as well as for England cricket captain Ben Stokes in his claim for breach of privacy, former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan in his public sports disciplinary proceedings and our role as the official legal partner for the Manchester 2023 Para Swimming World Championships.
It also refers to our support of “several infrastructure projects in keeping with the national focus on levelling up”, such as Everton Football Club’s new 53,000-seater stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and Lancaster City Council’s landmark, government-backed eco-tourism attraction Eden Project Morecambe.
This welcome news follows a raft of other recent awards successes for our firm, including:

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