Sports law is a multi-disciplinary area of practice covering areas such as contracts, litigation, employment law and intellectual property rights.
Additionally, liability for injuries, contract negotiations, and the governance of sports associations are integral components of this distinct area of expertise. The evolving nature of sports law reflects the complex interplay between legal principles and the unique considerations of the sports industry, fostering fair competition and protecting the rights of athletes and organisations.
Experience
Flynn O’Driscoll has a wealth of experience in identifying and solving legal challenges across the sports industry, with a particular focus on sports clubs, societies and sporting individuals in the organisation of their activities, as well as in matters of litigation.
We provide specialist legal advice to sports associations, clubs (including League of Ireland and senior GAA), professional and amateur athletes across a variety of sports including soccer, GAA games, rugby, horse racing, cricket and golf.
Some of the key areas we advise on include:
Corporate, Commercial & Employment
- Finance in Sports: Our Banking and Finance team provide a full range of transactional banking and financial services on syndicated and bilateral loan facilities both on domestic and multi-jurisdictional deals. Our banking and finance team work on projects ranging from vanilla domestic fundings from a value of €500,000 up to complex syndicated multi-jurisdictional transactions of up to €370 million.
- Investment in Sports: Investing in the sporting sector offers lucrative opportunities for both societal impact and financial returns. Our Corporate team provide expert advice to a wide range of corporate and private clients on their most business-critical transactions. Our specialists work with a notable array of clients, ranging from individuals in the sports industry, start-ups and SMEs to well-established corporate and investment firms.
- Property Development and Stadium Management: Flynn O'Driscoll’s Commercial Property team has experience that covers all aspects of stadium management including planning, development, construction and venue use.
- Employment: Our Employment team prides itself in working closely with our clients to provide commercial, timely and supportive responses to contentious and non-contentious employment related matters in sport.
- Commercial Contracts: Sports organisations and stakeholders face exponentially growing opportunities to engage with their fans, sponsors and customers. Our Commercial Agreements team has experience in advising stakeholders from various sports, assisting them to respond to regulatory challenges, form long-standing commercial partnerships and navigate the unique commercial market the sporting industry provides.
Technology, Data Protection & Intellectual Property
- Protecting Intellectual Property and Image Rights: Through trademarks, copyright and patents, individual athletes and sporting organisations protect their brands and commercial interests. Our Intellectual Property team’s client base spans across all sectors and includes world leading manufacturers of cars including electric vehicles and associated connected devices, software development and software service companies, online marketplaces and platform operators, digital service providers, cutting edge medical device and e-health technology companies, veterinary medicine and veterinary medical device companies, fintech, insurance and agritech companies, food producers, publishers, educational and research institutions and spinouts from local universities.
- Privacy: Companies, athletes, coaches and other stakeholders involved in sporting activities have unique privacy and data protection requirements. Safeguarding sensitive information such medical records, performance data and contractual details is essential for all parties. Our Data Protection team offers a full suite of advices on all aspects of privacy and data protection, including data protection compliance, personal data breaches and reporting obligations.
Media & Entertainment
- Sponsorship agreements: Flynn O'Driscoll have provided expert advice in relation to advertising and brand sponsorship arrangements. We have also advised clients on stadium naming rights and compliance with advertising standards and laws.
- Broadcasting rights: The sports industry is one of the most valuable media markets worldwide and requires expert knowledge in dealing with license agreements and negotiations involving territorial rights, piracy and emerging digital platforms. Our Commercial Agreements team and award-winning Media & Entertainment team has industry leading expertise in this area.
- Pre-Publication Legal Review: The pre-publication legal screening of content is a crucial step in mitigating risk for publishers, journalists and athletes. Our Media & Entertainment team is trusted to review articles for Ireland’s largest newspaper publications as well as a variety of biographies for sporting personalities on behalf of major publishers.
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
- Disputes and Disciplinary Matters: Our Litigation department is adept at evaluating and monitoring risk on an ongoing basis. We develop strategies that focus on promptly achieving the commercial objectives of our clients. We also provide legal advice to clubs and county boards in the GAA and clubs in Leinster in relation to disciplinary challenges.
- Insurance Disputes: Insurance for sporting events is key to mitigating the risks associated with injury, event cancellation and liability claims within the sports industry. Flynn O'Driscoll have leading Insurance & Reinsurance experts with an expansive and successful track record in insurance disputes.
- Anti-trust and Competition Law: The commercialisation of sport has expanded over the last three decades both in the range of ways the industry now generates revenue and the value of the resulting commercial contracts. As the sector continues to grow it is important that sports teams, organisers and all stakeholders in the industry be aware of EU anti-trust and competition law.
Recent
- The firm have advised Shamrock Rovers on international player transfers, annual compliance, investment matters, sponsorship agreements, academy development and disciplinary matters
- Multiple sponsorship agreements advice to the Olympic Federation of Ireland for the Paris 2024 Olympic cycle
- Acting for the FAI in relation to contracts and trusts. Also in relation to the operation and wind down of a charity trust foundation
- Advising on the 20 x 20 campaign aimed at increasing the exposure of women’s sportin Ireland
- Advising various Irish sporting bodies on company structure and governance issues
- Advised clients on stadium naming rights and sponsorship, compliance with advertising standards and laws
- Advising on broadcasting rights and production contracts including the Camogie Association on broadcasting rights agreements with RTE
- Advising a sports science company working with some of the largest sport franchises in the world (Premiership, NFL, NBA etc.)
- Advising various companies who produce injury prevention and performance analysis equipment and software
