Charles Russell Speechlys LLP houses a full-service sports law team, capable of advising governing bodies, clubs, athletes, and corporate investors on a spectrum of commercial, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm regularly advises on M&A activity throughout the English football pyramid and its sports corporate group also advises on joint ventures, commercial partnerships, and sports asset financing. Keir Gordon is particularly well-known for his football expertise and has vast experience working in football corporate matters. On the commercial side, the firm acts on major media rights, sponsorship, and marketing deals, while the regulatory team is noted for its work on governance, investigations, safeguarding, and anti-doping matters. Based in the firm’s commercial team, Jason Saiban advises on sponsorship, digital media, merchandising, endorsements, and event management, and serves as relationship partner to major clients, including sports brands, governing bodies, teams, and agencies. Edward Craig is a regulatory specialist with a strong track record in horse racing matters. Jon Higton is an important part of the team. Head of Sport at the firm, Richard Davies, specialises in sponsorship and media rights and arrangements in the sports-tech space. Nic Couchman is a sector specialist.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
'Extremely thorough - identifies risk and solutions that other firms are not capable of. Excellent communication - able to justify an approach and demonstrate clear understanding of a situation in sport. Good technology that enables those strengths. Highly personable - they know sport and are able to talk to sport people.'
‘Advantage of a full-service offering for sports clients (can pull on expertise in areas which some boutique sports firms can't or don't have the capacity to cover).'
- 'Their ability to handle significant corporate transactions and disputes is just as good as the more traditional sports-related areas (e.g. commercial, IP and data protection).’
‘Excellent responsiveness, friendly and collaborative team.'
‘True experts in the field of sports law. The team has an incredible depth of knowledge and experience. They are strategic and practical advisors, and advice is always presented in a timely, clear and coherent manner. They have great awareness of the nuances of our sport and tailor support and advice accordingly. Supportive in pressurised situations and can be trusted to expertly deal with complex and political issues that arise and are common within sport.’
Key clients
- International Tennis Federation (ITF)
- Nike
- Marcus Rashford MBE
- Aquatics GB
- The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia
- Wasserman Boxing
- Ascot Racecourse
- Portas Consulting
- British Horseracing Authority
- CAA Eleven
- The Premier League
- Blham FC
Work highlights
Acting for Hudl UK Limited on its acquisition of the entire issued share capital of StatsBomb Services UK. We also support Hudl in relation to all of its UK legal requirements.
Acting as Nike’s prime UK lawyers; advising them across all sponsorship and sports marketing work, including this year drafting and negotiating the creative services agreements for the Parisian agencies working with Nike on its Olympics marketing initiatives.
Acting for the ITF as their go-to advisers for their most complex and business critical matters across multiple legal disciplines.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Practice head
Richard Davies
Other key lawyers
Keir Gordon; Jason Saiban; Edward Craig; Jon Higton; Dan McDonagh; Danielle Sharkey