'Desk Drawer Roundup': NIL Contract Fights, Eligibility Battles, and the CSC Participation Agreement — Highway to NIL Podcast
Why Does Everyone Say 'The Big Game' Instead of 'Super Bowl'? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
No Trouble With The Curve: Talking Major League Baseball with Frankie Garland, Deputy General Counsel, Philadelphia Phillies
Two Key Considerations in NIL Deals
NCAA Division I Council Approves New NIL Disclosure and Transparency Rules — Highway to NIL Podcast
Inside the NBA with Suzanne Spellacy, General Counsel of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Lynx and T-Wolves Gaming
Hsu Untied interview with Brian Anderson, Partner at Sheppard Mullin
When fans think about the FIFA World Cup, they picture the matches, the players, the national pride, the fan festivals, and the extraordinary global energy surrounding the tournament. What they rarely see, however, is the...more
The countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway. Set to be the largest World Cup in history, the tournament will bring millions of fans, unprecedented global attention, and billions of dollars in economic activity to...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! About 13 years ago, future NBA Hall of Famer Steph Curry famously shunned the mainstream path of signing a brand endorsement and signature shoe deal with Nike, deciding instead to link up with...more
The UK government introduced a new Sporting Events Bill in the House of Lords on 14 May 2026 (the Bill), intending to establish a permanent UK-wide legal framework to streamline delivery of major international sporting...more
2026 is a landmark year for sports, headlined by major global, regional, and national events. The period surrounding these events presents a prime opportunity for brand activations and advertising, particularly for official...more
Earlier this year, the UK Government announced plans to consult on measures that would prohibit gambling operators without a UK licence from sponsoring British sports teams, including Premier League football clubs. In its...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! This week’s edition starts off under similar circumstances as where we left off two weeks ago, with the New York Knicks getting another nine days of hard-earned recovery time, awaiting their...more
Private equity’s presence in sports is no longer novel, nor is it confined to marquee professional franchises. Across Canada and North America, institutional investors are playing an increasingly visible role in the...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! For the better part of my life, if the New York Knicks weren’t playing basketball for a long stretch of time around this time of year, it meant that they were eliminated from the playoffs (or,...more
The first wave of post-House name, image, and likeness (NIL) enforcement disputes is beginning to produce written decisions, and a recent arbitration involving 18 Nebraska football players and Playfly Sports Properties offers...more
The Sports Law Playbook returns with its May 2026 edition. In this issue, we examine the legal risks surrounding unauthorized marketing tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including right of publicity claims, false endorsement...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! Ever since I took up New York Yankees fandom in the 1990s (for the record, several years before they won the World Series in 1996), I have known at least two truths to be self-evident: 1) I was...more
In an interview held for "Calcio e Finanza", Bruna Szego, Chair of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority ("AMLA"), talked about the extension of the scope of application of Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 ("AMLR") to professional...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! This week I am reporting to you on location in the land of Maverick, Ron Burgundy, the Padres and once upon a time, the Chargers—San Diego, California. I am here for my firm retreat, so tempus...more
The path to a career in entertainment is no longer linear. Performers who began as digital creators are entering the industry with built-in audiences, clear identities and direct relationships with fans, challenging the...more
Last week, plaintiffs in the House case moved the court for an order declaring that multimedia rights (MMR) companies and other brand partners are not Associated Entities. The court’s decision here will have a major impact on...more
Who gets paid, and how? The Pittsburgh Steelers earn an estimated $650 million annually in revenue, according to Sportico. A substantial portion of that revenue comes from its dozens of sponsorship agreements with...more
While morals clauses have long been common in athlete endorsement agreements, their importance to sponsorship agreements between teams and sponsors is mounting as brands seek greater protection against reputational harm tied...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! The biggest drama currently unfolding in Hollywood is not one that you can see in theatres (or what’s left of them), but is rather focused on the pending $111 billion merger between Paramount...more
World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, 2026 provides a timely lens through which to examine the increasingly complex role that intellectual property (IP) and commercial rights play across the sports industry. Far beyond...more
This year’s World Intellectual Property Day on April 26 has the theme IP & Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate, which offers a timely opportunity to examine how intellectual property (IP) is layered throughout one of the most...more
While stadium naming rights agreements have traditionally focused on the core commercial points one would expect—category exclusivity, signage rights, use of trademarks, media integration, hospitality benefits—as more...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! I remember just about eight years ago being excited about the 2026 FIFA World Cup being selected to take place in my own backyard, and making a point of saying—perhaps naively—that I would...more
Is LIV Golf Facing a Funding Cliff? The Sports Law Stakes if Saudi PIF Pulls Back This week’s reports that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) may be reconsidering its financial commitment to LIV Golf have once again...more
The creator economy is a multibillion-dollar industry attracting serious investment, strategic brand partnerships and increasingly sophisticated deal structures. As platforms multiply and audience attention fragments, both...more