SPORTS

The members of our ASD|SPORTS Team are market-leading legal advisors in the field of professional and amateur sports. Our experts have exceptional practical experience and know-how in all aspects of sports law, and their network stretches across all relevant national and international decision-makers both in sports business and in sports policy-making.

ABOUT US

The ASD|SPORTS Team consists of highly specialized experts for sports law. We pride ourselves on working with leading international and national federations and leagues, prominent clubs and famous athletes. We further count agents, sponsors, sport marketing agencies, investors and municipalities to our distinguished clients.

Our strong sports network both nationally and internationally is one of the hallmarks of our practice. We also take pride in our longstanding and successful cooperation with our international partner law firms, who themselves are market-leaders in their respective countries. For these reasons, we are fully equipped to take on large international sports projects, as well.

The ASD|SPORTS competence area is part of the commercial law firm ARNECKE SIBETH DABELSTEIN.

 

100

Lawyers

6

Offices

200

Employees

SERVICES

The ASD|SPORTS Team has specific knowledge and longstanding experience, in particular in the following sports legal fields:

Sport infrastructure projects

  • Advising municipalities, federations, clubs and investors on sports infrastructure projects such as stadiums, arenas, sports academies and sports museums.
  • Major sports events: rendering strategic and legal advice, in particular on transport infrastructure and public transportation; economic feasibility studies; legal project management.
  • Advising the cities of Frankfurt and Leipzig on their applications to host the Olympic Games.

Dispute Resolution

  • Party representation in sports-related disputes before state courts, arbitral tribunals and dispute resolution bodies of associations (in particular CAS, BAT, DIS-Court of Arbitration for Sport, and dispute resolution bodies of FIFA, UEFA and DFB), as well as handling cases as arbitrators and mediators.
  • Representing famous athletes in labor law proceedings and in disciplinary cases, in anti-doping matters, as well as in damages claims.
  • Representing player agents in claiming agency fees from clubs and players.
  • Strategic litigation and consulting, in particular in preliminary injunction proceedings, also including international cases that require delivery of warning letters, complaints and other legal documents in foreign countries, e.g. regarding intellectual and industrial property rights; personality rights; the right to free speech; disputes on contract law, articles of association of federations and clubs, antitrust law, corporate law and labor law.

NFT/Metaverse

  • NFT license products: advising a big sports league on concluding an official partner contract with a leading company in the NFT area.; legal advice on the launch and distribution of NFT license products. Focus on protection of IP rights, group- vs. individual marketing; participation on secondary market sales (“smart contracts”).
  • Metaverse/Web3: interoperability; protection of IP rights in metaverse; media rights in metaverse (e.g. live-broadcasting of sport events in the metaverse).
  • Phygitals: Connecting physical and virtual license products (e.g. connecting physical and virtual jerseys by using NFC & NFT technologies).
  • NFTS as credentials/access authorization (in particular ticketing and “money can’t buy” activations, for example “Player Meet & Greet”); Fan Token (participation); FT (currency in sports stadiums).
  • Excellent relations with leading companies in the blockchain/NFT industry.

IP Rights Protection

  • Monitoring of IP rights infringements for famous sports rights holders (i.a. DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga e.V., Bundesliga-Clubs).
  • Trademark and design protection: developing a brand strategy; registering trademarks and designs; administering international IP-portfolios (incl. collision monitoring); conducting judicial and administrative proceedings of all kinds, including enforcement of IP rights in court and out of court proceedings as well as in proceedings before the competent trademark and design offices.
  • Protection of personality rights, e.g. protection against the illicit use of images, names, footage or voice recordings.
  • Anti-Piracy: Online-monitoring and effective rights enforcement.
  • Legal proceedings in domain disputes, including, in particular, disputes concerning the use of domain names that are similar to registered trademarks, proceedings against domain grabbers, as well as domain monitoring and research services.
  • Advising on advertising measures in the context of major sports events, including protection against ambush marketing.

Clubs, Federations and Leagues

  • Drafting and reviewing statutes and sets of rules for national and international leagues and federations with a particular focus on law, governance and compliance.
  • Advising on the effective transfer of rights from athletes to leagues/event organizers, as well as from clubs/teams to leagues/event organizers.
  • Longstanding experience in advising on salary caps, group- vs. individual marketing, 50+1, and UEFA Financial Sustainability (former FFP).
  • Advising federations and leagues on liability risks related to the organization of events and on stadium security (including strategic advice on prevention, in particular damage prevention).
  • Advising on company foundation and spin-offs and work on sport governance related matters, i.a. accompanying and supervising internal election processes.

Athletes and Management

  • Advising players, agents and clubs on player transfers (i.a. transfer agreements, employment contracts and dissolution agreements, consultancy fees for player agents).
  • Representing athletes in disputes with federations (i.a. suspension of athletes from the Olympic Games, classification of athletes in para sports).
  • Advising on sponsoring-, supplier-, and advertising-contracts.
  • Advising on potentials for individual-marketing activities of athletes compared to the group-/collective marketing through clubs and federations.
  • Advising on doping-related matters.

Sports Events

  • Drafting Host-City-Agreements and Participation-Agreements.
  • Advising on project funding.
  • Drafting and reviewing sponsoring- and media rights agreements.
  • Mitigating liability risks for event organizers.
  • Advising on ticketing and hospitality matters, drafting of standard ticket terms & conditions.
  • Advising on advertising measures for trademark holders, implementing and enforcing rights of the event organizer.

Ticketing

  • Drafting standard ticket terms & conditions for clubs and major event organizers.
  • Combating ticket touting by taking resolute action against the illicit sale of tickets on the secondary market both in judicial and out of court proceedings.

Labor Law (in particular Player Transfers)

  • Representing athletes, clubs and companies in the sports sector in labor law disputes, i.a. in litigation proceedings before labor courts or in arbitration proceedings.
  • Drafting model employment contracts.
  • Providing legal support and advice in the context of player transfers, in particular in professional football, basketball and handball (i.a. transfer agreements, employment contracts and dissolution agreements, advising on tax law issues in the case of international transfers).
  • Special expertise on founding an international player association (EuroLeagues Players’ Association, ELPA), and on the design and negotiation of collective agreements in professional sports.

Media Rights and Marketing (incl. Sponsoring/Licensing)

  • Drafting and reviewing sponsoring-, licensing- and media rights agreements.
  • Advising on law-compliant marketing-/advertising measures (i.a. longstanding experience with testimonial advertising of famous athletes, supplier contracts of sporting goods manufacturers, and naming-right contracts of agencies or stadium operators).
  • Special experience with innovative marketing concepts (i.a. NFT license products).
  • Advising on law-compliant and efficiently structured tender processes.

E-Sport/Gaming

  • Drafting and reviewing player contracts for professional E-Sports players.
  • Advising organizers of major esports events, in particular on drafting and reviewing platform agreements, participation agreements, other kinds of licensing agreements, standard terms & conditions, as well as data protection regulations.
  • Advising on gambling law related aspects of gaming (i.a. “lootboxes”, acquisition of “blind packs”).

Corporate & Finance

  • Advising investors on M&A transactions and investing in sports entities.
  • Advising on the spin-off and restructuring of companies in the sport context (e.g. the foundation of professional football companies of German Bundesliga clubs).
  • Longstanding experience with the Bundesliga’s 50+1 Rule, advising on a potential softening and on circumventions.
  • Advising on banking and finance matters, from personal loans to corporate business deals.

Tax Law

  • Advising on real-estate transactions related to sports.
  • Advising on tax law related aspects of transfers of international players/managers.
  • Advising on withholding tax issues of international contracts.

Betting & Gambling

  • Advising on proceedings and regulatory requirements to obtain an official license from the competent gambling authority.
  • Advising on the compliance of innovative games/products with the law (in particular: German State Treaty on Gambling (“Glücksspielstaatsvertrag”)).
  • Advising on law compliant marketing-/advertising measures of betting or gambling providers.
  • Drafting and reviewing sponsoring-/advertising contracts between betting/gambling providers and players within the sports sector.

Compliance

  • Developing and implementing legally sound CSR- and ESG strategies.
  • Implementation of a know your customer-process that complies with the law (in particular with the Money Laundering Act, “Geldwäschegesetz”) but is at the same time efficient and practicable.

REFERENCES

We take pride in our longstanding, trustful and successful work with and on behalf i.a. of the following clients and partners:

Longstanding legal advisors and representatives of DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga e.V., DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH, and Bundesliga International GmbH, in particular in matters relating to trademarks, infringements of design and/or personality rights.

Representing DFL e.V. and over 20 Bundesliga/Bundesliga 2 clubs in proceedings against an online provider of counterfeit products; conclusion of a cease and desist agreement.

Advisors of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and national federations on stadium security matters.

Advising on the foundation of the EuroLeague Players’ Association (ELPA, the union of professional basketball players playing in Euroleague) and rendering continuous legal advice, e.g. in collective bargaining negotiations with Euroleague.

Representing and advising numerous federations, leagues, clubs, athletes, managers and agents in sports related disputes before state courts, arbitral tribunals and dispute resolution bodies of associations (in particular CAS, BAT, DIS-Court of Arbitration for Sport, and dispute resolution bodies of FIFA, UEFA and DFB).

Longstanding experience as arbitrators in national and international proceedings, i.a. DIS Court of Arbitration for Sport, Sport Resolutions, Permanent Court of Arbitration of League 3 (“Ständiges Schiedsgericht der 3. Liga”).

Legal advisors and representatives of players and athletes in labor law matters, in particular in transfers of professional football players (i.a. Mario Mandzukic, Omar Richards) and basketball players (Axel Toupane, Quincy Acy, Julyan Ray Stone, Naz Mitrou-Long, Jalen Reynolds).

Longstanding legal advisors and representatives of Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V. and Karlsruher SC GmbH & Co. KGaA in all commercial and federation related matters; comprehensive legal advice in particular on the handling of all COVID related matters.

Advising and representing the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in labor law related matters in the context of the dissolution of a professional sports team.

Deutscher Handballbund e.V.: Drafting the employment contract of the coach of the German national team.

Fanciety: Comprehensive legal advice on the launch of a new sports gaming app, i.a. representing Fanciety in license contract negotiations with sports rights holders.

Advising a sports rights holder on graphic identification issues and corresponding regulatory requirements.

TEAM

We are the ASD|SPORTS team – and at the same time we are many teams: ARNECKE SIBETH DABELSTEIN brings together more than 200 members of staff offering a wide variety of legal and tax expertise. This means that we can use our synergies at any time and offer fast and systematic support in almost all relevant areas of business and the economy.

Hendrik Paschke
Constanze Heymann
Maike Herrlein
Fiona Maria Trabold
Thomas Hertl
Dr. Thomas C. Körber
Jörg Noltin
Alexander Engelhard
Michael Siebold
Jennifer Wichmann
Manuela Weber

EVENTS

Knowledge transfer, networking and the sharing of ideas in a partnership: this triad makes our events exciting and sustainable – for clients, tax advisors, lawyers, the press and all interested people. And of course also for students who would like to join a prestigious law firm.

We warmly welcome you.

04/22/2023
Inclusion also means Access to Jusitice!

Current grievances in Parasports around the topics of Classification, #Misrepresentation and Access to Jusitice are discussed by Alexander Engelhard and Dr. David Stadtfeld from ARNECKE SIBETH DABELSTEIN together with para athletes Ali Jawad PLY and Josia Topf on the occasion of the Grand Final of the Sports Law Arbitration Moot (SLAM), hosted by LawInSport on […]

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All events

NEWS

Political, social and legal: In our news section you will find articles on various topics. It is important for our lawyers always to be up to date. Just like for our clients.

We look forward to your feedback.

BGH: Upcoming landmark decision regarding the repayment of lost online sports betting stakes
BGH: Upcoming landmark decision regarding the repayment of lost online sports betting stakes

In recent years, providers of online gambling and online sports betting have been increasingly exposed to a flood of lawsuits from (former) players seeking the repayment of lost gambling or betting stakes. This is due to the fact that under the old German Gambling Treaty (Glücksspielstaatsvertrag, GlüstV), which was in force until 2021, it was […]

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ASD|SPORTS provides expert opinion on legal framework for the new German Centre for Safe Sport (ZfSS)
ASD|SPORTS provides expert opinion on legal framework for the new German Centre for Safe Sport (ZfSS)

ASD|SPORTS has prepared an expert opinion for the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and Athletes Germany on the legal and organizational framework for the new independent Centre for Safe Sport (ZfSS). A key component of the work was also the development of a Safe Sport Code (SSC), which is to serve as the basis for […]

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ASD supports the „Sports Law Arbitration Moot (SLAM) 2024“
ASD supports the „Sports Law Arbitration Moot (SLAM) 2024“

We are proud to announce that we support the 5th edition of the “Sports Law Arbitration Moot (SLAM)”. The SLAM Grand Finals will take place on 12-13 April 2024 at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) in Lausanne, Switzerland. The „SLAM“ is a student moot competition, organised by the renowned international sports law network […]

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All news

Contact

Direct, fast and concrete: Get in touch with our ASD|SPORTS team. We will be pleased to advise you.

RANKINGS

We feel simply excellent when our clients and our employees give us top marks. Thank you!

asd-law.com Link

OUR LAW FIRM

As a commercial law firm with more than 100 lawyers, notaries and tax consultants and with over 90 years of tradition, ARNECKE SIBETH DABELSTEIN offers legal advice in all relevant business locations.

We feature among the top 100 legal advice firms in Germany with offices in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leer, Berlin, Munich and Dresden and we are an internationally recognised market leader in the areas of Transport and Logistics, and the Maritime Industry. We are also growing constantly in the sectors of Real Estate, Energy, Insurance, Sports, Digital Technology and IP/Media.

Our Practice Areas include Employment Law, Corporate, Finance, Transportation, Aviation, Logistics, M&A, Intellectual Property, IT, Commercial, Public Law and Anti-trust Law. We also have a tax law team and a notary office.

Due to our memberships in global legal networks (e.g. Interlaw, l2b aviation) and our world-wide contacts to specialised law firms, we are also a reliable partner for our international clients.

PLEASE ALSO VISIT OUR OTHER AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Restructuring. InsolvencyASD NOTARYMEDIADispute. ResolutionCOMMERCIALComplianceSPORTSTAXINTELLECTUAL PROPERTYANTITRUSTLABOUR. EMPLOYMENTENERGYINSURANCEDigital TechnologyBanking. FinanceCorporate. M&AMaritime IndustryREAL ESTATETrans­porta­tion. Aviation. Logistics

CAREER

JOIN ARNECKE SIBETH DABELSTEIN!

From internship to traineeship, from associate to partner: with us, every team member has the chance to go far on the career path. Apply and we will be delighted to convince each other. We look forward to hearing from you.