Share and Download Sports and Gaming
Practice Co-Chairs
Experience
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Investigations and Strategic Response
- Conduct an investigation into allegations of misconduct by senior-level team employee and provide strategic guidance to an NBA team.
- Represent the NFL to conduct a high-profile independent investigation of the NFL’s handling of the Ray Rice incident.
- Conduct three separate independent investigations for the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan involving alleged sexual harassment by the provost, alleged sexual assault by a former team physician, and alleged retaliation by the head coach of the men’s hockey team.
- Conduct a culture review for the New York Mets under the direction of new ownership, including a review of the team’s anti-harassment policies, its processes for addressing workplace concerns, and interviews of employees about their workplace experience, to develop recommendations to enhance workplace culture.
- Represent an industry-leading sportsbook in connection with a government investigation alleging violations of federal gambling laws.
- Represent a sports betting corporation in relation to an inquiry over daily fantasy sports activities and advise on federal anti-gambling laws, including the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
- Advise one of the nation’s largest sports betting corporations concerning New York State sports wagering legislation and Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) implications.
- Represent a Big Four accounting corporation in connection with obligations arising under federal and state casino and gaming regulations.
- Represent an international hospitality, sports, and entertainment company before a state legislature in connection with a successful effort to open a new casino in the state.
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Litigation
- Represent the Red Sox in successful litigation to recover the baseball that made the final out to reverse the curse and win the 2004 World Series.
- Represent DraftKings in consumer class actions, securities class actions, patent litigation, breach of contract matters and matters seeking to enforce non-competition agreements.
- Secure summary judgment for the Georgia Tech Athletic Association in a lawsuit brought by the former head coach of the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team, alleging numerous counts of discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation.
- Represent Underdog Sports in connection with litigation alleging misappropriation of MLB players’ names, images and likeness (NIL).
- Represent an MLB player agency in connection with the successful resolution of a breach of contract claim arising out of allegations relating to performance enhancing substances.
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Antitrust and Competition
- Represent a sports and venue management corporation to assist with compliance regarding the TicketMaster/Live Nation consent decree.
- Secure dismissal of an antitrust action brought under Section 1 of the Sherman Act against the University of Pennsylvania that challenged the Ivy League’s alleged practice of not awarding athletic scholarships or providing monetary compensation for athletes.
- Successfully represent the Boston Celtics in the enforcement of the team’s rights under the NBA collective bargaining agreement in a precedent-setting case decided by a former commissioner.
- Represent the NCAA before the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in NCAA v. O’Bannon, which challenged the use of student athletes’ names, images and likeness (NIL) for commercial purposes.
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Government and Regulatory Litigation
- Represent Intralot in the successful resolution of a government-initiated investigation and ensuing litigation alleging violations of the False Claims Act.
- Obtain a favorable judgment against California for the Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe of the Enterprise Rancheria, resulting in the issuance of Secretarial procedures reaffirming the Tribe’s right to conduct Class III gaming pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).
- Provide legal, regulatory and policy advice to a national sports and gaming trade group as FinCEN navigates new territory for casino anti-money laundering compliance.
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Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation
- Represent the NCAA before the US Supreme Court in its challenge to a Ninth Circuit ruling relating to compensation of student athletes in NCAA v. Alston.
- Represent the Tohono O’odham Nation in complex land-into-trust and gaming litigation, ultimately obtaining a unanimous victory in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that permitted the Nation to proceed with its plan to open a gaming facility on its West Valley reservation in the Pheonix metropolitan area.
- Advise a tribe in connection with an appeal concerning whether a Tribal-State gaming compact encompassed mobile bets placed outside of native land if the server or device used to conduct that wager is located on Tribal land.
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Transactional
- Represent the City of Boston and Boston Public Schools in the negotiation of definitive deal documents (including a lease and stadium usage agreement) with the new Boston franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) for a public-private partnership for the approximately $200 million joint redevelopment and shared use of a historic stadium—the first stadium in the country to serve jointly as the home venue for a public school athletic department and a professional sports team.
- Represent the NFL in the creation and launch of the NFL Sunday Ticket package on DIRECTV and negotiation of international TV rights agreements in Europe, Latin America and Asia.
- Represent the NHL in the creation of the NHL Center Ice package and negotiation of related domestic and international TV distribution agreements.
- Represented Vail Resorts in its acquisition of Peak Resorts, Inc., the owner of 17 ski resorts in the Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern United States.
- Provide general corporate advice to clients in the sports industry, including an NBA team, an equestrian media corporation, a manufacturer of high-tech bicycles, a fitness and nutrition corporation, a gym equipment manufacturer, and a digital network platform for athletes.
- Represent a global institutional investor in a proposed merger of equals transaction between industry leading sportsbooks.
- Advise a hedge fund regarding a proposed transaction for the development and operation of a foreign hotel and casino resort.
- Provide general tax advice to several of the nation’s largest sports betting corporations.
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Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring
- Represent the Diamond Sports Group in a chapter 11 proceeding and related litigation in the US Bankruptcy Court and in its high-profile debt restructuring, including securing an agreement with lenders and creditors for a new $635 million first lien term loan credit facility.
- Represent an NBA team in connection with a bankruptcy proceeding initiated against a partner company.
- Provide general bankruptcy advice to a leading daily fantasy sports and sportsbook operator.
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Pro Bono
- Represent the Boston Athletic Association (organizer of the Boston Marathon) in trademark matters, software and sponsorship contracts, leasing transactions and litigation in federal court.
- Provide corporate governance advice to a non-profit organization that uses sports and games to empower and educate children.
- Secure a preliminary injunction barring a school board from enforcing a policy that precluded transgender students from participating in sports in accordance with their gender identity – a policy the District Court found likely to violate both Title IX and the US Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
- Provide general tax advice to a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to supporting and developing amateur female cyclists.