Broadcasting & media

Our commercial sports lawyers are specialists in all things sport, broadcasting, and media. We have a wealth of experience in advising on the grant, exploitation, and protection of media rights to premium sports properties across all media platforms, from host broadcasting and production arrangements through to the structuring and tendering of rights packages, the drafting and negotiation of rights agreements, regulatory and competition law advice, and dispute resolution. We act for sports governing bodies, tournament operators, clubs and other rights-holders, and broadcasters and other licensees, helping them to achieve maximum value and essential protections in respect of what is a key commercial asset and a centre-piece of any event’s commercial programme.

We assist our clients in achieving the following key aims and objectives, among others:

• operating an effective, efficient, and compliant tender process;
• managing the negotiation and conclusion of media rights agreements across multiple territories and broadcasters;
• protecting territorial exclusivity in an increasingly complex technological and regulatory environment;
• navigating the world of broadcast regulation to successfully launch new OTT services and linear channels; and
• ensuring that in-programme sponsorship and advertising stays the right side of the line across the globe.

Case studies

Six Nations Rugby: We advised Six Nations Rugby on all of its host broadcasting and international media rights agreements for its current rights cycle (2016-21), including its broadcasting deals with the BBC, ITV, TV3, France Télévisions, Discovery, NBCUniversal, and Pitch International, and on its deal to display match highlights on YouTube.

The Football Association: We have advised The FA on the structuring of its domestic and international rights packages, the ITT process, the drafting and negotiation of its broadcast and on-demand content licensing agreements and its television and new media production and archive management and exploitation agreements.

Rugby Australia: We advised Rugby Australia on the formal tender process and the drafting and negotiation of its domestic broadcast agreement with the Nine Network for the five-year period from 2021-2025. The rights were sold collectively with its joint venture partners (the rugby unions of New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina) such that the broadcast package included the rights to all Southern hemisphere rugby from The Rugby Championship and Super Rugby to domestic club competitions in each of the joint venture territories.

Key Contacts

Craig Giles, Robert Turner, Will Deller