Sports & Entertainment

As the world watches in awe at some of the staggeringly large NIL deals emerging in college sports, many have been equally surprised by which sports have garnered the most NIL attention and earnings.

In the past few weeks, there have been a handful of news reports regarding active or retired athletes’ off-court business interests, each of which has exhibited a good example of when athletes transition into moguls by turning their brands built on the court into off-court empires.

As discussed in previous posts, the purchase of Chelsea F.C. required approval from not only the Premier League but the U.K. government as Roman Abramovich, the selling owner of Chelsea F.C., is subject to the sanctions issued by the U.K. government on Russian individuals with ties to the Russian government. 

Understanding the current legal landscape for NCAA name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements can be a challenge.

The takeover of Chelsea Football Club by a consortium involving Americans Todd Boehly and Mark Walters along with Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss looks to be held up in the U.K. government’s review and approval process. 

After retiring and then un-retiring this NFL offseason, Tom Brady added another wrinkle to his storied career as it was announced that he would join Fox Sports in the broadcast booth on a 10-year, $375 million deal after he finally retires from playing. 

After months of intense negotiations between video game maker Electronic Arts, Inc. (“EA Sports”) and soccer’s global governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (“FIFA”), the two parties were unable to agree to an extension of the current licensing agreement that underpins one of the most successful commercial partnerships in sports having generated more than $20 billion in sales over the last two decades.

Ever since the NCAA removed the restriction on student-athletes receiving compensation and the dawn of the NIL-era, collegiate athletic programs and administrators have been desperate for some sort of clarity as to how these deals might affect recruitment, and what the NCAA would do to regulate the use of NIL deals as a recruiting tactic for high school athletes and transfer students.

As discussed in a previous post, Chelsea Football Club owner, Roman Abramovich, put the club up for sale following the U.K. government’s imposition of sanctions on Russian oligarchs (including Abramovich) with business interests and assets in the U.K. amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

On April 11, 2022, Governor Youngkin signed Senate Bill 223 “Intercollegiate athletics; student-athletes, compensation and representation for name, image, etc.” into law , effective July, 1, 2022.