Sports law for clubs, governing bodies and sports businesses

I advise sports clubs, leagues, governing bodies, academies and other sports businesses in England and Wales on the legal side of running them, which covers how the club is set up, its constitution and governance, its contracts and sponsorship deals, its staff, and buying or selling it. Most of my sports clients are clubs and organisations, although I do act for players and coaches as well, mainly on contracts.

You’re probably not a Premier League club, and most of the clubs and organisations I work with are smaller ones who want great advice but don’t want to pay the Premier League prices of most sports law firms. Sport has its own rulebooks and its own politics, but most of the legal work is company, contract and employment law applied to an organisation which happens to be a club, and that is my day to day work.

SM Sports Law is the name I use for this part of my work. It’s a brand of Steven Mather Solicitor and not a separate firm. I’m a consultant solicitor and all my legal work is carried out through Nexa Law Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Sports work I’ve done

I advised a new national league on forming a company jointly owned by its member clubs, which included drafting the articles and a shareholders’ agreement and creating a long-term governance framework. I helped Blisworth FC, a well-established local football club, convert from an unincorporated association into a company and a charity, which improved its governance and enabled it to access funding. Earlier in my career, at Josiah Hincks, I acted for Leicester Tigers on general legal and commercial matters.

I’ve also advised one of the UK’s larger motorsport organisers on its constitution, acted on the management buy-out of a karate club, bought and sold gyms, and advised sportspeople competing at national and international level on contracts, employment terms and settlement agreements. And I provide legal advice and player representation to my tennis-playing son Horace (I can dream, and in any case he doesn’t pay).

Structure, constitutions and governance

Many clubs start life as an unincorporated association, which works well enough until the club signs a lease, employs someone or gets sued, as at that point the committee members can be personally liable. I advise clubs on moving to a company limited by guarantee, a community interest company or a charity, and I draft the constitution or articles and the rules that go with them.

For clubs and governing bodies that already have a structure, the work tends to be about making sure it works properly. That means rulebooks, who can decide what, how committees and boards are appointed and removed, conflicts of interest, and keeping the documents in line with what the national governing body (the FA, the LTA, the RFU and so on) requires of its affiliated clubs. Where a league or a venture is owned by several clubs, a shareholders’ agreement sets out how they’ll deal with each other. All of this is closely related to my general company law work.

Contracts, sponsorship, image rights and staff

I draft and review the contracts that a sports organisation needs, including sponsorship and partnership agreements, coaching and player contracts, consultancy agreements, facility hire, event terms and funding agreements. With sponsorship, the points that tend to cause problems are what the sponsor actually gets, for how long, whether it’s exclusive, and what happens if either side wants to end it early. With grant funding, the main points are the conditions attached and what triggers repayment. There’s more on my contracts page.

A club’s name and badge are worth protecting, and so is a player’s name and image once sponsors are interested. I advise on intellectual property ownership and licensing, image rights agreements and trade mark registration. Sports branding disputes do reach the courts, as the polo club logos case shows.

Clubs employ people, engage self-employed coaches and rely on volunteers, and it isn’t always clear which is which. The Premier League referees case is a good illustration of how difficult employment status can be in sport. I prepare employment and consultancy contracts, advise clubs as employers and deal with settlement agreements when someone is leaving. Sports organisations also hold a lot of personal data, from membership records to health information and video footage of children, and I advise on privacy notices, data sharing and subject access requests.

Buying and selling clubs and sports businesses

I act on sales and purchases of clubs, gyms, academies and other sports businesses. They work in the same way as any other deal, but there are a few extra things to consider, such as the memberships, the lease or licence of the ground or facility, and whether affiliation to a governing body continues after a change of owner. My pages on selling a business and buying a business explain how those deals work and what they cost.

Tennis clubs, coaches and players

Tennis is a particular area of interest for me. I advise tennis clubs, coaching businesses and academies on structure and governance, coaching contracts, court and facility hire, and sponsorship, and I advise performance players and their parents on contracts and image rights. I’ve also written about what really happens to a Wimbledon champion’s prize money once tax has been taken into account.

Disputes, injuries and disciplinary cases

I don’t deal with disputes myself. The contentious sports work is dealt with by Andrew King, a consultant solicitor at Nexa who advises players, clubs and sports businesses on disputes, transfers and regulatory decisions, and who sits as a disciplinary panel member on the FA’s National Serious Case Panel. He also has a personal injury background, so he deals with sports injury claims, and he can deal with private disciplinary hearings. If that’s the kind of problem you have, let me know and I’ll introduce you, and Andrew will then run the matter and quote his own fee. Leases and other property work for grounds and facilities go to a commercial property colleague in the same way. There’s more about the people I refer to on my Nexa colleagues page.

I’ve also written about some of the bigger sports disputes, such as the Alexander Isak transfer saga and what the commission found against Manchester City.

Fees and next steps

I work on fixed fees, which I quote once I’ve seen the details and which are agreed in writing before I start, so that a club on a tight budget knows what the work will cost before committing to it.

If you’re involved in sport and need legal support, I’d be happy to help. Get in touch and tell me about the club or organisation and what you need, and if there’s a document involved (a constitution, a sponsorship agreement or a contract), send it with your message.