On Leap Year Day 2024, Squire Patton Boggs held its inaugural women’s sport symposium, Leap into the Future of Women’s Sport.  Bringing together key figures from across the sports industry, the Symposium focussed on what is next for commercialisation, investment and growth, and maternity and parental policies.  For a flavour of the talking points, please see our recent blog on commercial rights in women’s sport.    In the weeks following the Symposium, we have already seen some further leaps forward for this fast-moving industry.  The following is a round-up of some o ..read more

Our dedicated Women’s Sport Group hosted its inaugural Women’s Sport Symposium on 29 February 2024 to discuss key issues across the women’s sporting landscape. Amongst other topics, a panel of key figures and experts, which was chaired by Sarah Butler (Founder of Sports Business Connected), discussed the pertinent issue of the commercialisation of women’s sports rights. Key Opportunities and Challenges Women’s sport, and the commercialisation of its rights, is at a crucial crossroads in its development. The exponential growth in the viewership and visibility of women’s sport in recent years h ..read more

With the summer Olympic Games rapidly approaching, the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) recently announced new guidance for social and digital media at the 2024 games. Our colleagues at SPB’s Global IP & Tech blog took an interesting look at how social media guidelines are evolving and how athletes, brands and spectators will experience the games in more engaging ways than ever. Both athletes and brands will need to be mindful of the IOC’s guidelines and adapt their strategies accordingly.  Check out the full post: New Social Media Guidance for 2024 Olympians | Global IP & ..read more

Following the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee’s grant of a preliminary injunction in the recent case filed against the NCAA, captioned Tennessee and Virginia v. NCAA, the NCAA has decided to halt investigations into third-party involvement in name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation deals with Division I college athletes. In granting the injunction, the Court opined that the NCAA’s rules prevent athletes from “obtaining full, fair market value for [their NIL] rights,” and opined that such restrictions were “anticompetitive.”[1] While the NCAA maintains certain pol ..read more

Valued at roughly $115 million annually, the NCAA and ESPN have come to an eight-year media rights deal effective September 1st of this year and running through 2032. The introduction of this “multi-platform home” will include media rights to 40 NCAA championships along with international media rights to those same 40 championships and the Division I men’s basketball championship.[1] More specifically, the agreement will include rights to 21 women’s and 19 men’s championships. Throughout a given year, over 800 hours of NCAA championships will be made available to viewers through ESPN linear ne ..read more

Introduction and Background In its statement published at the end of last year regarding the disciplinary action taken against Alexey Shyshko, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) pronounced that Shyshko’s actions had “tarnished the reputation of esports as a whole” and “threatened the very foundation of fair competition in esports”.[1]  ESIC’s public statement accompanied a lifetime ban for Shyshko and additional sanctions on teams and individuals associated with him. This article considers an overview of Shyshko’s activities leading to the sanctions meted out, the role of ESIC and w ..read more

As discussed in a recent blog post, on January 21, 2024, the Attorneys General for Tennessee and Virginia filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, arguing that a new set of NCAA rules governing certain Name, Image, and Likeness activities in college athletics were violative of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.  In their complaint, the Plaintiff-states sought, among other forms of relief, “a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop the NCAA from enforcing the [rules].”[1] On February 23, 2024, the Court granted the preliminary injunction.  The crux of ..read more

2023 saw further impressive growth in interest around women’s sport, with increased viewership in the UK across television, social media and in-person attendance.[1] Almost one million more people tuned in to watch a minute or more of women’s sport in 2023 compared with the previous record set in 2019.[2] Women’s football is still dominating the field, attracting 74% of the total viewing hours of women’s sport. The Final of the Women’s World Cup was the most watched women’s sport event on television in 2023, and the whole tournament attracted 15.6 million new viewers who, according to researc ..read more

Introduction Following a three-day hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 7-9 February 2024, the outcome of Simona Halep’s appeal against her doping suspension is imminent and eagerly awaited.  In September 2023, the former world number 1 tennis star was banned for four years by an independent tribunal for breaches of Article 2 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (“TADP”)[1], which broadly mirrors the WADA Code. The 2019 Wimbledon champion was held to have committed anti-doping rule violations (“ADRVs”) in respect of two distinct (but inter-connected) charges: the presence ..read more

A new lawsuit was filed on January 31, 2024, that could significantly impact the NCAA’s ability to regulate Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”) in collegiate athletics.  Filed by the Attorneys General of Tennessee and Virginia in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee[1], the lawsuit challenges certain NCAA restrictions of NIL payments as an illegal restraint of trade under federal antitrust law.  The NIL landscape was ushered in by a landmark decision from the United States Supreme Court, Alston v. NCAA.  In Alston, former collegiate athletes argued that th ..read more