Inside sports law: Blog

On 27 August 2024, the NFL announced that it would permit Private Equity (PE) investors to invest in its teams, having been the last of the major sports leagues in the US to prohibit its involvement.

The King’s Speech contains the much anticipated announcement of a Football Governance Bill. This new bill, principally focused on helping ensure the financial sustainability of football clubs across England, is intended to ensure greater sustainability in the game and strengthen protections for fans.

The landscape of Australian sport has experienced a successful period in the wake of the challenging COVID-19 pandemic, spurred on by a series of record broadcasting deals fuelled by increasing viewership for both domestic and international sporting events.

As pre-Olympics momentum builds, World Athletics’ (WA) recent decision to introduce more stringent Out-of-Competition (OOC) testing for athletes from Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Portugal demonstrates the willingness of global sporting administrators to ensure that the reputation of Paris 2024 remains untainted by doping scandal.

In late 2023, the High Court heard an application for a Group Litigation Order (GLO) involving claims being brought against World Rugby Limited, Welsh Rugby Union Limited and Rugby Football Union (the Application).

It was recently announced that FIFA and UEFA would appear before the Commercial Court of Madrid to discuss how to implement the ruling made on 21 December 2023 by the European Court of Justice (CJEU) in relation to the European Super League (ESL).

The 2026 World Cup's North American hosts should generate benefits across the construction, entertainment and tourism industries.

Between 2021 – 2023, a number of high profile inquiries examined the conduct, and culture of different sports, including football, gymnastics and cricket.

In an amendment to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill), the UK Government is set to introduce a new failure to prevent fraud offence. Like the UK Bribery Act 2010 (the UKBA) more than a decade earlier, this new offence is likely to bring about significant changes to corporate criminal liability in the fraud space and will significantly affect the compliance and regulatory landscape for large sports organisations.

For World Cup 2026, FIFA is integrating a multi-step human rights due diligence process, which was a prerequisite for cities interested in becoming Host Cities.