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Sports Law Definition
Sports law in Australia involves the provision of specialised legal and strategic advice and assistance in relation to the operation, administration, management, and commercialisation of sports and related activities.
Clients include public and private corporations, sporting organisations and teams, athletes, government agencies, sponsors, agents, and high profile individuals.
Sports law often involves a cross-practice approach to legal and strategic issues relating to sport including:
Commercial - a wide range of commercial and contractual arrangements, sponsorship agreements, media rights transactions, event commercialisation, M&A, team and club licences, sporting facilities arrangements, corporate advice, and restructures
Governance and integrity - regulatory, compliance and disciplinary issues, drafting and amending constituent documents, corporate structuring, competition structuring, drafting rules and regulations
Disputes - commercial litigation, disciplinary hearings and appeals, athlete and team grievances, anti-doping proceedings, match fixing and corruption, selection disputes
Intellectual property - image rights, trade mark and design registrations, commercialisation and licensing, merchandising, enforcement and infringement proceedings
Employment and workplace relations - employment agreements, player contracts, collective bargaining arrangements, disciplinary issues
Competition law - advice, ACCC authorisations and notifications, litigation
Tax - advisory, structuring, disputes
Regulatory - compliance with Commonwealth and State legislation, compliance with Australian Sports Commission requirements