2L Matt Colman, President of the Committee on Sports & Entertainment Law, wrote in to us about a recent event:
The Committee on Sports & Entertainment Law recently hosted a panel discussion titled “Acquiring a Sports Franchise.” The panel featured three lawyers with experience in sports franchise transactions: Adam Klein from Katten Muchin Rosenman in Chicago, Larry Silverstein from Bingham McCutchen in Boston, and Jon Bernstein from Bingham McCutchen in Boston. The other members of the panel were Brad Rangell, an investment banker with Citigroup, and Tony Tavares, the CEO of Sports Properties Acquisition Corp, the first sports & entertainment Special Public Acquisition Corporation (SPAC).
The panel began with a brief overview of the anatomy of a sports franchise transaction, but the majority of the panel focused on the personal experiences of the panelists. Each panelist described the transaction he had been involved in and discussed some of the unique challenges different transactions presented. Joe Meginnes, a first year student at HLS, said that he “really appreciated the breadth of the issues the panel covered, from the aspects inherent in any M&A deal, to league-specific restrictions, to counseling clients on just what it is they’re getting themselves into.”
One of the most interesting issues the panelists discussed was the power of a league commissioner in approving or preventing a transaction. Frequently, sports teams are not sold to the highest bidder because the other owners in the league must approve the transaction. The panelists focused on how suitors of a sports franchise must lobby the commissioner and other owners as part of the transaction process. Lobbying begins as soon as a person decides he or she is interested in purchasing a team and continues throughout the entire process.
The Committee on Sports & Entertainment Law (CSEL) is an organization of HLS students which plans speakers, conferences, and other events throughout the academic year. If you have any questions about the Committee please contact Matt Colman at mcolman@law.harvard.edu.
