2 9 September 2004

News:

President George Bush signed on 28 September the Sports Agents Trust and Responsibility Act (SPARTA) which gives the Federal Trade Commission jurisdiction over sports agents.. Unscrupulous agents who mislead or bribe student athletes into entering agency contracts will find themselves in breach of the FTC’s Unfair and Deceptive Businesses Act.

The growing demand for professionalism in sport has left the British Racing Drivers’ Club-owned Silverstone circuit struggling once again to hold onto the British Grand Prix.

Arsenal’s £100 million stadium and shirt sponsorship deal with Emirates airline has broken all sponsorship records for a single club. The deal provides Emirates with naming rights to the club’s new £357 million stadium. For the next 15 years it will be known as the Emirates Stadium.

Features:

The figures just don’t add up” one analyst is believed to have said when commenting on the anticipated takeover bid for Manchester United by the US football tycoon Michael Glazer. The high net worth owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is likely to have to pay out between £700m and £800m to take over one of the leading English soccer clubs. Having announced profits of £57.3m this week, it is clear that the club is certainly in play both on and off the field.

Football is omninpresent in all aspects of media. But the alignment of telecommunications and football is creating innovative ways to develop new services and revenue streams. This article looks at the latest developments and opportunities.

The issue of how sports media rights are dealt with has long been a significant issue within the industry. The tension between the demands of a sport to do things the way it wants to, balanced against the intervention of the law has created a significant number of issues that are now explored in greater detail by Adrian Rubenstein of Couchman Harrington.

Mobile gambling provides many opportunities for operators and consumers. This article examines the prospects for mobile gambling.

UEFA, according to its motto, cares about football, and by introducing its club licensing system UEFA has demonstrated its determination to improve professionalism in the game. In June’s World Sports Law Report we considered the background to the developments. In a second piece, with European competition under way, Joe Maclean, a leading expert on financial issues in the sports sector, expands on his earlier thoughts.

Women’s rugby has come a long way since the humble beginnings of the Welsh Women’s Rugby Union in 1986. Originally set up by a team of volunteers in a spare bedroom, nearly twenty years later it is a professionally run governing body with six members of staff and an annual turnover of over £1/4 million.

But the rapid growth of the business, mostly in the last five years, has grown some problems of its own.

Premiership Champions Arsenal have signed a £100 million deal - the biggest of its type in English soccer club history. The 15-year deal means that their new stadium, Ashburton Grove, will be known as the Emirates Stadium. This is part of a package of sponsorship rights negotiated by Dubai-based national airline Emirates, owned by the Emirates government. Emirates has swapped its allegiance from one team to another - a cardinal sin for soccer fans. It will support Chelsea until the end of the season switching to arch-rivals Arsenal thereafter.