Sports & Entertainment
The sports and entertainment industries move at the lightning pace of innovation itself. At Jones Walker, we provide strategic legal counsel to team and franchise owners, event organizers, professional and college sports organizations, athletes, artists, studios, production companies, and other stakeholders worldwide, helping individuals and businesses obtain the legal protections and guidance needed to thrive in a competitive, rapidly evolving marketplace.
Key emerging trends
- Independent producers are creating more content on a larger scale and with wider access to consumers than ever before, while established studios are shifting their focus to blockbusters and franchise productions.
- Generative artificial intelligence (AI) offers dynamic opportunities for content creators, owners, and licensors, while also accelerating legal challenges and disputes regarding the use of intellectual property in training databases and in published works, music, performances, and more.
- Changes to the NCAA's long-standing prohibition on student-athlete pay, along with the more recent House settlement, have opened the door to new, unexplored opportunities and legal challenges facing businesses, educational institutions, and amateur athletes as they navigate financial sponsorship, influencer, and other commercialization opportunities tied to an athlete's name, image, and likeness (NIL).
- State and foreign tax incentives and new financing structures are becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable, while consumer and watchdog groups wield greater power through boycotts and other organized movements.
- New-media platforms — including social media — and the explosive growth of streaming services are expanding the availability of movies, music, books, television, and other content while turning traditional marketing, distribution, and profit models upside down.
Ranked among the top law firms by Chambers USA, The Legal 500, and other national ratings publications, our sports and entertainment law attorneys provide up-to-the-minute, seamless counsel to clients where they do business and where their customers and fans live — online and in real time.
In-Depth Industry Experience
Our attorneys counsel companies and individuals on matters across the professional and amateur sports industries, as well as the arts, entertainment, and hospitality sectors. We also have deep experience advising clients on film and television projects, music and digital media, broadcasting, and interactive software, among other areas. Our team routinely helps clients navigate complex legal landscapes involving:
- Name, Image, and Likeness: Helping athletic conferences, educational institutions, and other stakeholders navigate the post-House regime, along with traditional NIL matters such as structuring endorsement deals, sponsorships, and brand partnerships for college athletes and organizations.
- Film and Television: Providing legal support across project development, financing, production, and distribution, including tax credit monetization, presale and gap financing, and complex sales and distribution agreements.
- Production Legal: Drafting and negotiating rights deals, talent agreements (above and below the line), location and product placement agreements, and vendor contracts; advising on guild compliance and production logistics.
- Music and Digital Media: Drafting and negotiating recording, licensing, streaming, and performance agreements; advising on AI-generated content and influencer monetization.
- Talent Representation and Contracts: Representing artists, athletes, producers, and studios in contract negotiations, league policies, and endorsement agreements.
- Intellectual Property and Licensing: Protecting copyrights, trademarks, and patents; managing licensing, royalty, and syndication agreements across platforms.
- Live Events and Sports Law: Advising on sponsorships, broadcast rights, venue contracts, and risk management for sports and entertainment events.
- Regulatory Compliance: Ensuring adherence to FCC rules, antitrust laws, advertising standards, and disclosure requirements.
- Tax Incentives and Economic Development: Assisting clients in leveraging state and local tax credits and incentives to finance entertainment and media projects.
- Litigation and Dispute Resolution: Representing clients in disputes involving contracts, intellectual property, defamation, and endorsements through arbitration, mediation, and litigation.
Our Approach
Our lawyers know the entertainment and sports industries from the inside out and are immersed in the concept-to-deal realities of finance, production, and distribution, as well as the complex, multifaceted legal matters confronting professional and amateur athletics.
Jones Walker is committed to fostering and supporting the continued growth of projects and initiatives across the Southeast, in major media centers on both coasts, and globally. We partner with industry leaders to provide comprehensive legal solutions tailored to the dynamic world of sports and entertainment. Whether negotiating contracts, managing rights transactions, or litigating disputes, we ensure our clients' legal interests are secure, strategically positioning them for success.
-
- name
- Adam N. Matasar
- title
- Partner
- phones
- D: 504.582.8200
- amatasar@joneswalker.com
-
- name
- W. Whitaker Rayner
- title
- Partner
- phones
- D: 601.949.4724
- wrayner@joneswalker.com