In 2023, three NFL games were played in London, in addition to two games in Germany, as the league continues to expand the footprint and revenue opportunities for the game, players, and teams. As the sport grows abroad, complex business opportunities give rise to sophisticated legal considerations explored in the one-of-a-kind short course, “Player Licensing and the Growth of International Games.”
The one-week intensive course, led by DeMaurice Smith, longtime executive director of the NFL’s Players Association and University of Miami School of Law EASL program board member and adjunct faculty, was open to current J.D./LL.M. joint degree students in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law program. Included in the course, hosted at the London offices of Sidley Austin, were guest lecturers with lawyers and industry leaders from the NFL, NFL Players Association, and Sidley Austin as well as site visits to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, Wimbledon, and Formula 1.
During the week students studied collective bargaining, group licensing, the growth of revenue opportunities abroad for players and the league, the growth strategy for American Football abroad, investment in sport abroad and international stadium development trends to support the growth of the game. The week concluded with a simulation exercise where students represented the NFL, NFLPA, or a new sponsor looking to become the face of the NFL London series.
Student Reflections
Fourteen Miami Law students took part in the short course and were asked to submit a collection of journal entries on their experiences in London.
Day One – NFL Players Association by Alanna Sadler
Our first day in London began at Sidley Austin. Smith, the longtime executive director of the National Football League Players’ Association, introduced the class with a history on the relationship between professional leagues and unions. We reviewed key CBA clauses that set the foundation for the course. He then discussed some proud “wins” throughout his time at the NFLPA, like relinquishing the League’s unilateral right to increase players’ work without increasing compensation. Lastly, Smith discussed the creation and evolution of OneTeam Partners, an entity that combines group licensing of multiple leagues.
Next, we heard from Terese Whitehead, vice president, consumer products and strategy at NFLPA. Whitehead highlighted the NFLPA’s focus on increasing global opportunities for players. As seen through the wide array of jerseys worn at the London NFL games, international fans tend to align with players, rather than teams, so increasing access to players remains an important goal of the union. Whitehead concluded her presentation with a hypothetical licensing deal between the union and potential partners.
Lastly, we heard from Irwin Raij, partner and co-chair of the Entertainment, Sports, and Media Group at Sidley Austin and longtime EASL board member and adjunct faculty. Raij has immense experience in stadium agreements and provided an in-depth analysis of stadium development trends. He concluded his presentation with a comparison on stadium development in the United States and Europe, and discussed what it would take for American sports, like the NFL, to expand to international markets.
Day Two – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium by Matt Asnis
Day Two began with a trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which is by far the most spectacular stadium in Europe. There, we met with Todd Kline, the chief commercial officer at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. He described his journey from the University of Maryland, the Miami Dolphins, Endeavor, and Tottenham Hotspur. He explained the difference between working for a league where the teams split profits, such as American football, contrary to his new position where he competes directly with the other clubs. He discussed the approach at Tottenham to diversify revenue streams and examined the relationship between business executive and legal counsel. Finally, he finished by giving the group advice on how to pursue career goals in entertainment, arts, and sports Law.
After we met with Kline, we received a tour of the stadium. Our tour began in the premium suites at the stadium, where we learned about the differences between the sales and marketing aspects of luxury seats in Europe and the United States. After that, we took a trip to the media room, where we were able to see the vast 150-person capacity movie theater room where players and coaches would take questions from the media. Finally, our tour ended with a trip onto the pitch of the field, and we got to stand on the same grass that the players stand on.
Day Three – Wimbledon by Alyssa Perez
On our third day in London, we visited the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the venue for the historic Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass. We were first met by Dan Bloxham, head coach of the AELTC and master of ceremonies for Wimbledon. We started our day with morning tea in the Royal Box of the AELTC’s Clubhouse hosted by Ian Ritchie, longtime chief executive of the AELTC. It was surreal to sit on the balcony where Wimbledon champions raise their trophies upon winning the championship. After morning tea, Bloxham led a tour of the AELTC Clubhouse and Wimbledon grounds, including visiting their state-of-the-art training facilities and walking out onto No. 1 Court and Centre Court! The tour included many valuable insights on the business of running a major tournament from media rights to commercial partners to tournament operations.
After touring the Wimbledon grounds, we returned to the AELTC Clubhouse and were greeted by Ian Ritchie and Martin Guntrip, club director at the AELTC, who gave us an instructive session on business and legal topics related to the Wimbledon Championship. First, they shared their journeys from non-tennis or sports-related careers to working at the AELTC. Ritchie and Guntrip discussed interesting topics, including Wimbledon’s sponsorship deals and how they’ve evolved and Wimbledon’s novel pandemic insurance. After an amazing day at Wimbledon, we concluded with a class meal where Smith shared his insights into the challenges of unionizing players in individual sports, like the PGA Tour golfers and tennis players, and his history of collective bargaining.
Day Four NFL – John Glaser
After the phenomenal experience at Wimbledon the day before, we headed back to Sidley Austin, where we learned about the NFL’s international expansion efforts from the NFL’s own Tom Kiley, senior director of Finance & Strategy, International. Tom filled us in on everything there is to know about the NFL’s current efforts to attract international fans and grow the game beyond the bounds of the United States.
Tom discussed the NFL Academy in particular, where he mentioned that it was created to give international students the opportunity to learn the game of football and pursue college football in the United States. From there, Tom talked about the continued desire to grow the game abroad in the near future.
After we parted ways with Tom, we received our hypothetical in which the NFL, NFLPA, and a European-based sports drink were mutually interested in a licensing agreement for the London Games. At that point, we spent time with our groups working through the hypothetical in preparation for our “client” presentations on Friday. The multi-party deal required us to apply the CBA, commercial agreement, and a deep understanding of IP and commercial rights as we tried to protect our respective clients and execute a series licensing agreements, which included marketing and activation opportunities with current and former NFL players and possible use of league marks. After class, it was time to grab a bite to eat, so we headed down to a local pub for lunch and eventually went on to explore London for the rest of the day.
Day Five Hypo/Presentations/F1 + Reflections on NFL Game in Europe by Ryan Brida
The end of our trip in London was capped off by an insightful lecture about private equity’s involvement in professional sports abroad with Chuck Baker, Co-chair of Sidley Austin’s Entertainment, Sports and Media Group and longtime EASL Borad Member and Adjunct Faculty; group presentations on player licensing from the perspective of a sports drink company, the NFL, and the NFLPA; a Q&A session with Formula One’s legal counsel; and attending the Ravens vs. Titans game at Tottenham Stadium.
We were divided into three groups and prepared a deck to present to our “client” (either the NFL, NFL PI or a new sports drink company) who was played by DeMaurice Smith. We had to explain to our client the likelihood of being able to execute a deal that included a new title sponsor, a series of activations, marketing opportunities using player likenesses, and the creation of product and what legal agreements and key clauses would need to be in place to best protect our interests as well as the likelihood of being able to execute the proposed deal. The experience of applying what we learned from industry experts, and getting feedback from an industry leader like DeMaurice Smith, was invaluable.
After our presentations, we headed to F1 headquarters where we had the opportunity to hear from five lawyers at F1 to learn more about the structure and execution of F1 races as well as the division of labor within the legal department and how F1 (parent organization) works with each of the individual races to support and collaborate on each event.
At the conclusion of the week, we had the opportunity to attend the Ravens vs Titans game at Tottenham Stadium. There is nothing better than attending an NFL game, and this experience was only enhanced by watching one in London and seeing everything we learned about over the week in action. To see an overwhelming amount of people, a majority of whom were wearing different NFL jerseys, come together truly shows the power and influence of sports. To say that I am grateful for this experience would be an understatement, and I cannot thank Greg, De, and the University of Miami enough for making this dream a reality.
Read more about Miami Law’s LL.M. in Entertainments, Arts and Sports Law
