Practice Areas & Industries: Pepper Hamilton LLP

Practice Group Overview

Pepper Hamilton LLP has a long history of representing sports-related clients -- going as far back as the 1920s, when firm founder George Wharton Pepper argued the U.S. Supreme Court case that granted professional baseball its antitrust exemption.

Today, we help sports-related clients with matters ranging from employment issues and business contracts to intellectual property protection, the financing and construction of new stadiums and arenas, and the purchase of major league sports teams. Our sports practice brings together lawyers with deep experience in commercial law, dispute resolution and government regulation, all dedicated to helping our clients reach their goals.

PlayMaker Sports Advisors LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pepper Hamilton, offers an expanded range of services to the sports industry. It assists prospective purchasers of sports franchises with structuring and negotiations; equity and debt financing; investigation and analysis of acquisition targets; and evaluation, structure and recruitment of front office personnel.

Pepper's sports practice encompasses the following general areas: representation of teams and sports organizations; financing and construction of sports facilities; and representation of individuals and sports-related businesses.

Services Available

Teams and Sports Organizations

We represent sports teams and organizations at all levels, from amateur and school organizations to major league franchises. The matters we handle are as varied as the clients themselves, ranging from relatively simple contracts to sensitive and complex issues involving the survival of a major league professional team. For example, our lawyers represented:

• the investor group that purchased the Altoona Curve minor league baseball franchise in April 2002. The investor group was led by Pepper partner Chuck Greenberg, who is president and managing partner of the Curve, the Class AA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates (Chuck also is chairman of Pepper's sports practice). The group also included Pittsburgh Penguins owner/captain Mario Lemieux and Steelers star running back Jerome "The Bus" Bettis.
• a group of South Florida business leaders in its 2001 acquisition of the Florida Panthers National Hockey League franchise. The group also acquired rights to the management and operation of the Panthers' home arena, the National Car Rental Center in Sunrise, Fla., and ownership of the Incredible Ice skating rink in nearby Coral Springs, Fla.
• Mario Lemieux in his 1999 purchase of the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL franchise, which saved the team from bankruptcy and relocation. This matter depended on difficult and complex negotiations with a number of parties, involving diverse corporate, finance and bankruptcy issues. Our lawyers negotiated equity agreements, television and radio broadcast rights agreements, arena lease and management agreements, franchise financing agreements, advertising and sponsorship agreements, trademark assignments and licenses, and agreements with government agencies and the National Hockey League. We also helped prepare the Penguins' business plan, develop projections, raise equity, devise a front office structure and hire the management team.
• a cable television company on employee benefits and executive compensation issues regarding its acquisition of a controlling interest in a company that owns a National Basketball Association franchise, an NHL franchise, and two large sports and entertainment arenas. This included negotiation of all employee benefits representations, warranties and covenants; due diligence on all benefit plans for the company, teams (including multi-employer union arrangements for the players' pension plans) and arenas; development and implementation of executive compensation and retirement programs; and counseling on the international tax implications of hockey player contracts, involving coordination of U.S. and Canadian tax laws.
• the former owner of a National Football League franchise in resolving certain disputes regarding the sale of the team
• a Major League Baseball team in business litigation
• an NFL franchise in a workers' compensation matter
• an NFL franchise in an employment discrimination claim
• a professional tennis association as general counsel, which included interpretation of bylaws and tournament rules, facility concessions and other contract matters, and personnel issues. We also have represented a number of professional tennis tournaments.
• a national soccer association in a bid to host the 1994 World Cup
• a nonprofit group that operates one of the largest amateur hockey associations in Michigan; one of our lawyers also served as a director of the group
• the National Collegiate Athletic Association as local counsel in a lawsuit claiming discrimination on the basis of a learning disability
• a state high school athletic association on player eligibility issues.

Facility Finance and Construction

Pepper is experienced in the complex mix of public and private financing often necessary to complete sports facilities projects. We are a nationally recognized, "Red Book"-listed bond counsel firm, representing state and local governments, authorities and other agencies as issuers of revenue bonds and general obligation bonds for financing the development, construction and operation of all types of capital projects. We also are experienced in project finance, and are familiar with managing the network of relationships necessary to complete and operate a project-financed facility.

Our construction practice combines experience in construction litigation and counseling with knowledge of the regulations that govern contracting with local, state and federal governments, and handles all aspects of public and private construction litigation and contracting. Our construction practice is integrated with our public and project finance practice and, as needed, can call upon lawyers in other related practice areas. For example, many new stadiums are built in urban areas with significant environmental problems. We use our knowledge and experience in environmental, finance, public policy, economic development and real estate issues to help clients redevelop abandoned industrial properties and take advantage of government incentives to return such properties to active use. This type of "one-stop shopping" can save time and expense for sports facility clients.

Our experience in sports facility financing and construction includes representing:

• the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the financing of four proposed major league stadiums in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. This includes negotiating and reviewing the proposed development agreements and leases for each facility and counseling on the tax-exempt bond issues regarding stadium financing.
• a university in claims involving the construction of a new arena
• parties in claims involving the construction of the Fleet Center in Boston
• an ice-skating rink in modifying its financing/capitalization arrangements and restructuring its agreements for use of the facility by an amateur hockey association and a figure-skating association.

Individuals and Sports-Related Businesses

Our lawyers represent a number of individuals and sports-related businesses in a variety of matters. For example, we have represented:

• a well-known boxing promoter in resolving a number of disputes
• professional athletes in a variety of roles, including estate and tax planning, business counseling and financial management
• professional athletes in obtaining visas to compete in the United States and Europe
• a university and a collegiate athletic association in licensing agreements for software to handle ticketing at two sports facilities, and sponsorship/advertising agreements for several sporting events
• manufacturers of sporting goods in a variety of corporate financings and acquisitions, and in intellectual property protection
• a leading manufacturer of replica historic uniforms and other sports equipment in intellectual property protection.