SportsBiz Spotlight is back for another edition! In this series we sit down with a fantastic business that’s operating in the sports industry to find out a bit more about them. We recently sat down with Alex Harvey and Ollie Raggett from Sheridans Sport, one of the leading sports, media and entertainment law firms in the industry to talk about the business.
Tell us about the business? What does Sheridans Sport do?
AH: Sheridans Sport is the sports department of Sheridans, a leading sports, media and entertainment law firm based in London. We provide advice on a broad range of legal issues across the sport and esports industries, including commercial and regulatory advice, player transfers, dispute resolution, governance, sports data and rights exploitation.
What’s the main purpose of the organisation?
OR: First and foremost, we aim to provide first-class legal advice to our incredible clients, many of whom are shaping the future of the sports and esports industries. We always ensure that the advice is commercially focussed and tailored to our clients’ specific requirements of their industry. Beyond the quality of work we provide, we also aim to provide additional value to clients where we can – often leveraging our extensive connections in the wider entertainment industry to connect our clients to relevant people of interest.
What’s your USP?
AH: Sheridans Sport is fortunate enough to work under the Sheridans ‘umbrella’, which allows us to provide our clients with a full 360° service. To give an example, if one of our clients is making a sports documentary, not only can we provide advice on the sport-specific elements, but we are also able rely on the expertise of Sheridans’ specialist Film & TV department.
OR: We have also recently seen a number of our sport and esports clients looking at the opportunities to move into the NFT space as a new way to connect with their fan-base. We have been working with Sheridans’ specialist crypto and data team to provide these clients with in-depth and tailored legal advice in the context of this developing area of technology.
How many people work at Sheridans Sport and what capacity? I.e. job roles etc.
AH: There are currently 9 of us in the Sheridans Sport team. Andrew Nixon is the Head of Department, and then we have the 3 other Partners; Daniel Geey, Chris Paget and Jonny Madill. Myself, Ollie and Nii Anteson are the Associates, and we are all supported by our brilliant PAs Sarah Martin and Elle Butcher who keep everything running smoothly!
Who are your usual clients?
AH: We act for a real range of clients across a variety of sports, including football, cricket, rugby, basketball, tennis, athletics, golf, boxing and cycling. Across those sports we advise across the entire spectrum; from governing bodies at the top, through to leagues, clubs, brands, agencies and individual athletes.
OR: We are also fortunate enough to be the leading esports law firm in Europe and so we act for numerous stakeholders within that industry. Our clients range from tournament operators, esports teams, agencies, online streamers and professional esports athletes. This diverse client-base means we have experience in dealing with a broad range of issues relevant to esports and so can apply that knowledge to assist clients from all corners of the industry.
Who would be your dream client?
AH: Personally, as a Liverpool fan, I would have to say Jürgen Klopp. The man is already a club legend after what he’s achieved over the last 5 or 6 years, and let’s hope there’s many more years to come. His charismatic character also makes him a marketing machine and he’s one of only a handful of managers who can attract lucrative endorsement deals – he’s currently partnered with Adidas, Erdinger (beer), Opel (car) and Snickers to name a few.
OR: We’re very fortunate to act for some elite sportsmen and women who are at the top of the game in their sport and personally I’ve always been Team Federer so to work with him would be brilliant.
How can people connect with Sheridans Sport? What’s your website and socials?
AH: You can find us on our website, here, and we also run an active Twitter account where we circulate industry news, our recent BackPage Podcast episodes, and details of upcoming Sheridans Sport events.
Thank you to the team for talking to us about Tradable Bits – it was fantastic to learn more about the business!
Finally, thanks to you, the reader, for reading our latest SportsBiz Spotlight! If you would like to feature your sports based business or know of an organisation you would like to see feature, get in touch!
