This article is an extract from Lexology In-Depth: Sports Law - Edition 11. Click here for the full guide.
In this episode of The Lexology Podcast, Maurice Suh, editor of Lexology In-Depth: Sports Law and Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn's Sports Law Group, takes a deep dive into the latest trends in the sports landscape. He discusses antitrust issues in the industry, the varying roles of sports governance bodies, and the impact of recent private equity investment trends.
Click here to listen to the audio or read the episode transcript below.
Welcome, everyone. My name is Maurice Suh, and I am the editor of Lexology In-Depth: Sports Law. I also serve as Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn's Sports Law Group.
Latest developments
It's been a fascinating year for sports overall. There have been many recent developments and global regulatory trends. We can begin with a sea change that has occurred in the United States, but it has ramifications across the globe. In recent antitrust litigation in June 2025, the district court in the Northern District of California here in the United States approved a settlement that functionally permits payments to be made to college athletes and changes the landscape in which college athletes can be paid and compensated for their name, image and likeness. This impacts global sport because it also constitutes a draw for athletes around the globe into the United States athletics system.
Other global trends include the increased number of antitrust or anti-competition examinations made of sport, the introduction of private equity into leagues, teams and even athletes, and the investment into the name, image, and likeness of athletes. In addition, there has been an incredible rise of global sports in a way that has changed the landscape over the past two to three years. Examples are the prominence of F1 and motor sports, live golf and professional golf, and the growth of the Association of Tennis Professionals and Women’s Tennis Association tournaments.
Antitrust issues in sports
With respect to concerns over barriers to access for new entrants in sport, there have been a number of changes in the past few years. Let's start with the basic understanding that all sports have limited resources: the first is the number of athletes who can participate in that sport; the second is how many tournaments, matches or championships can occur with any given year; the third is the amount of revenue or investment.
In order for a sport to be functional and to create drama and excitement and build towards a championship in a year, there has to be a structure to that sport. Fundamentally, the concerns about competition relate to the way in which sports have organised themselves to keep their primacy or their centrality within that sport. For example, if you have a certain number of athletes who are participating over the course of the year, there may very well be barriers preventing them from participating in other leagues, because they will of course need to spend their time and attention in the league that they are currently part of. This is an example of one of the biggest changes in competition law in sports: antitrust or competition cases are being brought globally, regarding the ability of athletes to participate in multiple leagues, championships or tournament rounds, that is, to have the freedom to participate outside of an established league without penalty for doing so. Another question is whether or not there will be a different or additional league stood up to compete with an existing league. Again, there may be rules or arrangements that prohibit additional leagues from rising up to challenge an existing league's primacy in a particular sport.
As more and more revenue goes into sports – and this has only been increasing over time – and as more persons participate in sport globally and the fan base grows, these issues become more and more pressing, because as that pie grows, more participants will want to participate in it. And whether or not an existing league or tour structure can prohibit additional leagues or tour structures from entering into its commercial space is a concern and a barrier for new entrants – and these barriers are high. If you want to start a new league or a new tournament series, there has to be substantial investment, both in infrastructure and sponsorship and prize winnings for athletes, and you must establish the appropriate amount of media rights and media exposure that will make it commercially viable. So there have been barriers that are created as a matter of practicality: the incredible investment you need to create, for example, a new football, basketball or tennis league, in combination with the rules and regulations to keep athletes within an existing league.
The roles of sports governance bodies
The roles of sports governance bodies are consistent with and have to keep an eye on the competition issues that we just discussed. As sport becomes more global and as tournaments and fan interests cross country and regional lines across the globe, one thing to determine is which governance body will be in control. So the roles of sports governance bodies vary depending upon whether or not you're within the Olympic movement. Olympic movement sports will be initially governed by the national governing body, but there is a well-defined international governing body, which of course closely coordinates with the International Olympic Committee in connection with the governance of that sport. Disputes in the Olympic movement flow through, depending upon the kind of dispute, a domestic arbitral body, but ultimately end up in front of the Court of Arbitration of Sport or other sports governing bodies. It largely depends on how the sport is organised.
Many sports governing bodies originated from a national basis. To the extent that these have expanded beyond their country's borders, they will be impacted by the arrangements and understandings that are entered into, primarily by contract, with organisations in other countries. A good example is the NFL. The NFL, of course, is a US governing body for American football, but to the extent that there is interest or deals to be made with American football games outside of the US, the NFL would and has taken the lead in that. Same with the NBA, a US body that deals with professional basketball in the United States, which has also expanded its view towards the promotion of basketball in other countries and has made deals in that respect. So I think a lot of the roles of sports governing bodies will continue to evolve as sport becomes more global and as more people become part of and become interested in sport, from both an investor standpoint as well as from a fan standpoint.
Private equity investments
All the trends that we've been talking about have been impacted by the increased investment of private equity in sport, and this is not limited to teams, it's not limited to tournaments – it goes to every corner of sport, including media rights, as well as the name, image and likeness rights of athletes. Originally, many sports were governed by and invested into on a national basis. In many countries, this is still true, which helps to explain the dominance of the Olympic movement in many sports and countries, because sport was organised around competition with other countries and certain sports were focused on that in the Olympics.
As time has gone on and as the audience increases, there has been a greater recognition that sport itself, which of course is entertainment, can be a very, very commercially viable and beneficial route for private equity. So private equity has invested in teams, purchased tournaments and thereby had naming rights, as well as sponsorship rights for facilities, tournaments and entire programmes within a sport. Private equity has also invested through collectives in individual athletes' name, image and likeness rights. So this has worked to transform the industry because as more money goes into sport, more visibility goes into sport, which also increases the scope of that sport. For example, private equity has assisted remarkably in the growth of e-sports, which is a broad, broad category. Particularly in the Pacific Rim, the growth of e-sports has been driven by investments into very large and commercial competitions that are focused, in the first instance, on developing an audience, and that is, in many ways, a very commercial endeavour.
The increased breadth of revenue coming into sports has also been consistent with the remarkable rise in the popularity of women's sports, such as women's basketball and the Women’s National Basketball Association, the EuroLeague Women and women's football. This increase in interest has led to renewed calls for equal pay across women's sports. I think the first place that that really began was in tennis, but you now see that call for equal pay in a number of professional sports leagues.
This episode was recorded on 20 October 2025.
