With the September 2022 arrivals of John Cloke and of counsel Oliver Kichenside from DLA Piper UK LLP, CMS‘ sports team has strengthened its position among elite sporting competition rights holders and broadcasters, developing its working relationship with clients like Premier League and Formula E. David Zeffman - who heads the gambling and sports team - is a key contact for the ECB on the sale of media rights. Tom Scourfield deals with IP protection and anti-piracy issues for EUFA. Glasgow-based Neeraj Thomas is recommended for his regulatory expertise, while John Enser works with major sports broadcasting networks on restructuring distribution agreements and joint ventures with other global media providers. He also supports - among other governing bodies - the International Cricket Council (ICC), working with them on media rights tenders. All named lawyers are based in London unless stated otherwise.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'CMS has the strongest in-depth sports/media rights team in the UK. The lawyers are experts in the field and respond with insight and great technical knowledge. They are also a pleasure to deal with.'
- 'Tom Scourfield is the client partner and is attentive, knowledgeable and just gets it right in terms of what we need.'
Key clients
- British Olympic Association
- BT Sport
Work highlights
- Advising Union Des Associations Européennes De Football (UEFA) on its anti-piracy work, including an ongoing role in obtaining and maintaining ‘live’ blocking injunctions to prevent Internet users from accessing particular targeted servers which are streaming illegal transmissions of UEFA games.
- Advising the English Premier League on the formulation and execution of its domestic and international audio-visual and audio rights strategy.