Sidley Austin, a law firm with offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific, is heavily involved in sports law. Sister site Sportico to learn Charles “Chuck” Baker and Irwin Raig, recent co-chairs of the sports industry group O’Melveny & Myers, join Sidley as co-chairs of the entertainment, sports and media industry group. This move will bring expertise in property transactions, stadium construction, media rights and international dealmaking.
Baker negotiates on behalf of buyers and sellers for professional teams. He advised David Tepper on the billionaire’s purchase of the Carolina Panthers and advised Arctos Sports Partners when the group acquired ownership stakes in the NBA and NHL teams. Baker also represents Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Buhlean investor in Los Angeles Lakers Who has the Agree to buy Chelsea FC, and negotiated on behalf of Kevin Durant when the Brooklyn Nets star joined the Philadelphia Union property. Meanwhile, Genius Sports has turned to Baker to split multi-year data partnerships with the NFL and CFL.
Rage, for his part, similarly represented Tepper and led the legal team for the Guggenheim Department of Baseball (which included Magic Johnson) in her purchase of the Dodgers. The Rangers Baseball Express hired Raij to negotiate its acquisition of the Texas Rangers. He was hired by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl to sell the NBA franchise to Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens. Reg who authored A the classroom On the general development of professional sports stadiums in The Oxford Handbook of American Sports LawHe has also worked extensively on stadium, arena and media rights deals. He has been involved in efforts to bring the MLB franchise to Oregon and build a new football stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The two lawyers see Sidley’s global presence, with more than 2,000 lawyers worldwide and more than 200 in Europe, as crucial to their sporting practices.
“With Americans investing in sports teams abroad and building stadiums there, and with Europeans investing in American teams and facilities, the value of a law firm with global reach is invaluable.” Baker said in a Zoom interview. He also emphasized “the opportunity to work with Sidley’s distinguished private equity group” and the opportunity to “build a practice that will benefit from this deep seat.”
“Sidley’s broad footprint in the United States and our international presence makes us well positioned to thrive as the sports market continues to thrive,” Raig emphasized. He said Sidley would allow the husband to “have recourse to our colleagues in foreign offices” rather than needing to hire a local lawyer in other law firms.
As Baker and Rage talk about a thriving sports industry, they realize there are worrying signs for the economy and a recession is likely looming. They remain confident in the resilience of the sports industry.
“Sports teams are unique assets, at least in part because their value is scarce,” Becker said, “in general, with limited expansion exceptions, they no longer make more. Media and radio deals are often long-term and guarantee significant revenue. Depending on the league’s CBA, Player costs may rise as revenue increases, but this formula is consistent and often set too. This is attractive to many investors and should remain so regardless of stock market conditions.”
Ray believes that “there will still be a flow of deals during the recession. Owning a sports team is a unique opportunity that many high net worth individuals will continue to look for.” At the same time, he acknowledged that there will be challenges at the ownership level. “We saw some stressful situations during the 2008 recession that led to some team sales and a weakening of revenue streams, such as sponsorships.” However, these problems “created opportunities for others”. He sees the same happen this time.
While they are both licensed to practice law in the United States, Baker and Rage believe that their legal and business skills add value in transactions that occur elsewhere.
“Having done a number of deals in Europe, and several team acquisitions and pitch transactions overseas, I know our deep knowledge of the industry translates easily abroad,” Becker said. Rage espouses a similar philosophy, noting that the combination of “industrial expertise”, “problem discovery” and “problem solving” is valuable in any sports business deal. Both confirm that Sidley’s international footprint is well suited to capitalizing on those traits.
Yvette Ostolazza, chair of Sidley’s management committee, says the company is “excited to bring Irwin and Chuck with their complementary and destination practices into the world of sports and media.”
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