Richard L. Brand
Partner, Business Department, Arent Fox, LLP, Adjunct Professor of Law
B.S.B.A., Georgetown; J.D., University of Pennsylvania
Richard L. Brand: B.S.B.A., Georgetown; J.D. cum laude, University of...
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Richard L. Brand:
B.S.B.A., Georgetown; J.D. cum laude, University of Pennsylvania. Professor Brand is a partner in the business department of Arent Fox LLP and the chair of the firm’s Sports Practice Group, focusing on sports law, real estate and corporate transactions, e-commerce, hospitality, and partnership and corporate law. He has represented a number of professional sports teams including the Washington Wizards, the New Jersey Nets, the Charlotte Bobcats, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Los, Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings, the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Miami Dolphins, the Washington Capitals, the Atlanta Hawks, the NY Jets, the DC United and the Washington Mystics, as well as other owners of sports and entertainment facilities. Professor Brand was recognized as al leading sports attorney by Chambers USA for 2011. He was also recognized as a leading real estate attorney by Legal 500 for 2011. Rich’s practice encompasses a variety of transactional areas, including:
- Representation of prospective purchasers and sellers of professional sports franchises and sports and entertainment facilities.
- Representation of professional sports franchises and owners of sports and entertainment facilities in connection with naming rights transactions, media rights agreements, sponsorship agreements, advertising agreements, promotional agreements, food and beverage agreements, suite and club seat licensing, and financing for professional sports teams and owners of sports and entertainment facilities.
- Player, coaches and executive contracts, license agreements, salary cap and collective bargaining interpretation, and related matters for professional sports teams.
- Representation of local and national owners, developers, and users in all aspects of real estate transactions, including hotel, office and industrial acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, development, construction, financing and management of commercial properties.
- Electronic commerce and Internet-related transactions.
- Joint ventures and related equity financings.
- Sales of existing businesses.
- Representation of lenders and borrowers in complex debt and equity transactions, consensual real estate workouts, restructurings and reorganizations.
Client Work
Examples of Rich’s transactional experience include:
- Representing the Los Angeles Lakers in connection with its new 20-year agreement with Time Warner Cable for rights to distribute all locally available pre-season, regular season, and post-season Lakers games on two regional sports networks.
- Representing Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment in its recent multi-year Agreement with AEG Facilities to provide operational support at Barclays Center, the Nets Basketball’s’ arena under construction in Brooklyn, New York.
- Representing the California Interscholastic Federation, one of the largest youth sports organizations in the nation, in its recently completed transaction with Time Warner Cable by which Time Warner Cable will become the official content distributor of CIF Regional and State Championship sports programming throughout the State of California.
- Representing the family of Abe Pollin in connection with the sale of all of its interests in the Washington Wizards, the Verizon Center and the Washington-Baltimore Ticketmaster franchise to Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
- Representing Lawrence Investments, Larry Ellison’s personal investment company, in its bid for the acquisition of the Golden State Warriors.
- Representing PPL EnergyPlus in the naming rights and sponsorship transaction pursuant to which PPL EnergyPlus became the primary sponsor of the new Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise Philadelphia Union and holder of the naming rights for the stadium located in Chester, Pennsylvania to be known as PPL Park.
