Bob Mitchell specialises in all aspects of sports law. In 2011 he was named as the most influential lawyer in the sports industry by Sports Business International magazine. He has particular experience in negotiating and providing advice on the terms of commercial sports agreements, including sponsorship, participation, staging, promoter and venue agreements, and advising on sports regulatory and disciplinary issues.
He advises all types of sports-related clients on a comprehensive range of legal issues. His experience also includes advising a number of leading sportsmen on the exploitation and protection of their image rights as well as acting for both significant sports rights owners and large multi-national corporate sponsors of events and teams. Bob also regularly provides advice to a number of national and international player associations.
Bob is a member of the British Association of Sports Law and the European Sponsorship Association.
- The exploitation of all sports-related rights
- Sponsorship, licensing, endorsement and merchandising
- Event staging arrangements including participation, promoter, event management and venue agreements
- Broadcasting and the exploitation of sports rights across media channels
- The structuring, exploitation and protection of sportsmen’s image rights
- Sports disputes
- Regulatory and disciplinary matters
- Representation agreements
Bob has advised on some of the most high profile and significant sports sponsorship deals in recent years including Barclays’ 2009 and 2012 renewals of its sponsorship of the Premier League; Standard Chartered Bank’s shirt sponsorship of Liverpool FC; npower’s sponsorship of the three divisions of the Football League and a number of sponsorship deals in relation to the London 2012 Olympic Games. Other sport’s sponsorship deals which Bob has advised on include:
- Vodafone’s sponsorship of McLaren, Manchester United, the UEFA Champions League and the England cricket team
- O2’s sponsorship of the RFU and the England rugby team
- Philip Morris’ Marlboro branded sponsorship of Ferrari, the Peugeot and Mitsubishi rally teams and the Ducati MotoGP team
- Guinness’ sponsorship of English rugby’s Premiership, the British Lions and the African Nations Cup football tournament
Bob has advised a number of sports persons on the structuring, protection and exploitation of image rights including Tom Daley and Sir Matthew Pinsent.
For the past 20 years Bob has advised the PGA European Tour on its sports related legal issues including sponsorship, promoter, venue, intellectual property and regulatory matters and together with the firm’s Senior Partner, Gerrard Tyrrell, was instrumental in the creation of the Team England Player Partnership for England’s cricketers and has acted for the team for the last 12 years.
He also regularly advises player bodies such as the Professional Cricketers’ Association, the League Managers’ Association and the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations.
Bob recently advised the World Taekwondo No.1 Aaron Cook on his successful appeal before Sports Resolution against the initial decision of GB Taekwando not to select him for London 2012 and also on his proposed action against the British Olympic Association and advising him in relation to his media statements during the process.
