Concrete advice for established and emerging brands

Our internationally recognized Advertising team helps established and emerging brands and media companies construct and run high-profile advertising, marketing and promotional initiatives worldwide. Our clients include consumer brands, film studios, professional sports teams, broadcast and cable television networks, over-the-top content distribution platforms, retailers and agencies.  

Our team is particularly well known for helping leading brands and major media companies structure and negotiate high-profile sports, entertainment and digital marketing deals globally, along with innovative branded entertainment and esports initiatives, and ESG campaigns.  

Providing end-to-end support, we’ll help you navigate the rapidly changing areas of law that affect how your advertising, marketing and promotional campaigns are activated across all media. From strategic planning and negotiations to execution, we can advise you at every stage. 

Clients value our ability to navigate novel legal issues and craft particular and practical risk mitigation strategies that allow them to achieve their business goals. As a result, our lawyers are highly ranked in many legal benchmarking publications, including The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.  

“DLA Piper helps clients look around corners and spot issues, and they stay ahead of the curve on emerging technologies and legal developments. They are a go-to firm in the sports industry.”

Client, Legal 500 US 2022

Our global presence further sets us apart. We’re one of the only firms that can advise you seamlessly on cross-border campaigns and other initiatives. We provide market-leading commercial and legal advice on all aspects of advertising, marketing and promotions, including: 

  • branded entertainment 
  • stadium and venue naming rights agreements
  • league, team and event sponsorship agreements 
  • endorsement agreements with celebrities, athletes and influencers
  • creative agency and media agency agreements
  • contests, sweepstakes and esports tournaments
  • intellectual property and consumer protection issues arising out of the so-called metaverse, NFTs, and other new media
  • loyalty programs
  • charitable and cause marketing initiatives
  • joint promotion alliances and co-promotional campaigns
  • pre-publication ad review
  • privacy 

We also represent clients in disputes with competitors and investigations before advertising regulators. 

Whatever your campaign goals, we have the depth of experience, legal insight and global reach to ensure you succeed.  

Awards and recognition

Experience

  • Representing a major streaming video service in structuring and negotiating the acquisition of exclusive broadcast/telecast rights in a package of pre-season, regular season and post-season professional football games being offered by the National Football League (NFL) 
  • Providing counsel to a leading premium streaming service on consumer marketing initiatives and its international expansion 
  • Representing several leading Major League Soccer clubs in structuring and negotiating their stadium naming rights agreements, jersey sponsorship agreements and other club sponsorship agreements 
  • Structuring and negotiating multi-year team and league-level sponsorship agreements with individual professional sports teams, colleges and universities, sports leagues and other national and international governing bodies across all major sports leagues for brands, including brands in highly regulated industries  
  • Representing a leading technology company in structuring and negotiating its Stadium Naming Rights and Sponsorship Agreement to name a new, state-of-the art, multi-hundred million dollar sports complex in one of the largest college stadium naming rights deals in history 
  • Representing a global entertainment company in initiatives with third party intellectual property owners to mint and distribute NFTs and distribute content on blockchain based distribution platforms 
  • Representing a well-known food and beverage industry brand on two regulatory investigations by the UK’s ASA and one by France’s JDP relating to the client’s high profile environmental claims, including successfully persuading the ASA to reverse its initial proposal to find a breach of the UK CAP Code 
  • Representing one of the world’s highest profile sports event organizers on marketing issues relating to its main events, including providing multi-jurisdictional advertising, gambling and data privacy law compliance advice on a series of in-app promotional games 
  • Representing several leading brands in structuring and negotiating high profile celebrity endorsement and brand ambassador agreements, including deals with Vin Diesel, Ryan Reynolds, Derek Jeter, Mariah Carey, Dolly Parton, Mindy Kaling, Jeff Bridges, Jeff Goldblum, Regina King, Chris Evans, Chip and Joanna Gaines, Jeremy Renner, Bruce Springsteen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, and countless others  
  • Representing several leading brands and their agencies in structuring and negotiating high profile agreements with elite professional athletes, including Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Charles Barkley, Serena Williams, Deion Sanders, JJ Watt, Megan Rapinoe, Tony Hawk, and several others 
  • Advising clients on structuring and activating campaigns with college athletes, including negotiating services agreements with student athletes and their representatives, and complying with NCAA and university policies and applicable state law 
  • Advising a leading restaurant company on structuring and launching the first restaurant in the metaverse and related promotional initiatives 
  • Structuring and activating a Coachella sponsorship extension in the metaverse for a leading Vodka brand, including advice related to alcohol beverage advertising issues 
  • Representing various clients, including a leading restaurant company, an international fashion retailer and an outdoor equipment retailer, in structuring their consumer loyalty programs and various promotional activations aimed at boosting membership and engagement 
  • Representing various broadcast and cable television networks and digital media platforms in network standards and practices governing third party advertising appearing on their channels 
  • Structuring and activating high profile online and in-person esports tournaments in a manner designed to comply with anti-lottery and anti-gambling laws in the US and other jurisdictions 
  • Structuring and activating sweepstakes, contests and instant win games in the US and other jurisdictions in a manner designed to comply with applicable law  
  • Representing a leading outdoor retail company in structuring and negotiating branded entertainment initiatives, including investment agreements, development agreements, and co-promotional agreements for a variety of entertainment projects 
  • Representing the world’s largest social gaming platform on structuring and activating charitable fundraising and cause marketing initiatives 

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