Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, longtime counsel to many of the world’s most recognizable leagues and sports industry investors, including the National Football League and FIFA, announced today that it has formalized its Sports Practice to bring industry clients full-service transactional and litigation counsel for their most critical legal matters. The announcement comes as Paul, Weiss has been named the Official Law Firm of the New York New Jersey World Cup 2026 Host Committee.
“Paul, Weiss is proud to have long served as a trusted advisor to many key stakeholders in the sports industry, including the NFL and FIFA, and we are proud to partner with the NYNJ Host Committee as their official law firm,” said Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad S. Karp. “With the sports investment and regulatory landscape evolving rapidly, we see extraordinary opportunities for our clients. Formalizing our dedicated, multidisciplinary sports practice positions us to help clients seize these opportunities and navigate the rapidly changing and increasingly complex sports industry landscape.”
Paul, Weiss has long represented leading sports industry clients on their most significant deals, litigation and investigative matters. The newly formalized Sports Practice brings together sports-focused lawyers across legal disciplines, including Brad S. Karp, Chair of the Firm, Marco V. Masotti, global co-head of the Investment Funds Group, Christopher Boehning, chair of the International Arbitration Practice, and Matthew Abbott, global co-chair of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group, to advise a wide range of sports industry clients, from major U.S. and international sports leagues, governing bodies and teams, to sports-focused private equity investors, media and brand businesses, and other sports-related enterprises.
“Our private equity and investment funds clients are capitalizing on excellent opportunities in the industry as team valuations rise and more leagues welcome investment,” Masotti said. “Our deep expertise working with large private equity firms, individual owners, sports leagues and other key players in the marketplace gives us a comprehensive understanding of the sector’s unique dynamics and enables us to effectively execute deals across the industry.”
“The business of sport has evolved such that access to advice and counseling on litigations, arbitrations, investigations and other disputes is essential for our clients,” Boehning said.
The Paul, Weiss Sports Practice’s transactional lawyers advise across the spectrum of sports deals, including team acquisitions, investments, ownership transfers and stadium rights transactions, and handle intellectual property-related issues. The practice’s litigators counsel sports industry clients on critical antitrust, contract and licensing disputes, and help them navigate government probes and private litigation, as well as internal and government investigations.
“We are thrilled to bring on Paul, Weiss as our Official Law Firm. Their deep experience supporting the sports industry on high-profile deals and legal matters will be instrumental as we prepare for the 2026 World Cup,” said NYNJ Host Committee CEO Alex Lasry. “We could not think of a better partner than Paul, Weiss as we plan to host the largest sporting event in history.”
In addition to being known for its longtime partnership with the National Football League, the firm has worked on many notable recent deals, including advising World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in its agreement with Endeavor Group to form TKO Group; Apollo on the launch of its Apollo Sports Capital investment business; Clearlake Capital Group in its acquisition of Chelsea Football Club; Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment vehicle, Trawlers Limited, in its acquisition of 25% of Manchester United Football Club; venture capital firm 776 and Alexis Ohanian in their sale of a controlling stake in Angel City Football Club to Willow Bay and Bob Iger; and 776 in the formation of the Los Angeles Golf Club for the TGL golf league, among many others. Notable litigation representations include advising the National Football League as regular outside counsel on a broad variety of significant, high-profile matters, including its landmark concussion settlement with 20,000 former players and a variety of internal investigations; serving as outside counsel to FIFA for a broad range of litigation, arbitration, corporate and regulatory matters in the U.S.; and advising Northwestern University in an independent review of its processes to detect, report and respond to potential misconduct in its athletic programs, among many others.
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