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The sports lawyers who call the shots

Now is the era of the sports lawyer in football   Northridge have just 41 lawyers and a turnover of £16.5m. but they are increasingly movers and shakers. Founded in 2017, Northridge has grown into one of the largest dedicated sports practices in Europe. Its lawyers advise athletes, clubs, governing bodies, investors and sponsors across the commercial, regulatory and contentious sides of sport.

Some of the world’s richest investors, including the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, paid more than £2bn for a 38 per cent stake in Liverpool Football Club in August, amid speculation over the club’s future.

Northridge advised K5 Sports, a fund backed by Bezos, on its part in the acquisition by 1892 Holdings, a consortium led by the former Queens Park Rangers chairman Amit Bhatia which also includes the Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. The deal valued the club at £5.5bn.

It could ultimately pave the way for a change of control at Anfield, with the consortium given first refusal to acquire a majority stake if Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, sells further shares within 12 months.

Earlier this year, the US private equity firm Cordillera Investment Partners acquired a minority stake in the firm to fund its expansion, with Northridge forecasting that its £13.4m revenues in 2025 will more than double by 2030.

In Manchester United’s biggest sponsorship deal to date, Northridge acted for the online betting company Betway on its multi-year partnership with the club. The deal is reportedly worth an estimated £20m a season to Manchester United, making Betway the club’s principal partner and exclusive global betting partner.

The firm also advised the American businesswoman Michele Kang on her acquisition of a controlling stake in the group that owns the French football club Olympique Lyonnais. Kang paid about £22 m for an 88 per cent stake, as part of a wider restructuring that included up to £61m of new funding for the financially troubled club.

Northridge acted for the former Arsenal star Thierry Henry on his appointment as director of football for the Swiss sportswear brand On. The role will see the retired player advising on the strategic development of On Football, from product and athlete relationships to how it approaches the culture and future of the sport.

In regulatory work, the firm works with the Premier League on investigations into the poaching of young players by rival clubs, amid fierce competition for young talent. This includes looking at whether clubs have contacted players and their families and if money or other incentives have been offered. Previous breaches have resulted in fines and bans on clubs signing young players for their own academies.

 

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