Practices: Sports & Entertainment

The Ungaretti & Harris LLP Sports and Entertainment Group offers a broad range of legal services to clients working in professional and amateur sports as well as in the music, film, television and the commercial production industries. From securing and documenting chains of title to drafting and negotiating production services and distribution agreements, our attorneys are involved in every step of the process. We also serve as professional agents for athletes and entertainers in the negotiation of the complex athletic and personal services contracts which shape today’s sports and media careers, and we assist our clients in identifying, analyzing and documenting related business ventures to maximize their income potential.

Professional Sports

U&H attorneys represent professional athletes and entertainers in contract negotiations and related matters in a number of professional sports. Athletes need competent counsel in this complex and fast-moving world, and U&H provides quality professional advice and advocacy to craft an overall strategy for our clients’ athletic and media careers. We are also able to deliver quality service for our clients’ related business ventures, including tax advice, negotiation of endorsement and merchandising agreements, business franchising, and other matters related to maximizing client income. Our roster of professional sports and broadcasting clients covers a broad range of sports, and we are committed to providing the excellent, responsive service our clients have come to expect.

Amateur Sports

U&H attorneys have unique experience in the world of amateur sports. We have successfully represented NCAA member institutions in matters pending before the NCAA Committee on Infractions, including eligibility disputes, recruiting and extra-benefit allegations, and compliance related matters. U&H is also one of the few firms in the country active in the representation of Olympic athletes in selection disputes with the US Olympic Committee and its sports national governing bodies under the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act. This unique work includes litigation, compliance counseling, and arbitration before the American Arbitration Association, the US Anti-Doping Agency, and the International Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Film

U&H represents producers, lenders and private equity investors in connection with the financing of independent feature films in the narrative long-form and documentary formats. We also provide production legal services for film projects, as well as representation of above-the-line talent and distributors.

Television

Television projects require an understanding of the legal landscape that exists among production companies, talent and distribution, and the U&H Sports and Entertainment Group works in all of these spaces. With more and more television content moving to web-based distribution, U&H clients also appreciate our working knowledge of this developing trend, and have relied on us to help them adapt.

Music

The U&H Sports and Entertainment Group handles matters for artists, record labels, producers, managers and live-performance venues working in the recording industry throughout the Midwest. While the industry continues to evolve in the digital age, we assist our clients in leading the transformation of the various sectors of the music business, and provide the legal tools they need to stay competitive and innovative.

Tax Incentive Financing

As jurisdictions throughout the United States and world adopt tax incentives to attract production work, the U&H Sports & Entertainment Group is uniquely positioned to assist clients in maximizing the value of such incentives. We represent commercial lenders and other financial services providers in developing programs to monetize tax credits and rebates, and also assist producers in structuring their finances to best utilize government incentives to enable them to make their production dollars go further, faster. Through our Grand Rapids, Michigan office, Ungaretti & Harris works with clients that are shooting in Michigan as a result of the recent passage of the nation’s most aggressive production tax incentive program, and is a leader in helping develop the financial services infrastructure required to create a sustainable production industry in the state.