Peter Crowther Delivers Seminar “Athletes and Their Rights to Compete and Commercialize”

Winston & Strawn alongside Sport Resolutions hosted its 4th seminar of 2019 on Tuesday, October 29 in London. 

Peter Crowther, Managing Partner of Winston’s London office delivered the seminar and focused on the changing global landscape for athletes and their right to compete and maximize their commercial rights. In particular, the session looked at important developments such as the recent US women’s soccer case, the US NCAA class action case, changes to IOC Rule 40, and decisions such as the European Commission decision in the recent International Skating Union (ISU) case.

The seminar was interactive and had ample opportunity throughout to ask questions and for discussion. The sessions covered:

Session 1:

• Consideration of an athlete’s IP and commercial rights and how they can comfortably sit with amateur athletics, the commercial and sponsorship interests of NGBs, international federations and major competitions.
• A review of the change to the IOC’s Rule 40 and other recent cases - the reasons for them and what they tell us.
• What does the future look like for these competing interests?

Session 2:

• A review of the ISU case and how it might affect how international federations regulate and determine eligibility to compete.
• The threat of competitors, break-away leagues or non-affiliated competitions.
• The global applicability of the concepts set out by the European Commission particularly given the global nature of sport.