Game plan: how Russell-Cooke would advise Ted Lasso characters on sports law matters

Ted Lasso, the star of the show, arrives to the UK from America ready and eager to start coaching his new team, AFC Richmond. However, this journey would have required considerable work behind the scenes and Russell Cooke’s full-service law firm would have been well equipped to advise Ted during this process.

Ted would have entered the UK through an International Sportsperson Visa (ISP) having received sponsorship from AFC Richmond. In the event that AFC Richmond did not hold a sponsor licence, then Russell-Cooke would have also been able to advise on applying for an ISP sponsor licence which would involve obtaining an endorsement for both the sponsor and also the coach or player. Russell-Cooke are seasoned in meeting the very high threshold required by governing bodies.

Rebecca Welton gains ownership of AFC Richmond as part of her divorce settlement with her unfaithful ex-husband, Rupert. Our family team is well regarded as having the breadth of knowledge required to deal with high net worth individuals such as Rebecca and Rupert and their financial proceedings would have been exactly the kind of complex matter that we excel in. Handling an asset such as AFC Richmond during a divorce would have been nothing new to our expert team. 

Following her divorce, Rebecca might have considered a referral to our private client team. No doubt Rebecca would be keen to ensure that her newly acquired assets would have no chance of reverting to Rupert under the terms of a previous will. Our team would have been on hand to provide succession advice, ensuring that her remaining shares in the team are passed on according to her wishes. 

Later in the show, Rebecca also considered selling part of AFC Richmond to a fan consortium. Our corporate and commercial team is well versed in dealing with mergers and acquisitions in the sporting sector and would have been able to offer advice to either Rebecca or the fan consortium on the specific aspects of the deal and the commercial sale documentation.  

Other areas for AFC Richmond to consider as their success grew both on and off the field would be brand protection, the day-to-day operation of the football club and potential future investment. Our corporate and commercial team has extensive knowledge in the field of intellectual property law and it would be wise for the name ‘AFC Richmond’ and its logo to become registered trademarks and therefore protected from use by third parties. Further, our team has prior experience in advising directors of EPL football clubs regarding their duties when running a football club and would be able to advise the board of AFC Richmond in this capacity. Finally, in the event AFC Richmond were ready to take their success to the next level, our corporate and commercial team would be ready to provide advice on raising investment and any necessary corporate restructuring.

Several elements of Jamie Tartt’s move to Manchester City, following the end of his loan to AFC Richmond, could have been handled by our specialist teams who are used to working together to facilitate a client’s needs. The corporate and commercial team would be well placed to undertake the contract negotiation and subsequent documentation for his time in both clubs and our regulation department would ensure that his transfer complies with the various league and Football Association (FA) regulations, particularly in light of the recent FIFA v Lassana Diarra case held before the European Court of Justice. 

Roy Kent is a seasoned professional and a fan favourite, especially during his time working as a pundit on Sky Sports in season 2. His colourful sporting commentary is shown in The Crown & Anchor in Richmond, the local drinking spot for many of our characters. We have extensive experience advising broadcasters, including Sky, as to intellectual property rights issues and areas of design copyright, trade mark and domain names. If the fictional pub in Richmond was seen to be showing Sky Sports without the required licence, then we would be able to assist in advising Sky of their options in ensuring their brand is protected. We advise a range of different types of clients in this area but this is a convenient real-life example of some of our work. 

In a memorable match against Manchester City, Roy received a red card for aggressive behaviour on the field. Yet again in season 3, in a fiery match against West Ham, three AFC Richmond players received red cards for aggressive challenges and faced further punishment in the form of potential bans from a number of matches. Our dispute resolution team has previous experience in representing sportspeople before disciplinary hearing committees and would have been able to act on these players’ behalf. 

The corporate and commercial department at Russell-Cooke specialises in negotiating commercial contracts and AFC Richmond’s sponsorship deal with Dubai Air is a good example of the work we undertake. A thorough due diligence process is paramount before any commercial deal takes place in order to uncover key potential risks for our client, such as Dubai Air’s harmful and unethical environmental practices in Nigeria. Had Russell-Cooke been at the helm of the deal, this conflict of interest may have been avoided. 

The significant backlash from the press and wider public to the sponsorship deal with Dubai Air would have required the assistance of experienced lawyers to deal with reputation management and media issues, such as those at Russell-Cooke. As part of this process, the players’ response by covering their logos and speaking out to the press would need to have been carefully managed so as not to exacerbate the problem. 

In the event AFC Richmond entered into a dispute with a third party, for example with Dubai Air regarding their sponsorship deal, we have an accomplished in-house dispute resolution team ready and able to assist. Russell-Cooke would have been happy to provide guidance at any stage of the interaction with Dubai Air and have the right expertise for any of these eventualities.