Harbottle & Lewis negotiates sponsorship of both top UK football leagues

Harbottle & Lewis’ Sports Group has recently advised npower on its three-year deal to become the new sponsor of the Football League. The deal, reported as being worth circa £21 million, will see the utility provider replace Coca-Cola at the end of this season. The League's three divisions will be known as the npower Championship, npower League 1 and npower League 2.

In October 2009, the firm was instructed by Barclays Bank plc and successfully negotiated and completed the renewal of its £82.25 million title sponsorship of the Premier League.

Harbottle & Lewis’ Sports Group is fast becoming the one to go to for football sponsors. In September 2009, they acted for Standard Chartered Bank in its negotiations to take over shirt sponsorship of Liverpool FC, billed as being the second biggest shirt and main sponsorship deal since the premier league was founded in 1992. The team also recently advised PriceWaterhouseCoopers on its sponsorship of the England bid to host the FIFA 2018 World Cup and has represented Vodafone, Samsung and Emirates in relation to their sponsorship of football properties.

Bob Mitchell, Head of the Sports Group, said “Due to increasing client demand we have developed a niche in representing financial institutions and other well-known brands in relation to their sponsorship of football properties. Our strength lies in the fact that we understand the industry from both a legal and a commercial perspective and can therefore negotiate practical deals. We are also passionate about our work. As a result we have been involved in some of the most significant UK football sponsorship deals of recent times and are also proud to represent many leading sports rights owners, teams and individual sports personalities.”

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14/04/10

For further information contact Evette Elliott, Head of Marketing, on +44 (0)20 7667 5000.

Notes for Editors

Harbottle & Lewis’ LLP: The Sports Group

The Sports Group at Harbottle & Lewis consists of six specialist lawyers who act for sports rights owners, sponsors, teams and individual sports personalities. They offer an all-round legal service and have proven expertise in sponsorship, endorsement, merchandising, licensing, broadcasting, new media, and venue and promoter issues.

Recent non-football related sponsorship has included Johnnie Walker’s sponsorship of McLaren and the extension of Philip Morris’ Marlboro branded sponsorship of Ferrari, as well as advising on a number of 2012 Olympic sponsorship arrangements. The team also advised Powerboat P1 Management Limited on its appointment of Captimax as exclusive sponsorship sales agent and Admirantys as local organiser for the 2009 Scandinavian Grand Prix of the Sea.