Seyfarth Kicks Off Multidisciplinary Sports & Entertainment Group for a High-Stakes, Evolving Market

May 14, 2026 — Seyfarth Shaw LLP today announced the launch of its Sports & Entertainment group, formalizing a multidisciplinary team of attorneys who have long advised leading organizations and individuals across the sports, entertainment, and adjacent sectors.

The launch comes at a pivotal moment as the industry is being reshaped by the convergence of institutional investment, evolving regulatory frameworks, changing media and distribution models, and technology enabled innovation. As expectations across the market shift, market participants increasingly seek integrated, commercially focused legal counsel that can support both growth opportunities and business-critical risk.

“The launch of our Sports & Entertainment group reflects both the richness of the firm’s experience in the sector and a deliberate firmwide strategy to build growth platforms powered by innovation and focused on client impact,” said Lorie Almon, chair and managing partner of Seyfarth Shaw. “The converging forces reshaping this industry are creating high-stakes implications for organizations and individuals operating across sports and entertainment. We are meeting this moment with a coordinated, industry-aligned approach.”

Seyfarth’s Sports & Entertainment group leverages the firm’s sophisticated technology and forward‑thinking approach to deliver a 360‑degree view of the evolving marketplace. Drawing on decades of industry experience, the group supports clients across the full lifecycle of sports and entertainment enterprises, from investments and brand strategy to crisis management and internal investigations, as well as the ownership structures and operational challenges that increasingly require cross-disciplinary legal guidance.

“The sector is defined by kinetic energy—capital moving, rules changing, platforms emerging,” said Marc Mukasey, partner in Seyfarth’s Litigation department and co-chair of the firm’s Trial group. “Our team is built to operate at that velocity, helping stakeholders navigate complexity, manage risk, and act decisively in an industry that doesn’t stand still.”

The group is intentionally structured to support individuals, institutions, and enterprise‑level participants, including professional and college sports organizations, conferences, academic institutions, ownership groups, leagues, developers, media and technology platforms, celebrity brands, and investors engaging with the sector as a sophisticated global business ecosystem.

“What distinguishes this group is the breadth of our platform and the way we deliver it to the market,” said Ivan Smith, partner and leader within Seyfarth’s Sports & Entertainment group and partner in the firm’s Labor & Employment department. “We bring together sophisticated transactional capabilities with deep experience in workplace strategy, investigations, and high-stakes litigation—so clients can move forward with coordinated counsel that aligns with how these enterprises actually operate as businesses.”

The group also draws on Seyfarth’s nationally recognized work advising colleges and universities on the most consequential legal and business issues reshaping college athletics. As the sector continues to converge at the intersection of education, employment, equity, and enterprise, our attorneys, including members of our Evolution of College Sports Task Force, regularly advise on student athlete compensation and revenue sharing frameworks, name, image, and likeness (NIL) arrangements, employment classification risk, Title IX compliance and sports-related labor and employment considerations.

Seyfarth’s Sports & Entertainment group delivers experienced, commercially focused counsel at the pace the market demands, with an eye toward measurable impact for our clients.

More information about Seyfarth’s Sports & Entertainment group can be found here.

About Seyfarth Shaw LLP

With approximately 1,000 lawyers across 17 offices, Seyfarth Shaw LLP provides advisory, litigation, and transactional legal services to clients worldwide. The firm is recognized for its innovative approach to delivering legal services, combining deep industry knowledge with advanced technology and substantive excellence.

Seyfarth partners with clients to solve complex challenges across sectors including corporate, litigation, real estate, regulatory compliance, labor and employment, and executive compensation and other benefits work. Committed to collaboration and client-focused solutions, Seyfarth continues to set the standard for legal service delivery in an evolving global marketplace.