Antitrust Challenges in Organized Sports: How They Play Out in the EU, UK and US

Fierce Competition

In the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union, sports leagues — from soccer to golf to ice skating — are testing the boundaries of antitrust and competition laws.

Skadden attorneys Bill Batchelor (partner, Brussels and London), Karen Lent (partner, New York) and Vikram Pandit (associate, Brussels) consider the intersection of sports and competition law on both sides of the Atlantic. Courts in all these jurisdictions are grappling with high-stakes questions concerning conspiracy, commercialism and college athletes. The cases that Bill, Karen and Vikram highlight involve a “super” soccer league in Europe, the NCAA’s amateurism model, salary caps for soccer in England and more. Tune in to hear their insights on how future rulings could change the game.

💡 Meet Your Host 💡

Name: Vikram Pandit

Title: Associate, Antitrust/Competition at Skadden

Specialty: Vikram is an associate in Skadden’s global Antitrust/Competition Group based in Brussels.

Connect: LinkedIn

💡 Featured Guests 💡

Name: Bill Batchelor

What he does: Bill Batchelor has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements. He regularly represents clients on EU and global merger control matters and litigation, and provides counsel on distribution and collaboration agreements in complex and highly regulated industries, such as health care, financial services, insurance, media and entertainment, and gambling, among others.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: “It's interesting to see that some of these cases going all the way to the highest court in Europe are from individual players. So, it's not big litigation between huge organizations. An individual player can go to their local labor tribunal and that tribunal can refer a question of law directly up to the ECJ, and that can be the source of a new ruling on competition law that can affect a block of 450 million people.”

Connect: LinkedIn

Name: Karen Lent

What she does: Karen Lent is co-head of Skadden’s sports practice and head of the New York office’s antitrust/competition practice, representing a wide variety of clients in antitrust, sports and other complex litigation matters at both the trial and appellate court levels. She also provides general antitrust counseling.

Organization: Skadden

Words of wisdom: “Certainly the kinds of rules — how many players do you have on the field, how many referees, those sorts of things — are the rules of the game, and if someone tries to challenge those from an antitrust perspective, they'd quickly be dismissed ... But if there are rules about how leagues deal with suppliers or customers, those would then be subject to the rule of reason. They would not be exempt from the antitrust laws.”

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Fierce Competition is a podcast by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and Affiliates. This podcast is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This podcast is considered advertising under applicable state laws.