Client industry · November 2026
Sports: who advises the sector
Dated deals for sports clients over the last 12 months, the practices and firms behind them, and how lawyers with this focus moved.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 347
- Dated deals, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +22.7%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- 199
- Distinct clients
What the data show
From November 2025 to October 2026, Sartori & Partners recorded 347 dated deals for Sports clients. Year on year, on windows that end a month early, the deal count grew 22.7% (278 to 341). The deal market as a whole moved +10.6% over the same windows.
By practice, Intellectual Property is involved in 33.1% of these deals and Corporate & M&A in 25.1%. By deal type, Disputes & investigations is involved in 51.3% of these deals and M&A in 19.3%.
Deal value was disclosed on 4.6% of them. 199 distinct clients appear across the window.
Akerman ranks first among advising firms, in the 21-40 band; the full top 10 follows as ranks and bands.
Lawyers whose work centers on Sports changed firm 71 times in the same window. Partners were 60.6% of those moves, against 27.7% across the lateral market. Year on year those moves changed +47.1%.
For a company in Sports, the adviser table shows where sector experience sits, which is where an in-house hire is most likely to come from.
Firms by rank and band
Each firm appears as a rank and a band, never an exact count, and only with at least 10 moves in the window.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akerman | 21-40 |
| 2 | King & Spalding | 11-20 |
| 3 | Merchant & Gould | 11-20 |
| 4 | Latham & Watkins | 11-20 |
| 5 | Katten Muchin Rosenman | 6-10 |
| 6 | Kirkland & Ellis | 6-10 |
| 7 | Barnes & Thornburg | 6-10 |
| 8 | Sidley Austin | 6-10 |
| 9 | ArentFox Schiff | 6-10 |
| 10 | Morgan, Lewis & Bockius | 6-10 |
Related monitors and reports
Deal types
Other industries
- Banks & Financial Institutions
- Financial Sponsors
- Technology & Software
- Pharma & Biotech
- Asset Management & Funds
- Real Estate
- Power & Renewables
- Consumer Goods & Retail
- Food, Beverage & Agriculture
- Healthcare Providers & Payors
- Oil & Gas
- Industrial Manufacturing
- Media & Entertainment
- Utilities, Water & Waste
- Government & Public Sector
- Automotive
- Insurance
- Electronics & Semiconductors
- Medical Devices
- Mining & Metals
- Individuals & Consumers
- Hospitality & Leisure
- Aerospace & Defence
- Infrastructure
- Construction & Engineering
- Professional Services
- Fintech & Payments
- Telecommunications
- Transportation & Logistics
- Chemicals
- Nonprofits & Charities
- Aviation
- Digital Assets & Crypto
- Education
Up one level
Working with us
Reports
- From 24 to 46 Sports Partner Moves: Clubs Bid Against Law Firms
Partner moves among lawyers with a sports focus rose 91.7%, to 46 from 24, while the market's partner moves rose 8.4%. With partners at 60.6% of sports movers, a club, league or sports company hiring in-house is bidding against law-firm offers.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Sports Legal Work Runs on Intellectual Property: Firms and Cities
Intellectual property lawyers appear on 33.1% of sports deals, 3.0 times their share across the deal market. For a sports organization, outside counsel is first a matter of protecting brands and rights, and one firm stands a band clear of the rest.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026
Edition November 2026. Window: November 2025 to October 2026. Source: Sartori & Partners, from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly. Methodology. Spot an error? [email protected].
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