Sports, Arts and Entertainment

We represent and advise talent, organizations, presenters, and facilities across professional and collegiate sports, entertainment, and the fine arts. We have been at the center of some of Florida’s most significant events and projects since their inception, bringing together legal, business, and government affairs expertise to deliver results for our clients.

Talent

Many of our lawyers are athletes and artists themselves, and they bring that firsthand understanding when representing individuals with rare and exceptional abilities. Whether negotiating a multi-year endorsement contract, advising a student-athlete on evolving name, image, and likeness laws, or defending against allegations that could impact a career, we represent our talent clients with passion and relentless advocacy. We counsel athletes, artists, musicians, designers, writers, entertainers, chefs, creators, founders, influencers, and agents. Most recently, we negotiated endorsement contracts with Speedo, TYR, Omega, Coca-Cola, Comcast, NOBULL, Hershey’s, and Toyota, as well as sponsorship agreements with Beats and GrubHub, for clients including Olympic swimmers Caeleb Dressel and Bobby Finke. We have also consulted with eight first-round NFL draft picks and are featured on the NFL League Security Video shown to every player entering the league.

Our lawyers also negotiate, litigate, and advise on the full range of legal issues affecting artists’ rights, works of art, and the art market. Our clients include internationally recognized individual artists, museums, and major national institutions. Recent representations include recovering fees and protecting the intellectual rights of a celebrated artist and advising a world-renowned fashion designer on lease negotiations for a South Florida opening. Ultimately, our goal is to shoulder the burden of protecting our clients’ interests and maximizing their earnings so that athletes and artists can focus on what they do best.

Organizations & Events

We represent some of the most significant sports, entertainment, and arts organizations and presenters in the country, including Live Nation, FIU Athletics, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. We assisted Art Basel Miami Beach in organizing its first event outside of Switzerland in 2002 — a show that has since become the international standard in global art exhibitions — and we continue to represent Informa, the world’s largest trade show producer and owner of the Miami International Yacht Show and Art Miami. We have played key roles in the planning, promotion, and production of Super Bowls, NBA championships, Miss Universe, Formula 1 races, Art Basel Miami Beach, NASCAR, the Miami Caribbean Carnival, international tennis tournaments, and the Miami International Boat Show, among others.

Our group’s deep knowledge of professional sports franchise ownership structures, combined with our experience building public-private coalitions around sports-related projects, positions our attorneys to advise owners and investors in the purchase, sale, and structuring of sports teams and ownership interests. We understand that the public-private relationship is an essential element in the success of any major sports, arts, or entertainment venture, and we bring that expertise to every engagement, regardless of whether our client is a governmental, not-for-profit, or for-profit entity.

Venues and Facilities

From the earliest stages of financing and development through long-term operations, we have been involved in building and sustaining some of South Florida’s most iconic sports and cultural venues. That work spans every dimension of facilities law, from zoning and permitting, design and construction contracting, intellectual property, government relations, and labor and employment. It has given us an unusually comprehensive understanding of what it takes to bring a major facility from concept to reality. We were integrally involved in the financing and creation of the Homestead Motorsports Complex, the Homestead Baseball Stadium, the Perez Art Museum Miami, the Institute for Contemporary Art, the Florida Memorial University Lou Rawls Performing Arts Center, and major renovations at Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Basketball Arena, and Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. We continue to represent most of these venues today.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced venues across the country to close their doors, we were there to help our clients navigate the unprecedented financial challenges that followed. We assisted venues and performing arts organizations in accessing relief through the federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program, which provided emergency grants to eligible live venue operators, promoters, theatrical producers, museums, and performing arts organizations that suffered significant revenue losses during the pandemic. From evaluating eligibility and compiling the required documentation to guiding clients through the SBA application process, we helped ensure that our venues were positioned to secure the relief they needed to survive and ultimately reopen.

Community Involvement

Our lawyers are deeply embedded in the communities we serve. They have served on the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Greater Miami Sports Tourism Advisory Committee, the Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council, the Perez Art Museum Board, the Miami-Dade Art in Public Places Trust, and the Arts and Business Council, among others. Our nonprofit clients include the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Miami Children’s Museum, the Children’s Services Council of Broward County, the youngARTS Foundation, and Armour Dance Theater. These relationships keep us closely connected to what is happening, and what is about to happen, across the sports, arts, and entertainment landscape in South Florida and beyond.

Whether you are an athlete protecting your name, an organization staging a world-class event, or a developer bringing a new venue to life, WSHC+B brings the legal depth, industry relationships, and on-the-ground experience to get it done. If you are looking for a team that can navigate the full complexity of this world on your behalf, we are ready to put that experience to work for you.