Addleshaw Booth & Co has today announced one of the largest and most innovative sports sponsorship agreements ever entered into by a commercial law firm.
The firm’s appointment two years ago as official lawyers to The XVII Commonwealth Games, the biggest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, has led to the firm being granted an official sponsorship agreement as an Official Partner to the Games.
The sponsorship was announced at a reception hosted by His Grace The Duke of Westminster on behalf of Manchester 2002 Ltd, the Games’ organising Committee.
Commenting on the sponsorship, Addleshaw Booth & Co Chairman Paul Lee said: ‘We are truly proud to be an Official Partner of the first Commonwealth Games of the 21st Century. Our sponsorship agreement is one of the most innovative entered into by a law firm and involves an enormous commitment of resource and expertise over the next two years to help ensure that the Games are a huge success.
‘The Games provide a world showcase not just for the city of Manchester, but for the country as a whole and we are delighted to be playing such an instrumental part in the whole proceedings.’
Addleshaw Booth & Co’s legal advice to the Games is led by Intellectual Property Partner Robert Stoker who heads the firm’s Sport and Entertainment Unit which has already brokered some of the largest and most complicated sponsorship deals in the history of the Games.
Under the terms of the firm’s appointment, Robert and his team will be responsible for advising on a wide range of strategic and commercial legal matters over the next two years, including broadcasting rights, sponsorship and merchandising contracts and arrangements for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Addleshaw Booth & Co has stepped up the size of its nationally recognised Sport & Entertainment Unit to meet the requirements of the Games. In the last two years Intellectual Property specialist James Whittaker has worked particularly closely with Games, negotiating over 32 contracts which included nine different agreements for the Manchester segment of the closing ceremony of the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur (transmitted live worldwide by satellite) so that it could be transmitted from Manchester’s Albert Square.
In only the last few months alone, Addleshaw Booth & Co has completed the television host broadcaster agreement for the Games which guarantees BBC Television the rights to transmit pictures in the UK and provide pictures and facilities to overseas broadcasters. The firm has also finalised four major sponsorship agreements with United Utilities, Guardian Media Group, Adecco (UK) Ltd, and with Atlantic Telecom Group who become the Games’ Official Communications Sponsor.
The quartet of sponsorship deals bring the total committed revenue to £18 million and puts the Games ahead of target with still two years to go until the opening ceremony on 25th July, 2002.
Chairman of Manchester 2002, Charles Allen, Group Chief Executive of the Granada Group plc commented: ‘Once again, Manchester 2002 has set a new benchmark in securing outstanding sponsorship deals associated with this magnificent multi-sport event. We are delighted that Addleshaw Booth & Co, which has proven such expertise over the past two years with involvement in ground breaking and innovative deals on behalf of the Games, has become an Official Partner.
‘Commercial income raised to date puts us on a sound financial footing and is ahead of our planned financial assumptions. I am confident that in the coming weeks we will be in a position to announce further prestigious sponsorships which come either in cash or in kind.’
MANCHESTER 2002 THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES
The Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games will be the biggest in Games history with 17 sports, 5250 athletes and officials and cumulative television audience of one billion
The total cost of staging the Games is £207.8 million
The commercial target is £62 million which will be raised through ticketing, sponsorship, fundraising, merchandising and broadcast rights. 30 per cent of this target is now secured.
There are 745 days to go to the Opening Ceremony of the Games on 25th July 2002. The Games close on 4th August 2002