By Holt Hackney
Latham & Watkins has announced that Matthew Eisler and Russell Hedman, previously of Hogan Lovells, will join the firm, bringing one of the most robust deal sheets in the sports industry to the firm’s sports practice.
They will join the firm as partners in the M&A and Private Equity Practice, as well as the Entertainment, Sports & Media Practice. Working out of Denver, the duo will bring “extensive experience advising on headline-making acquisitions, investments, and complex transactions across the global sports industry and private capital sector,” according to the firm.
Eisler and Hedman “have successfully managed and executed a wide range of sophisticated transactions across leagues and geographies, including many of the highest-profile deals over the last decade in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NWSL, and other leagues worldwide. As private equity practitioners, they will not only be powerful additions to the firm’s Entertainment, Sports & Media Practice but will also bolster Latham’s market-leading private equity platform.”
Collectively, Eisler and Hedman focus their practice “on complex M&A and investment transactions in the sports and private capital sectors, including the purchase and sale of sports teams and stakes therein, the creation of consortiums and joint ventures across various leagues and sports, and expansion franchise transactions. They advise ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices, private capital funds, and sports teams across the spectrum of transactional and regulatory matters, including compliance with league rules.”
Eisler Talks About the Move
Question: It was notable that Frank Saviano left Latham in September to join Kirkland & Ellis. The timing of this news seems apropos, no?
Answer: “With Frank Saviano, Latham had a very functional entertainment, sports and media practice based out of LA. He had become sort of the tip of the spear on the sports side (at the firm) to service their existing private equity clients. So, when Frank left, rather than taking it as a moment to just replace Frank, they said, ‘We need to really create something robust here and bring in market leading talent and a team to replace Frank. We don’t just want to just fill that hole. We understand how important this will be in the future.’
“From start to finish, the move took less than two months, which is incredibly fast for a firm like Latham.”
Q: Was Hogan limited in the evolving sports market?
“Hogan is a great global regulatory firm, but it doesn’t have enough of the financial services platform — private equity, leveraged finance, hybrid capital — that the modern sports market now requires. We struggled to access private equity investment work tied to sports and higher education because we didn’t have the private equity platform.
“We had been getting the biggest deals in the market, but if you miss one of those deals, there isn’t enough underlying deal flow without the right financial infrastructure.”
Q: Share with us your thoughts on sports properties as institutional financial assets?
“Sports investments are no longer vanity acquisitions. They’re institutional financial instruments. When teams were trading for a billion dollars, the financing structures were relatively simple. At $10 to $15 billion valuations, financing these assets becomes an institutional opportunity.”
“What used to be the tip of the iceberg — the buy-sell transaction — has exploded into consortium building, private equity investment, and complex hybrid capital structures.”
Q: What is the competitive advantage of a firm having real sports law expertise?
“There’s an intricate set of league rules that makes these transactions unapproachable for firms without real sports law expertise.
“That combination of financial sophistication and sports-specific knowledge creates a meaningful barrier to entry (for your practice group).”
Q: Were you initially skeptical about the culture fit?
“I was. I had been at Hogan for more than 15 years. After my first interview, I told Mark Jaffe that he made the decision difficult because I expected not to like Latham. But everyone was incredible. It turned into a love affair very quickly.”
Q: Can you comment on the anticipated reach of this merger, of sorts?
“Now we’re able to pitch and serve firms like Arctos, CVC, Carlyle, HPS, and Goldman Sachs — clients that we simply couldn’t fully support before.
“We’re no longer just sitting at the top of the iceberg—we now have access to the entire transaction.”
Q: Can you comment on the strategic meaning of the move?
“We saw the market moving upstream. We knew we were swimming against the current, and we needed to get on the right ship. Latham is the best ship out there.”
Q: What is the plan in terms of bringing over team members, or associates, to the firm?
“For the most part, we’re keeping teams together where associates already have deep institutional knowledge and strong client relationships. Some associates will come over, some won’t. Latham is handling that process, but we expect to make preliminary offers soon.
“However, anyone who joins us will be fully integrated into Latham—they’re not just going to be ‘our team.’”
Next up for Hogan
The Hogan Lovells sports law practice will continue on under the able leadership of veteran sports lawyer Craig Umbaugh.
Kate Orr, spokesperson for the firm told us: “We are definitely going to really miss Matt and Russell, but everyone is optimistic about the future. Our sports practice has about 20 partners, so will definitely keep going.”
What Latham is Saying
“Matt and Russell are extremely talented lawyers whose impressive track record speaks to their market reputation. We’re delighted to have them join our team,” said Marc Jaffe, Managing Partner of Latham’s New York office. “They have been leaders in the sports sector for some time now, and their incredibly deep connections, combined with their wide-ranging experience and competitive drive, deliver exceptional results for clients. They will bring all of this and more to our team, and it’s exciting to think about the synergies between their practice and ours, as well as the opportunities to build and solidify our position at the center of the global sports industry.”
“Our sports practice has been one of the firm’s fastest-growing areas for several years, with significant opportunities to expand further. Matt and Russell are key to our strategic growth plans in New York, across the US, and globally,” said Adam Sullins, Global Co-Chair of Latham’s Entertainment, Sports & Media Practice. “We are excited to have them on our team. They share our ambition to be the leading firm in sports, and their addition to our platform will help us unlock tremendous opportunities.”
Paul Kukish, Global Co-Chair of Latham’s M&A and Private Equity Practice, added, “Matt and Russell’s depth of knowledge and prominence in the sports industry will significantly enhance our capabilities and further bolster our reputation in the industry. They are standout partners with experience few can match, and they will be outstanding additions to our team at a time when we expect this asset class to continue attracting significant private capital and institutional investment.”
Eisler received his JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and BA from Rutgers. Hedman received his JD from Harvard Law School and BA from the University of Colorado.
