(Editor’s Note: The following appeared in Esports and the Law.)
At Saul Ewing, Tami Carmichael provides strategic legal advice to clients on advertising and branding initiatives, both when they launch and commercialize new ventures, as well as throughout the growth and development of their businesses and brands.
She has a deeply developed practice in media and entertainment, including representation of celebrities and creative content owners who are exploring strategic partnerships and seeking protection of their business interests and intellectual property.
Her work on publicity and branding initiatives for these clients includes negotiating talent, licensing, and merchandising opportunities. In doing this and other work, Carmichael is dedicated to understanding each individual and their needs in order to tailor and customize her advice, so that clients receive concierge-level client service.
To learn more, we sat down with Carmichael for the following interview.
Question: How did you get your start in sports law?
Answer: I started working in the sports and entertainment law field as a brand management attorney. We handle advertising, media, entertainment, and IP matters for sports industry clients, including leagues, athletes/talent, athletic wear manufacturers and licensees and merchandising companies, as well as with traditional consumer goods and services brands that engage sports figures as part of promotions, sponsorships, endorsements, joint ventures, licensing and other commercial arrangements.
Q: In what ways does your current practice intersect with sports law?
A: I assist businesses and individuals with various sports law contract and rights negotiations and enforcement matters. This includes advertising and IP clearance matters related to use of sports team and league indicia, trademark and related IP and publicity rights filings, use and enforcement strategies, MSAs for advertising and marketing initiatives by sports industry clients, establishing and oversight of merchandising programs and transactions, athlete branding strategies, appearances for athletes and influencers, negotiation of revenue sharing arrangements between talent, leagues and/or sports industry partnerships including sponsorships, endorsements, advertising, merchandising and licensing.
Q: What are some examples of your typical clients?
A: Typical clients include sports teams, sports venues/facilities, athletes, tech companies (with products directed at the sports industry), influencers, advertisers and mainstream brands in the sports industry, and/or who use sports content, advertising and marketing agencies creating and/or using sports indicia and content, production companies, content creators and gaming industry companies.
Q: What trends are you tracking over the next few years in the Esports space?
A: Because of my brand management related work within the space, during the last year we have seen and are tracking the dramatic increase of AI used to impersonate athletes and sports related branding indicia in digital and social assets (including the dark web). This has resulted in the need to shift and strengthen monitoring and enforcement strategies, both domestically and internationally. We also continue to see expanded use of sports talent and sports content in gaming, mobile, podcast, media and general advertising campaigns and transactions.
Q: What do you like most about being a lawyer in the sports and entertainment industry?
A: My legal practice is dynamic and fluid. Each day presents new questions and endeavors. As a lawyer, I am privileged to work with many unique clients, ranging from individuals and emerging companies to Fortune 50 businesses. Our sports and entertainment industry clients have creative minds and extraordinary business ingenuity. The legal issues are often cutting edge, and in my capacity as a lawyer, I am able to collaborate and strategize with legal and business teams to implement our client’s goals, to protect their hard work, and to problem solve if challenges arise. The nature of our sports and entertainment industry clients also enables us to work holistically to, on one hand, commercialize assets and handle interesting transactions, and on the other hand, to collaborate with our colleagues to protect client’s businesses and individual needs in peripheral matters.
