New Group Taps Sports Law Bench Strength To Help Team Owners, Potential Investors Evaluate Sports-Related Ventures, Maximize Growth
Opportunities; Former Red Sox CEO John Harrington Joins as a Principal
BOSTON (November 12, 2006) – LAWFUEL – Law News Network – Bingham McCutchen LLP announces the launch of Bingham Sports Consulting LLC, a new venture that will assist professional sports teams to address investment, management, business and legal challenges unique to their industry.
Bingham Sports Consulting provides a unique supplement to Bingham’s vast experience in the sports industry, which ranges from the decades-long representation of the Boston Red Sox, including the record-setting $700 million sale of the team in 2002, to the representation of other sports teams and associations, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New England Patriots, the National Football League and Major League Soccer. Bingham also represented the Red Sox in the creation and ongoing operations of the New England Sports Network (NESN), a joint venture between the Red Sox and the Boston Bruins which has become the highest-rated regional sports network for baseball in the United States.
As an added feature to Bingham’s extensive legal representation of sports teams and sports-related media companies, Bingham Sports Consulting provides a full complement of services to identify and realize growth opportunities and maximize a franchise’s performance both on and off the field. Bingham Sports Consulting is Bingham’s fourth subsidiary business, along with Bingham Consulting Group, Bingham Strategic Advisors and Bingham Legg Advisers. Joining Bingham Sports Consulting as a principal is John L. Harrington, former CEO of the Boston Red Sox and NESN, who will work closely with Bingham’s sports law practice.
“Bingham Sports Consulting brings together a unique set of disciplines to benefit our clients,” said Bingham partner Daniel Goldberg, who has spent years representing the Red Sox and the Patriots and will serve as the liaison between the firm’s sports law practice and Bingham Sports Consulting.
Bingham McCutchen Launches Fourth Subsidiary Business – Page 2
“The success of professional sports franchises requires extensive knowledge in multiple disciplines,” said Goldberg. “The ability to maximize value in each aspect of the franchise is what separates champions from the rest.”
Goldberg noted that the combination of “John Harrington’s sports-management experience in baseball and Bingham’s legal insight in sports-related deals offers franchises and potential investors a valuable perspective.”
Noting Bingham’s work in the Red Sox sale and its experience in a wide range of professional sports, Harrington said his decision to join Bingham Sports Consulting was easy to make.
“Bingham handled the legal affairs of the Red Sox since the 1930s, and through my role with the team, I became familiar with many of the people at Bingham and the quality of work they do,” said Harrington. “I have a great deal of respect and admiration for their experience, camaraderie, knowledge and capabilities.”
Harrington, a certified public accountant, has a lengthy career in Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his career with the Red Sox as treasurer in 1973. He was named president of JRY Corp., a Red Sox general partner, in 1981, and he became the team’s CEO in 1987, a position he held until the 2002 sale of the team. In addition to his role as Red Sox CEO, Harrington was selected by MLB to fill numerous key positions. He was vice-chairman of the Blue Ribbon Task Force that analyzed baseball’s economic structure and was chairman of the Realignment Committee, which in 1995 restructured the American and National leagues into three divisions each, introduced the Wild Card format for the postseason and led to the creation of interleague play in 1997. He was one of the lead MLB labor negotiators, helping to resolve the 1994 strike. A graduate of Boston College, Harrington has been executive director and president of the Yawkey Foundation since 1982. He will be president through December, after which he will remain a trustee.
Bingham McCutchen LLP – www.bingham.com – is an international law firm with 950 attorneys in 11 offices. The firm represents clients in high-stakes litigation, complex financing and financial regulatory matters, government affairs, and a wide variety of sophisticated corporate and technology transactions.
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