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KPA Lawyers | Melbourne


Sports And Entertainment Law

FOR ATHLETES, AGENTS AND COACHES

Professional sporting careers are short, and if you’re a professional athlete, agent, or a coach, your career can depend on contracts that are often signed under pressure and influence of the club. The window in which you can contract at a peak rate and secure your financial future is often measured in years, which makes the difference between a well or poorly negotiated deal, significant.

Our Director, Ray Purcell, is both an Accredited AFL Player Agent and NBA Player Agent. He acts for athletes, agents and coaches on playing contracts and transfers, sponsorship and endorsement deals, image and brand rights, disciplinary and integrity proceedings, contract disputes, and career transition.

We also act for sporting clubs, leagues, federations and member associations. Our work in this space includes advising on player contracts, broadcasting rights, sponsorship frameworks, member and disciplinary disputes, and governance structures. The team is led by Ray Purcell (dual accreditation player agent) who has a near four-decade career in commercial law and litigation with significant experience advising on the contractual environment, which is unique to sport.

Player, Agent and Coaching Contracts

A playing contract is the most important document during a professional athlete’s career. A contract will often define any bonus or incentive arrangements, image and data rights, termination rights, dispute resolution, and will often govern how an athlete can move between clubs. Coaching contracts and agent agreements also involve a similar set of issues with their own variations.

Players and Agents who self-represent and negotiate their contracts without legal input face real risks, including accepting broad restraints that prevent free movement, unclear performance incentives, or image rights that can be signed away without proper compensation.

Ray Purcell is an Accredited AFL Player Agent and an Accredited NBA Player Agent. He regularly negotiates playing contracts directly with AFL clubs on behalf of the athletes he manages. We also act for clubs and sporting organisations, where there is no conflict.

For athletes, agents and coaches

  • Drafting and negotiation of playing contracts (AFL, AFLW, NBA, other professional codes)
  • Coach contracts and head coach succession arrangements
  • Agent representation agreements and commission structures
  • Bonus, incentive and performance structuring
  • Image, brand and data rights protection within playing contracts
  • Termination, suspension and disciplinary protection provisions
  • Transfer agreements and league clearance
  • Compliance with league and governing body regulations

For clubs and sporting organisations

  • Drafting and negotiation of player and coach contracts from the club perspective
  • Standard-form contract review
  • Salary cap compliance and management
  • Trade and transfer documentation
  • Compliance with collective bargaining agreements
  • Image and data rights frameworks across the playing list
  • Termination and disciplinary contract provisions
  • Coaching and high-performance staff contracting
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Sponsorship, Endorsement and Image Rights

Sponsorship and endorsement deals are how athletes build can build substantial wealth beyond their playing salary, and how clubs build a commercial base that funds competitions and player payments.The window in which an athlete can attract that kind of commercial interest is short, which makes the terms of these contracts just as important as much as their playing contract itself.

We advise athletes on evaluating offers, negotiating terms and managing conflicts between competing sponsors. We also advise clubs and leagues on how to structure commercial programs and the individual deals that make them up. Our work across both sides covers drafting, negotiation, exit and termination, and the regulatory framework around gambling and alcohol advertising.

For athletes, agents and coaches

  • Review and negotiation of sponsorship and endorsement contracts
  • Image, likeness and publicity rights
  • Exclusivity and sponsor conflict provisions
  • Behavioural conduct cluses
  • Deliverable obligations (appearances, social media, media obligations)
  • Brand and trade mark issues for athletes building a personal brand
  • Disputes over unpaid fees or contract breach by sponsors

For clubs and sporting organisations

  • Sponsorship framework and sponsorship tiering
  • Jersey and signage agreements
  • Multi-sponsor conflict management policies
  • Compliance with gambling and alcohol advertising restrictions
  • Sponsorship dispute
  • Termination, force majeure and step-in rights
  • Sponsorship for women’s competitions and emerging leagues
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Disciplinary Tribunals and Integrity Proceedings

Clubs and athletes face a wide range of disciplinary and integrity proceedings, including on-field offences and tribunal hearings, off-field conduct breaches, social media conduct, governance breaches and code-of-conduct violations. Each sporting body operates its own tribunal framework with its own rules and standards of evidence; the AFL Tribunal being one of many.

We act for athletes, coaches and officials defending disciplinary proceedings, and for sporting organisations conducting them. Unfavourable outcomes can affect eligibility for upcoming fixtures, sponsorship arrangements, and reputation in ways that are difficult to reverse.

For athletes, agents and coaches

  • Defence of on-field tribunal charges (AFL Match Review Officer matters, equivalent processes in other codes)
  • Defence of off-field conduct allegations
  • Member protection and complaint proceedings
  • Social media conduct matters
  • Urgent stay applications to preserve eligibility while the matter is heard
  • Appeals to internal review panels

For clubs and sporting organisations

  • Disciplinary tribunal design and procedure
  • Conduct of internal investigations
  • Tribunal advocacy and presentation of cases
  • Governance and code-of-conduct framework drafting
  • Sanctions imposition and post-decision compliance
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Sports Governance and Constitutional Advice

Most Australian sporting bodies are structured as incorporated associations or companies limited by guarantee, operating within a federated model that links a national body to its state associations and member clubs. Governance documents such as constitutions, member protection policies, by-laws and regulations will determine how the organisation is run, who has voting rights, how disputes are managed, and what happens when a member or member club is in breach.

We draft and amend these documents for sporting clubs, leagues and federations, and advise on the issues that arise around them – such as board structure, member voting and meeting procedure, and the governance disputes that emerge at moments of pressure such as a contested AGM or responding to a sporting regulatory issue.

What we do

  • Constitutional drafting and amendment for incorporated associations and companies limited by guarantee
  • Board structure, composition and independent reviews
  • AGM and SGM procedural advice and Member voting issues
  • Advice on Federated model issues between national, state and member bodies
  • Director’s duties advice for sport boards
  • Charity registration and DGR issues where applicable
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Sports Disputes and Litigation

Sport has a lot of different stakeholders, and they all pursue their own commercial interests. Where competing interests collide, disputes can happen.

We act for athletes and clubs across a full range of sports related disputes, such as contractual matters (player contracts, sponsorship, broadcasting), regulatory matters (governing body breaches, equipment and venue compliance), and reputation and welfare matters (defamation, player injury, conduct disputes).

For athletes, agents and coaches

  • Contract disputes with clubs and leagues
  • Unpaid salary, bonus and entitlement claims
  • Wrongful termination and dismissal disputes
  • Defamation and reputation matters
  • Sponsorship and endorsement disputes
  • Injury and welfare-related claims
  • Sport specific Tribunal representation

For clubs and sporting organisations

  • Defence of athlete contract disputes
  • Sponsorship and commercial agreement disputes
  • Broadcasting and media rights disputes
  • Disputes with member bodies and clubs
  • Disputes with governing bodies and regulators
  • Sport specific Tribunal representation
  • Mediation and ADR strategy in sport-specific contexts
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Broadcasting and Media Rights

Broadcasting and media rights are often the largest revenue driver for professional sports in Australia. They are also among the most complex commercial arrangements a sporting body negotiates. With free-to-air, subscription, streaming, highlights and overseas rights all typically packaged separately, it can be overwhelming and the question of which rights sit with which broadcaster is where commercial value is created or lost.

What we do

  • Negotiating broadcaster agreements
  • Sublicensing and on-selling frameworks
  • International rights
  • Highlights, archive and historical rights
  • Production, presenter and on-air talent contracts
  • Music clearance and production rights
  • Disputes with broadcasters, including underperformance and breach
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Event Hosting and Major Events

If you’re looking to host a major sporting event, such as a tournament or a championship round, you will be coordinating contracts and legal arrangements with venues, governing bodies, broadcasters, sponsors, ticketing platforms, hospitality providers and insurers. That’s a lot to manage, and because these events are commercially significant, the financial consequences of getting something wrong can be material.

We work with event organisers from the planning stage to managing any post event issues. Our work in this space covers structuring and negotiating agreements to minimise risk to advising on cancellations, broadcaster claims, refused insurance, sponsor exits, and the other common problems that can affect the commercial viability of your event.

What we do

  • Hosting agreements with governing bodies and venues
  • Licensing and competition format approvals
  • Advice on ticketing issues including dynamic pricing and on-selling arrangements
  • Hospitality and corporate package arrangements
  • Volunteer and contractor engagement
  • Insurance arrangements (event cancellation, public liability, player injury)
  • Broadcasting and access arrangements at the venue
  • Post-event disputes (refunds, cancellations, broadcaster claims)
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Sports M&A and Corporate Transactions

Sport matters to Australians, and that interest has driven significant growth in the sector. As such, club acquisitions, league investment, joint ventures, restructures, and the corporatisation of amateur and member-based bodies have become increasingly common. Whilst these transactions often look like general M&A on the surface, they carry sport-specific features such player contracts and liabilities, contingent transfer fees, sponsorship rights, stadium leases, salary cap implications and governing body approvals.

Ray Purcell heads M&A at KPA. On sport-specific transactions, his M&A expertise and the sector knowledge he brings from his player agent work allow him to structure deals that get over the line and stand up to sport’s regulatory framework.

What we do

  • Club and franchise acquisitions and disposals
  • Equity investment in leagues and competitions
  • Joint ventures and strategic partnerships
  • Corporatisation of incorporated associations
  • Due diligence on sports-specific assets and liabilities
  • Change-of-control approvals from governing bodies and broadcasters
  • Post-completion integration including player and staff transitions
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Sports Employment, Industrial Relations and Athlete Visas

Professional athletes are often technically employees, sometimes independent contractors, and sometimes a combination of the two. Collective bargaining agreements between players’ associations and leagues sit alongside individual contracts. Equal pay in elite sport is now a major focus of public discussion, with ongoing pressure on clubs, leagues and competitions to reform. Ray has contributed to AFLW enterprise agreement reform, helping increase the viability for women to make a meaningful income from the game.

For international athletes joining Australian clubs, immigration is its own specialty. The Subclass 408 (Temporary Activity – Sport) visa and the Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa are the primary pathways, and the timing and structure of either affects when a player can compete, what their sponsor’s obligations are, and what they can/can’t do when their playing career ends.

Ray Purcell (MARN: 9254826) and Erin Varker (MARN: 958127) are registered migration agents with experience obtaining and managing visas for international AFL/AFLW athletes and other codes, including players Ray represents.

For athletes, agents and coaches

  • Employment vs contractor classification advice
  • Collective bargaining agreement advice
  • Wage, salary, bonus and entitlement disputes
  • Workplace harassment and discrimination matters
  • Equal pay and gender equity issues
  • Athlete visa applications (Subclass 408 Sport, Subclass 482 Skills in Demand)
  • Permanent residency and citizenship pathways for international athletes
  • Post-career visa transitions

For clubs and sporting organisations

  • Collective bargaining agreement negotiation and drafting
  • Workforce structuring (employee vs contractor)
  • Sponsorship obligations under labour agreements
  • Workplace policies for professional sporting workforces
  • Athlete sponsorship and nomination for visas
  • Compliance with sponsor obligations under sports-specific visa subclasses
  • Cross-border player transfer immigration work
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Career Transition and Post-Career Support

Professional sporting careers end, and sometimes earlier than expected. The transition out of professional sport into “normal life” is one of the most under-supported areas of athlete welfare, and often the most poorly handled. Players’ associations do important work supporting that transition, but the legal side is often left untouched. We often assist athletes in reviewing post-career employment opportunities, structuring business ventures, dealing with tax and superannuation issues at career end, and managing the wind-down of sponsorships and image rights.

Ray has built a personal practice in career transition support, helping athletes find post-career employment and structuring the legal side of life after sport. For athletes Ray manages, this work often begins during their playing career rather than after it; taking advantage of opportunities as they arise and laying the foundations for whatever comes next.

Through the firm’s network, we also work closely alongside financial planners and tax specialists, so the advice you receive is holistic, protecting your interests as you transition into life after sport.

What we do

  • Post-career employment contract review and negotiation
  • Business venture structuring, including coaching, media, and equity investments
  • Personal brand and image rights commercialisation post-career
  • Tax and superannuation structuring at career end (in partnership with financial planners and accountants in our network)
  • Sponsorship wind-down and exit arrangements
  • Post-career restraints and confidentiality obligations
  • Media and commentary contracts
  • Coaching, mentoring and player development arrangements
  • Estate planning and wealth preservation (with our Estate Planning team)
Discuss your matterKPA Lawyers | Melbourne

Frequently Asked Questions

Disclaimer : The information contained in these FAQS is of a general nature only and does not constitute legal advice. It has been prepared by KPA Lawyers without considering your specific objectives, circumstances or needs, and should not be relied on as a substitute for tailored legal advice.

While both the NBA and the AFL rely on a salary cap to keep their competitions balanced, the way each league applies it is different.

The NBA operates a “soft” cap which lets clubs spend beyond the salary cap through a set of defined exceptions. Rather than prohibiting it outright, the league discourages overspending economically. Where a club exceeds the salary cap, it triggers a steep, escalating tax which increases with each repeat offence, while also restricting the club’s freedom to trade players. The 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement tightened this further by introducing two “apron” thresholds that function as a quasi-hard cap. A club spending above the “second apron” faces heavier restrictions, in that the club can no longer combine salaries in trades, loses access to the taxpayer mid-level exception, and has a future first-round pick frozen, in addition to having to pay the overspend tax. 

The AFL takes a much simpler approach. Its cap, referred to as the Total Player Payments, is a hard limit that clubs cannot exceed, paired with a salary floor that sets a minimum spend. Where an AFL club is found in breach of the salary cap, the club can expect a direct sanction, which can include fines and/or a removal of draft picks.

NBA contracts are typically guaranteed, either fully, or for the most part. So, if a player is cut mid-contract, he remains owed the guaranteed balance of his salary. That balance reflects only the guaranteed portion, rather than the full amount he would have earned across the life of the contract.

When an NBA club releases a “guaranteed player”, it can use the “stretch provision” to spread the remaining money owed across future seasons for salary-cap purposes, easing the immediate hit to its cap. The waived player, meanwhile, is placed on “waivers” for 48 hours. If another club claims him, that club assumes his existing contract and the player is considered to have been “claimed”; if no club takes on the contract, the player “clears waivers”, becoming an unrestricted free agent who is free to sign with any team. An unrestricted free agent has much greater scope to negotiate a new deal than a claimed player, who simply inherits his old contract terms.

Contract extensions in the NBA are highly regulated, with maximum salaries being broadly tied to years of service, i.e. 25, 30 and 35 per cent of the cap. The CBA provides for rookie scale extensions and higher “designated player” deals for those who meet set performance criteria.

The AFL works very differently. There is no in-season buyout or waiver market. A contracted player has no freedom of movement unless they are released by the club. 

The movement of players can only occur through two controlled methods:

  • specified trade periods; and
  • free agency that is also controlled. 

Free agents are either restricted (the club can match a rival offer) or unrestricted (the player moves freely), set by years of service and pay. Everything must fit within the hard cap. Australian law treats these as ordinary commercial contracts read alongside the CBA with disputes usually resolved inside the league’s dispute resolution framework.

An AFL player is free to exploit their name, image and likeness, though this does not extend to using the intellectual property of the AFL or a club. Players are also heavily restricted in entering into arrangements with a club’s sponsors or affiliates. These restrictions exist to maintain the integrity of the hard cap, and any such arrangement is assessed by the AFL and must be considered at its market value. Players are also unable to enter into arrangements with protected sponsors of the AFL or the club at all, other than deals relating to footwear. As part of the CBA, players also assign their image and likeness to the AFL, allowing the league to exploit it for the benefit of the game.

By contrast, the United States recognises an enforceable right of publicity (which varies state by state), and player representatives have developed sophisticated group-licensing programs. As such, it is not unusual for high-profile athletes in the NBA to take steps to protect and exploit their image through trademark or other strategies.

A basic principle of Australian law is that no one owns the spectacle of a sporting event. The High Court settled this long ago in Victoria Park Racing and Recreation Grounds Co Ltd v Taylor (1937) 58 CLR 479, holding that there is no property in the mere sight of a contest. What leagues can control, however, is access to the ground and the copyright in the footage their cameras produce. Leagues therefore commercialise media rights not by claiming to own the game itself, but in two practical ways: 

  • by controlling physical access to the venue (through ticketing and accreditation) and by owning copyright in the broadcast; and
  • footage they produce, which is protected under the Copyright Act 1968. On that base they package and license broadcast and streaming rights.

Layered over this is the anti-siphoning regime in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. Because certain events national significance, a statutory anti-siphoning list (historically the AFL and NRL Grand Finals, major cricket, the Olympic and Commonwealth Games and the Melbourne Cup) keeps them available on free-to-air before any exclusive subscription showing.

The key recent change, the Communications Legislation Amendment (Prominence and Anti-siphoning) Act 2024, commenced in December 2024 and modernised the scheme in two ways:

  • extending protection into the digital world, so that free-to-air broadcasters get first call on rights for their streaming services, which had previously let streaming-only rights slip to subscription platforms; and 
  • adding a “prominence” framework requiring regulated smart TVs to make local free-to-air apps easy to find. Resulting in leagues now selling their rights freely 

Enforcement in the AFL rests in contract. Through playing contracts and the CBA, players agree to be bound by AFL rules and the relevant anti-doping code, and to take disputes to set tribunals and arbitration.

For performance-enhancing drugs, Australia follows the World Anti-Doping Code, administered by WADA. It is run domestically by Sport Integrity Australia, set up in 2020 to consolidate the former anti-doping authority. Anti-doping cases are heard by the National Sports Tribunal, with appeals and further arbitration to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Essendon supplements saga is the leading local example.

Illicit or recreational drug use is handled separately, under the AFL’s health-led Illicit Drugs Policy. The policy was overhauled in 2026 and replaced the old three-strikes model with compulsory hair testing, structured health interventions, and public suspensions where use is established, while still focusing on player welfare. General misconduct (conduct unbecoming or harmful to the game) is dealt with through the league’s own tribunals, which must give procedural fairness, with courts retaining a supervisory role where natural justice is denied.

Why KPA Lawyers for Sports And Entertainment Law

The firm that puts your interests first

We combine senior expertise with genuine care, your matter will be handled by an experienced lawyer every step of the way.

KPA Lawyers | Melbourne

AFL & NBA PLayers agent and lawyer

 You will have an accredited AFL and NBA Players Agent and Senior Lawyer look after you from start to finish.

KPA Lawyers | Melbourne

develop your afl or nba career

Grow and develop your playing career with the expert guidance of Ray Purcell, looking after your interests from day one.

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Three conveniently located offices

Visit our Sandringham or Mornington offices or meet with us in the Melbourne CBD, whichever location is most convenient for you.

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KPA handled our business sale with precision and care. They explained every step clearly and achieved a result we were truly happy with.

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The Sports And Entertainment Law TEAM

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Ray Purcell

MANAGING PARTNER

Ray is the Director and Principal of KPA Lawyers, bringing nearly 40 years of experience across litigation, mergers...

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