At Leonard, Street and Deinard, our attorneys know the business of sports and entertainment. Our collaborative approach teams attorneys with legal savvy combined with knowledge of the sports and entertainment industry.

The attorneys in our Sports and Entertainment Business practice group—experienced advisers in entity structure, business operations, employment, contractor and advisory services, finance, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, intellectual property and information technology—are poised to provide legal counsel to development groups, business owners, franchisees, sports leagues and teams in the development, financing, management and operation of sports franchises, leagues and facilities. In addition, we provide employment and advisory services to individuals negotiating and obtaining key management, coaching and ownership/employment positions with sports franchises, leagues and facilities, and entertainment businesses. Our philosophy is to match our sports and entertainment clients with attorneys who have the right skills and experience for each particular business matter.

Sports Franchise Businesses and Leagues

We understand the business of acquiring, structuring and operating successful sports teams. We are experienced in the acquisition, operation and financing of sports teams, league operations, business and tax planning, contract negotiations and dispute resolution and litigation.

Sports Facility Development

Leonard, Street and Deinard’s Sports and Entertainment Business practice group includes a robust sports facility development practice, poised to provide legal counsel to development groups, business owners and franchisees in the development, financing and management of sports facilities, as well as the negotiation and documentation of development and management agreements for entertainment and sports facilities.

Sports and Recreation Equipment

Our firm represented Rollerblade Inc., creator and manufacturer of inline skates and related accessories, with all of its legal needs from its infancy as a Minnesota company with sales of $100,000 through its growth as a $600 million company worldwide. We also represent the legal needs of Mission-ITECH, California- and Quebec-based manufacturers of specialty inline and ice hockey skates and equipment; Rave Sports, a Minnesota-based maker of recreational water sports equipment; and Mie’s Outland, a retailer of recreational vehicles.

Entertainment and Broadcast Media Business

Our attorneys also understand the unique business needs of entertainment and broadcast media businesses.

Leonard, Street and Deinard has represented the following clients in sports and entertainment law matters:

Sports Franchise Businesses and Leagues

Our representative team clients include:

MAJOR LEAGUES

National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association. Since 1996, Leonard, Street and Deinard has served as outside counsel to the Minnesota Timberwolves and since 1999 for the Minnesota Lynx for business matters including the franchise acquisition, financing and business operations, including league relations, media, travel programs, employment and litigation; and franchise sponsorship, promotion and endorsement matters, and the management of its trademark portfolio.

National Hockey League. Leonard, Street and Deinard has acted as principal outside counsel for Minnesota Sports & Entertainment in connection with its organization and the acquisition in 2000 of the Minnesota Wild franchise. This engagement included the financing of the acquisition, both equity and debt, and the ongoing business operations of the team, including acquisitions, real estate, sponsorships, media, employment, litigation and trademark development and management.

Phoenix Coyotes. Leonard, Street and Deinard was lead counsel in the buyout of a 50% partner’s interest in the Phoenix Coyotes. We were responsible for structuring the transaction, securing NHL approvals and closing the transaction.

National Football League. Leonard, Street and Deinard serves as outside counsel to the Minnesota Vikings for general business matters, including stadium use and license agreements, sponsorship and marketing matters and agreements and miscellaneous business and legal matters.

Major League Baseball. Our attorneys represented a joint venture, which entered into an agreement to purchase the Minnesota Twins. The transaction was conditioned on the passage of a sales tax referendum in the City of Saint Paul to finance a new baseball stadium and expired when the referendum was defeated.

Minnesotans for Major League Baseball. This committee of community and business leaders formed in 2000 at the behest of the Minnesota Twins for the sole purpose of keeping the franchise permanently in Minnesota. Leonard, Street and Deinard was represented on this committee. The committee’s work—and ultimately its recommendation—was the basis for the proposal presented to the Minnesota state legislature’s 18-member Stadium Task Force in 2001. This work was used by the Twins as a model for its successful efforts in securring a new stadium.

National LaCrosse League. Leonard, Street and Deinard served as counsel for Minnesota Sports & Entertainment’s acquisition in 2004 of the Montreal NLL franchise, now known as the Minnesota Swarm.

Arena Football League. We have provided legal counsel to Aurora Sports Ventures, which provides mezzanine financing to Arena Football League teams.

 LEAGUES AND ASSOCIATIONS

United States Hockey League. The USHL is the only Tier 1 junior-level hockey league in the United States as sanctioned by USA Hockey. Leonard, Street and Deinard has acted as general counsel, outside counsel, counsel and principal advisor to the USHL since 2001, providing legal and business counsel and managing all legal matters including governance and operation of the USHL, miscellaneous business matters, litigation and trademark development and management, and team formation, transfer and termination.

• Our firm helped launch the Sioux Falls Stampede, including securing membership in the USHL. We also assisted Northwest Sports, LLC, sell the Cedar Rapids Roughriders and Topeka Scarecrows teams. We also represented Buccaneers Hockey, LLC, in the purchase of the Des Moines Buccaneers and the development ofBuccaneer Arena.

Minnesota Hockey. Formerly the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association, Minnesota Hockey conducts ice hockey tournaments and buys, sells, leases and otherwise deals in property—real, personal and mixed—to advance youth and other amateur hockey in the state. Leonard, Street and Deinard negotiated its sponsorship agreements, including a three-year sponsorship arrangement with TCF Bank.

Sports Facility Development

Representative clients of our sports facility development experience include:

Minnesota Twins. Since 2006, Leonard, Street and Deinard has provided legal counsel in the development of the new Minnesota Twins Ballpark in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis Community Development Agency. On behalf of the City of Minneapolis, Leonard, Street and Deinard represented the Agency in the original development, construction and financing of Target Center, the Minneapolis home of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx. Seven years later we represented the Agency again when it purchased the Target Center.

Minnesota Sports & Entertainment. Leonard, Street and Deinard represented Minnesota Sports & Entertainment in the lease, construction and financing of Xcel Energy Center, the Saint Paul home to the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. We were involved in the lease agreement and bond financing with the City of Saint Paul and State of Minnesota, the contract with the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission, construction agreements and financing.

University of Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium. Leonard, Street and Deinard provided legal counsel in the development of the University of Minnesota TCF Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Gophers.

Sioux Falls Arena. Leonard, Street and Deinard negotiated with the City of Sioux Falls and Sioux Falls Arena regarding lease and retrofit issues, and assisted with a $2.5 million renovation of the Sioux Falls Arena, home to the USHL Sioux City Musketeers.

Bemidji Regional Event Center. Leonard, Street and Deinard represented Bemidji State University in the development of its event center.

St. Cloud State University National Hockey and Event Center. Leonard, Street and Deinard represented St. Cloud State University in redevelopment and expansion of its event center.
Additionally, we have provided legal counsel to golf courses for their real estate, business and trademark needs, including Eagle’s Landing Golf Course, an 18-hole course in Fort Ripley, Minnesota; and Oak Hill Golf Club, an 18-hole, par-72 public golf course in Rice, Minnesota.

Sports and Recreation Equipment

Our firm represented Rollerblade Inc., creator and manufacturer of inline skates and related accessories, with all of its legal needs from its infancy as a Minnesota company with sales of $100,000 through its growth as a $600 million company worldwide.

We also represent the legal needs of Mission-ITECH Hockey—of Santa Ana, California, and Montreal, Quebec—manufacturers of specialty inline and ice hockey skates and equipment; Rave Sports, a Minnesota-based maker of recreational water sports equipment; and Mie’s Outland, a retailer of recreational vehicles. We have also represented various sports equipment businesses including Salming Hockey, Kiddex, O’Brien and Athletica.

Entertainment and Broadcast Media Business

Our attorneys also understand the unique business needs of entertainment and broadcast media businesses.

We represent VEE Corporation, a Minneapolis-based company that produces family entertainment live shows across the United States and internationally, including “Sesame Street Live,” and First Avenue, a live music venue in downtown Minneapolis, in real estate and business transactions. Our attorneys provide legal counsel to broadcast media businesses, including Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns and operates seven TV stations and three radio stations in Minnesota; TV stations in New Mexico and New York; Hubbard Radio Network, which syndicates programming to stations throughout the Midwest; Hubbard Media Group, which owns two cable networks, ReelzChannel and Ovation, the Arts Network; Internet Broadcasting Systems Inc., which manages more than 70 TV news and information Web sites and is the third largest news and information source on the Web with 12 million viewers monthly; and Unique Screen Media, one of the largest screen media advertising companies in the country serving more than 2,000 screens in 300 movie theatre complexes nationwide.

We also provide counsel to Minnesota Sports & Entertainment and Midwest Entertainment Group, which manage non-hockey entertainment at Xcel Energy Center and Roy Wilkins Auditorium in Saint Paul and the Target Center in Minneapolis. Leonard, Street and Deinard attorneys negotiate contracts with entertainment acts and assist with all legal issues pertaining to building management.

We also have represented media production enterprises, including:

Ron Schara/Minnesota Bound TV and Radio Production, an award-winning television magazine show appearing in the Twin Cities, Rochester, Duluth and Fargo, and nationally on The Outdoor Life Network. Leonard, Street and Deinard managed all legal matters for Schara, including business structure and strategy, sponsorships, endorsements, licensing and contracts. Our attorneys assisted with the development of a Minnesota Bound store, featuring outdoor and recreational merchandise, at the Mall of America.

Video Arts Studios, a full-service radio and television production center based in Fargo, North Dakota. Leonard, Street and Deinard worked with Video Arts Studios and most recently negotiated a 24-segment documentary for television with the Discovery Channel on behalf of the studio.

United Entertainment Corp., a St. Cloud-based corporation that owns and operates a chain of video and movie theatres. Since 1998, Leonard, Street and Deinard has represented United Entertainment Corp. in locating and purchasing property and developing movie theatres and video stores, now totaling more than 150 facilities in 11 states.

Fantasy Sports Acquisition, LLC (doing business as FANBALL.COM), a fantasy sport site headquartered in Minneapolis. Leonard, Street and Deinard has represented its licensing and intellectual property matters.