The Sports Group leverages our worldwide network of fully integrated offices and practice areas in key financial centers worldwide. Crucial to the group's success is its ability to offer an unmatched breadth of experience across regions, industries and legal practices.

The Sports Group represents a variety of clients in matters relating to professional and amateur sports, including franchises, financial institutions, athletes, sports organizations and governing bodies. The Group is uniquely qualified in its ability to address Mergers and Acquisitions, tax, regulatory, compensation, bank and structured finance, litigation, real estate, intellectual property and project development & finance issues within the same team.

Notable transactions have included representation of:

• John W. Henry and New England Sports Ventures in their acquisition of the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park and New England Sports Network
• Viacom Inc. in the sale of the Madison Square Garden Corporation (including the MSG Network and the New York Knicks and Rangers) to ITT Corporation and Cablevision Systems Corporation
• The American Skiing Company in its sale of 48.5% of outstanding common stock to Oak Hill Capital Partners, L.P.
• The International Speedway Corporation in its merger with Penske Motorsports, Inc.
• Eaton Vance Corp. in the sale of American Golf Corporation and National Golf Properties, Inc. to an investment group led by Goldman Sachs & Co.

The Sports Group's expertise reflects the global nature of Shearman & Sterling's practice, and the group is uniquely positioned to provide comprehensive global service to its clients. Notable international sports-related representations have included:

• WestLB in financing for the reconstruction of England's Wembley Stadium (a transaction for which Legal Business magazine named Shearman & Sterling's London team its "Project Finance/PFI Team of the Year")
• The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in a dispute with CBS SportsLine over images of the World Cup posted on the SportsLine website
• Consortium Stade de France in the negotiation of a structured project refinancing for a portion of the construction costs of the 80,000-seat stadium in Saint-Denis that hosted the most significant matches of the 1998 Soccer World Cup
• HTM Sport-Und Freizeitgerate AG in its purchase, through a wholly owned subsidiary, HTM USA Holdings Inc., of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Penn Racquet Sports, Inc., the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of tennis balls and racquetballs, from GenCorp, Inc.
• Deutsche Bank AG, as agent, on a syndicated credit facility for Ogden Corporation to be used to refinance the project financing for the Corel Centre in Ottawa
• Banque Nationale de Paris in various financings for 24 Hour Fitness, an owner-operator of health clubs in the United States, particularly in California and the Western United States

The Sports Group is led by Creighton Condon a veteran of several high-profile sports transactions. In addition to the Boston Red Sox and Madison Square Garden Corporation transactions, Mr. Condon's recent sports-related representations include John W. Henry in his acquisition and subsequent disposition of the Florida Marlins and the sale of his interest in the New York Yankees. Mr. Condon's activities in connection with the Boston Red Sox acquisition were highlighted in The American Lawyer.

Another member of the Sports Group, Alan Goudiss, has handled several notable sports-related disputes, including: the representation of Showtime Networks Inc. in various litigations involving the former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson; the New York Rangers in an arbitration before the Commissioner of the NHL in connection with the departure of head coach Mike Keenan; and Brett Lindros in a contract dispute with the New York Islanders following his forced retirement due to multiple concussions.