Simon Leaf
Simon is Head of Sport at Mishcon de Reya.
Simon has led the Mishcon team on some of the most significant transactions in the market– including advising on the recent CVC investment into top level European Rugby, what has been reported as boxing's first ever billion dollar deal for Matchroom Boxing opposite Perform Group, Arsenal's first ever sleeve sponsorship deal acting for the Rwandan government, a F1 naming rights deal and a number of other high-profile international football transfers and image rights deals involving Premier League clubs and players.
He is also heavily involved in the sports technology scene – acting for a number of fast-growth sports technology and data clients and on esports-related matters, as well as devoting considerable time to his work as a mentor to several sports technology companies through incubator programmes. Most recently, he has advised some of the most exciting NFT and Crypto-related sports clients, as well as a number of media companies relation to their acquisition of high-profile rights.
Simon also acts for a number of top domestic and international clubs, governing bodies, promoters, sponsors, agents and players on major broadcasting matters, image/digital rights agreements, sponsorship arrangements, international transfers and other commercial contracts. He also acts for several of these clients on important regulatory matters, including on crypto, financial fair play, third party ownership and salary cap-related matters.