Alex Norman

I have been working with clients in these sectors for a number of years in Europe and in Asia and I take pride in providing practical advice, grounded in a deep understanding of the business and the relevant industry. My deep industry knowledge means that clients benefit from strategic business advice in addition to effective and informed legal know-how.

My practice encompasses all aspects of corporate and commercial work and having a broad practice means I can help my clients achieve their goals in a variety of ways.

On the commercial front I work primarily on high value and complex transactions and agreements, including media and data rights, sponsorship, licensing and content deals for clients in the sports, gaming, esports, betting and media sectors. Regulatory issues, particularly around gambling, advertising and broadcasting, are also key for my clients, and I pride myself on delivering informed and practical advice.

On the corporate side I regularly advise on investments and joint ventures, as well as mergers, acquisitions, divestments, restructurings, corporate governance and corporate set-up. As part of our venture capital group, I specialise in helping early stage companies drive their businesses forwards through early investment rounds, and I have helped dozens of early stage companies raise capital and put in place the foundations for their companies to grow.

Since 2016 I have been leading the growth of Bird & Bird's sports, media and gaming practice across Asia Pacific and am proud to have built a strong client base comprising some of the biggest and most innovative companies in the business.

I have also been fortunate enough to have gained extensive first-hand experience of the day-to-day challenges my clients face, having spent time on in-house secondments at an international sports agency, the Rugby Football Union in England and at Citi in its investment banking team.

• Advising Riot Games on its ground-breaking partnership with Nike in China, a hugely valuable and innovative deal which helped demonstrate to a wider audience the reach and mass appeal of esports. This was a complex and time pressured project, which leveraged my expertise in high value sports and media work, and was a deal which laid the foundations for other non-endemic brands to enter esports.
• Co-ordinating and leading a global gambling regulatory project for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, including advising on a number of complex regulatory issues across multiple time zones.
• Advising an Indonesian broadcaster on the acquisition of media rights in relation to the English Premier League.
• Working with Football Marketing Asia to establish it as Asia's leading football marketing agency, including advising on high value data, media and sponsorship deals.
• Advising PCCW Media on its investments into a number of early stage media companies across Asia.
• Advising the Hong Kong Government (through the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund Corporation Limited) and Hong Kong Cyberport on co-investments into high-growth Asian start-ups.

• Commercial
• Corporate
• Digital Rights & Assets
• Media, Entertainment and Sport
• Technology & Communications
• Venture Capital