Robert Turner

As a Partner in our Commercial Group, I advise clients on complex, cross-border commercial transactions, with particular expertise advising sports and consumer brand clients.

I have extensive experience advising on commercial transactions in the Sports sector, acting both for sports rights-holders and sponsors / licensees in relation to sponsorship agreements, licensing arrangements, wagering rights agreements, media rights agreements, agency agreements and hosting agreements. I have acted on many of the highest value commercial deals in the football industry, including advising on the majority of the current shirt sponsorship agreements for the Big 5 Premier League Clubs. I also advise sports clients on their licensing arrangements, both in relation to physical and digital merchandise and wagering rights agreements.

My other main area of focus is advising consumer brands when they sell to, or otherwise interact with, consumers. I Co-Head our International Business-to-Consumer Group, and advise some of the best-known consumer brands in a variety of sectors, including technology, media and entertainment, sports, life sciences, FinTech, retail and luxury fashion, and automotive. I advise clients on the international expansion of consumer products, including in drafting consumer terms that comply with consumer laws in multiple international markets, designing customer journeys and reviewing and advising on marketing materials and prize promotions. My practice also includes acting for consumer brands when either they, or the sectors that they operate in, are investigated by consumer regulatory authorities.

I have written extensively on commercial law applicable to Sports and Consumer Brand clients, including:
co-authoring a chapter on Sports Sponsorship in the leading textbook Sport: Law & Practice; and
co-authoring a chapter on Electronic Contracts and Transactions in Internet Law and Regulation.

I have also spent around 18 months on secondment in the Legal Team at Arsenal FC.

• Acting for DXC Technologies, an American multinational IT services company, on its partnership with Manchester United FC. This multi-year partnership includes DXC being appointed as (1) the club's new shirt sleeve sponsor of the Manchester United Men's, Women's, and Youth teams, and (2) the club's digital transformation partner with DXC using its market-leading expertise to harness the power of data and analytics technologies to transform Manchester United's digital offering.
• Acting for Arsenal FC on a number of its major commercial transactions, including advising the club on the appointment of adidas as its technical partner and Emirates as its stadium naming rights partner and shirt sponsor.
• Acting for one of the biggest Premier League clubs in Europe on a range of commercial transactions, including the appointment of its technical partner, shirt sponsor and physical and e-commerce licensee for a reported value of $1 billion.
• Acting for Costa Coffee on a complex supply and partnership agreement with Marks & Spencer (M&S) to allow Costa to serve M&S food throughout the UK.
• Advising multiple well-known consumer brands on their consumer-facing terms and marketing materials, including for the international expansion of products. Examples of projects include advising one of the world's leading video streaming platform providers on the expansion of its digital marketplace product in 20 countries, advising one of the leading athletic brands on its membership and sales terms, acting for a market-leading anti-virus software provider on a range of consumer law issues and advising one of the world's biggest games publishers on the transfer of around 100 million consumer contracts.
• Advising one of the world's largest anti-virus software providers on the investigation by the CMA into the anti-virus sector, including advising our client on its interactions with the CMA and leading a major project to update the client's product offering and customer journey.