Eagle-eyed viewers of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest this week will have spotted the advertising board for Pinsent Masons, nestled in amongst the usual sports and time-keeping brands.

It is possible the casual BBC viewer might be in need of legal advice and happens to notice and recognise a law firm name in the background of the action.

But the link between athletics and Pinsents is much more than simply an advert around the track. Pinsent Masons has been the official supplier of legal services to World Athletics since 2020 and has a deal which lasts for at least the next four years.

World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

An advertising board for Pinsent Masons nestled in amongst the usual sports brands

Source: Alamy

The arrangement covers all manner of legal advice and training: for example this week the firm has had a team on the ground providing a rights protection program to identify and take down illegal streaming, piracy and other breaches of commercial rights (highlights can be accessed lawfully on the BBC iPlayer).

Most excitingly, the firm is also advising on a new project working alongside Box to Box Films and Netflix on a documentary series following the world’s top sprinters. The team, led by partner and global head of sport Trevor Watkins and senior associate Scott Oxley, has advised on licensing of commercial rights and securing access to venues to allow filming. The production company is the one behind Formula One series Drive to Survive, which has rejuvenated the sport and brought in a wave of new fans.

World Athletics – with the help of its lawyers of course – will hope for the same outcome from its own warts-and-all documentary.

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