A countdown clock displays the remaining days until the new start date for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Tuesday in Tokyo. AP Photo: Jae C. Hong

The first domino to fall was the suspension of the NBA season. Shortly after, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was nixed. MLB's spring training was shortened, then the season delayed. And now, the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo have been pushed to 2021.

While every industry is dealing with massive upheaval, few are as visible as sports and entertainment. While many who practice in this area anticipate a slowdown in overall legal work, certain pockets of work are being pushed to the forefront, creating demand for the services these attorneys provide.

Steve Smith, managing partner of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner's Colorado Springs, Colorado, office and partner in the firm's sports law practice, said he is anticipating a slowdown in work, but not a huge one.

"I'm sort of expecting a bit of a downturn, but the nice thing of being in the legal profession is that if things are good, people are doing more deals," Smith said in an interview. "If things are down, they need help to make things work. That's the benefit we have."

Michael Kuh, a New York-based partner at Hogan Lovells who has worked with Olympic committees and major sports franchises, said there has been a slight decrease in work at his practice. But more so, he's just been focusing on different issues.

"I've been spending time advising clients as they think through health and safety issues for their employees and remote deployment," Kuh said, "and more recently about what federal and state benefits may be available to them."

Kuh said he expects legal work surrounding sponsorship expansions and new ventures to come to a standstill, but contract review work to increase. Thus far, Kuh said, everyone has been playing the long game when it comes to handling matters, noting that relationships are king in the sporting world.

"They are working cooperatively with one another to make it through to the next day," Kuh said. "We have not seen—not yet anyway—any real uptick in clients taking adversarial positions."

While three of the four major American sports leagues are dealing with some degree of delay in their seasons (the NFL, as of yet, has not postponed the start of its 2020 season), the biggest news of late was the announcement that the 2020 Olympics have been postponed until 2021.

Bryan Cave's Smith, who represents international federations and national governing bodies in the Olympic movement, said he was not surprised the games were moved to next year.

"It's easy to be critical, and maybe they waited a bit too long to make the decision," Smith said. But "I don't have complaints about how they handled it. It isn't a U2 concert that you can just move to a later date."

Jon Israel, New York-based partner at Foley & Lardner and co-chair of the firm's sports industry practice, said the number of issues that will need to be sorted out regarding the Olympic postponement should create a lot of work for sports attorneys.

"What do you do with the athletes who have trained so hard?" he said. "How do you do qualifying events? Sponsors are all lined up. What happens with them?"

Smith said that the force majeure clause in contracts, normally an afterthought during the negotiation process, is now in full view.

Force majeure is "historically one of the least paid-attention-to clauses," Smith said. "Not now."

While there are sure to be numerous negotiations around how sponsors, athletes, governing bodies and the host city and country are to be made whole, Smith, like Kuh, said if his dealings with other entities around contract renegotiations are any indication, he expects that everyone will play nice and be understanding.

"People are being pretty reasonable about it," he said. "They know the Olympics can't be done this year, so let's make this work for 2021. Fortunately people are being realistic about it. They realize they will have to do business with these people again."

The games, now slated to begin July 23, 2021, will cost an additional $3 billion to $6 billion dollars, according to a report from ESPN.

Sifting through the various sponsorship contracts, totaling over $3.3 billion and more than twice that of previous Olympics, will require lawyers. Broadcasting rights and renegotiation over such things as use of the Olympic Village, built to house over 11,000 athletes in apartments that were to be sold after the games, will create more legal work.

Smith estimated that the Olympic governing bodies in the U.S., of which there are 45, will lose an estimated $120 million, leading him to wonder whether those organizations will be able to recoup the loss or simply write it off.

Israel, of Foley & Lardner, mentioned that the fallout from cancellations hits not only the sports leagues and teams, but the ecosystem of venues, retailers, restaurants and bars and people that work in the arenas.

Some changes to the sporting world already in progress, such as the rising popularity of esports, might have their flames fanned by the current ban on large gatherings, a key component of sporting events.

But Israel believes that, in time, a return to sport will see fans back in the stands.

"Habits will change from these circumstances," Israel said. "We will probably see more of an online consumer of sports. But nothing can replicate the stadium experience. That stuff will never go away."

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