Robert Elias is a member of the Haute Lawyer Network, and in this feature, he highlights his firm, the Elias Law Firm PLLC’s recent expansion into the Sports and Entertainment sector. Robert Elias shares the background of this expansion and highlights more about the growing industry.
MM: I know that you mentioned that your firm has expanded into the sports and entertainment sector. Could you tell us a little bit about why you’ve taken that expansion?
RE: The expansion into the Sports and entertainment sector kind of grew organically from our existing practice areas and my personal social circle, candidly. Many of our real estate and corporate estate planning clients are athletes, entertainers, influencers, or other industry professionals who commonly enlist us to assist them with various business-oriented matters. They like a trusted legal advisor who takes a holistic approach. We saw an opportunity to provide a more tailored confidential service: one that protects their assets, structures their business interest, and supports their long-term financial stability.
The why is probably more of a nuanced answer: it’s a byproduct of my background. In high school, I was a wide receiver and a backup quarterback: great arm, but the team ran the ball 90% of the time, and also a tennis player. I went to SMU in Dallas, Texas. We were number 2 in football, tennis team was top 5. By coincidence, I ended up being roommates with a couple of elite-level tennis players. I was around the athletes and the athletic department at that school, and similarly, when I went to the University of Miami for law school, they were always competing (and winning national championships). I just had a lot of exposure to the athletic world. It became clear to me that competing at those levels was not the cards for me personally, so I considered a career in the sports agency industry, but ultimately felt that law was a bigger platform.
MM: What is your typical client in the sports and entertainment industry?
RE: Our clients range from professional athletes, both current and former, recording artists, influencers, music producers entrepreneurs working in the sports and entertainment industries. The common thread is that they’re high-achieving professionals who value trusted confidential guidance in managing their careers, but also their financial futures.
MM: I know you mentioned that you had some exposure to the athletic field. What are the skills and experiences that you have found most valuable while working here?
RE: The biggest, most important skill is understanding. Understanding the person, the personality, and taking a holistic approach to the service that we’re providing. On a micro level all of these clients value confidentiality it’s usually to an extreme level, so it’s a very unique dynamic, where in most industries, including law firms are touting their successes and their broadcasting there you know they’re big, corporate clientele, where we’re the opposite, we operate in a world where the less that is known the better and the our clients understand that a much as we’d love to broadcast we just don’t do it. It [confidentiality] is really valued, and we understand that.
MM: Are there any trends that you can talk about that you’re seeing in sports or entertainment law that clients should be aware of?
RE: In the sports world, the really big trend is with the NIL (Name Image and Likeness) because there are a bit court challenges and it’s evolving. We have not currently operated in that space, but we have a couple of clients that are moving into it pretty heavily, where we’re exploring whether it makes sense for us to be active in that space.
Other things, I think, there are always opportunities for monetization of brands. That’s very big through social platforms, and technology continues to influence people who are in the spotlight.
More often than not, we’re dealing with people who have made it financially, and therefore, what they’re trying to achieve is more asset protection, there’s more building their real estate portfolio, making other investments. I would say we skew more towards American football players on the sports side, but more recently, we’re doing a fair amount in the soccer world, which the rest of the world refers to as “football”.
We represent FIFA, the organization that puts on the World Cup. I’ll give a shout-out to FIFA as we just had the Club World Cup this summer, which was a big success in the United States (US), and they’re looking forward to one of the most successful World Cups coming up in summer 26 in multiple US locations, Mexico, and Canada as well. FIFA is an absolutely amazing organization; they have perhaps one of the best CEOs of any sports league I’m aware of.
To listen to the full interview, please visit HauteLiving TV on YouTube.
To contact Robert Elias or The Elias Fiirm PLLC
Call: 305-832-2500
Email: relias@eliaslaw.net
Visit website: https://eliaslaw.net/
