Richard L. Brand Named Sports Partner of the Year at 2026 IFLR Americas Awards

Presented annually by IFLR, the awards recognize the lawyers and teams behind the most innovative and impactful transactions across the Americas. Rich was selected from a highly competitive field of sports practitioners for his leadership in some of the industry’s most significant commercial transactions. 

Over the past year, Rich led a series of market-defining transactions across professional sports: 

• The Los Angeles Lakers: Advised on the sale of a controlling majority interest in The Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most valuable and globally recognized franchises in professional sports.  

• Nu Stadium: Represented Inter Miami CF, the 2025 MLS Cup champion, in one of the largest naming rights transactions for a soccer-specific stadium in MLS history. The multiyear agreement with Nubank named the club’s new stadium at Miami Freedom Park and reset market expectations across the league. 

• McDonald’s Park: Represented Chicago Fire FC in a historic naming rights and sponsorship transaction tied to the club’s privately funded $750 million stadium development at The 78 in Chicago — McDonald’s first naming rights partnership for a major professional sports stadium in the United States. 

The honor adds to a growing list of recognitions for Rich and the Sports Industry Group, which was named a Law360 Practice Group of the Year in the Sports & Betting category in 2025. Rich has been named one of the Daily Journal’s Top 100 Lawyers six times and has also been recognized by Chambers USA, as a Leading Lawyer by Legal 500, in The Best Lawyers in America — including with a Lawyer of the Year distinction — and as a Sports Business Journal Power Player.