Oppenhoff advises comprehensively on the foundation of the Icon League

Oppenhoff has provided comprehensive legal advice on the foundation of the Icon League, which was established by world-soccer star Toni Kroos and the well-known German streamer Elias Nerlich (alias Eligella or EliasN97). In addition to preparing the legal structure and its contractual implementation, the interdisciplinary team's advice included in particular the specific aspects of media, trademark and data protection law as well as employment law issues.

The alternative indoor football league comprises 14 teams that compete against each other in a 5-a-side format and are captained by celebrities from the worlds of sport and entertainment - such as Franck Ribéry, Antonio Rüdiger, Claudio Pizarro, David Alaba as well as the German music artists Luciano, Finch and Ski Aggu. Each season features 13 match days, the play-ins and a final. The first match day took place on 1 September 2024 in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne in front of a sold-out crowd of 20.000 spectators. The Icon League is broadcast live on the streaming platform "Twitch" and the TV channel Pluto TV.

Sascha Breese, CEO of the Icon League, stated: "With Oppenhoff, we have gained a global player and absolute expert in comprehensive legal advice for the Icon League. Thanks to its outstanding expertise and extensive resources in all areas of law, we have jointly laid the foundations for a new league and developed and decisively shaped the legal framework for the statutes, the contractual integration of the teams and all match and player contracts. We are very happy to have Oppenhoff at our side as a long-term partner and team player."

The Oppenhoff team led by Alf Baars (Corporate, Commercial) comprised Christian Saßenbach, Dr. Marc Hilber, Dr. Jürgen Hartung (Commercial, Data Protection), Caterina Hanke (Commercial), Georg Lecheler, Dr. Patric Mau (IP, Media, Sponsoring), Dr. Fee Mäder (Trademarks), Dr. Alexander Willemsen, Moritz Coché and Marko Vraetz (Employment).

Oppenhoff has renowned legal expertise in the field of sports and entertainment and regularly advises event organisers, sponsors, streaming platforms, publishers, athletes, teams as well as management and sports agencies in this area. Oppenhoff has its own initiative in the gaming and e-sports sector.

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