Member Spotlight: Ryan Fairchild

By Landis Barber and Ryan Fairchild

Throughout the year, the Sports & Entertainment Law Section will be conducting interview spotlights of its members to showcase the careers of the section members. This month, the section is spotlighting Ryan Fairchild of Odin Law and Media. Fairchild is Chair of the Sports & Entertainment Law Section.

What brought you into sports or entertainment law?

Before beginning my career, including during law school, I played a lot of video games and watched a lot of esports (competitive video games). That interest led me to write about esports during a break I had after clerking with a federal judge and before starting private practice. When I interviewed with the firm I later joined, they asked me what area of law I would work in if I could do anything. I said esports. Despite none of the interviewing attorneys having heard of esports, members of the firm encouraged me to seek out opportunities. After asking a friend in the industry if he could connect me with people working in esports, the rest is history.

What area of sports or entertainment law do you practice?

Mostly gaming content creators, esports players, and video games more generally.

Many law students are interested in the day-to-day life of a sports or entertainment lawyer. What does your day-to-day practice look like?

I spend the bulk of my time reviewing contracts, including player-team agreements, sponsorship agreements, platform agreements, independent contractor agreements, and more. Other parts of my day-to-day work include drafting agreements, conferring with clients, and working on intellectual property matters like trademarks and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedowns.

What are new, rising, or expanding areas of the sports and entertainment industries beginning to generate new legal works?

Name, image, and likeness (NIL) work in college sports is on the rise, but looming even faster is the impact of artificial intelligence on creative work generally.

Beyond that, we are still seeing the rise of influencer-led businesses, and I expect to see that increase through the next decade. Virtual YouTubing (vtubing) is still in its infancy. However, I expect to see artificial intelligence intersecting with vtubing and other new forms of content creation, which will disrupt both industries and the law.

What new considerations do your clients need to consider in the next year or so as a result of current events?

With the economy cooling some and venture capital money in esports drying up, esports players need to focus more on building a brand they can leverage. A strong brand provides supplemental income, leverage with esports teams, and a post-competition future.

For content creators, I recommend they leverage their revenue streams and brands into ventures beyond just the content they create.

What sort of licensing issues do you deal with frequently in your practice?

I deal with name, image, and likeness licensing and content licensing on a daily (nearly hourly) basis. For content creators, rights in their content, name, and likeness are the lifeblood of what they do. The same is true of esports players. While teams ostensibly want esports players for their competitive ability, esports is still just another form of entertainment. Esports teams want to sell sponsorships against the eyeballs that players attract, so players’ content, name, and likeness are in many ways the lifeblood of esports, at least in addition to whatever game they’re playing.

For those interested in practicing in sports or entertainment law, what is a piece of advice would you share with them?

Whether it is contracts, intellectual property, labor, real estate, or another area, love the area of the law you practice in most. If you love the area of law, you will always enjoy the work regardless of the industry you find yourself in. Also, your reputation is your coin – always act ethically and professionally, and it will bless you 100 times over.

Do you know a sports or entertainment law attorney who deserves to be featured on our blog? Communications Co-Chairs Andrew Adams and Landis Barber would love to hear from you.