| Biography:
Joseph M. Leccese is a partner in Proskauer Rose LLP's Corporate Department and co-chair of the Sports Law Group. He has a broad-based corporate practice with particular emphasis on the representation of professional sports leagues and teams and financial institutions that provide capital to such leagues and teams.
Joe's sports experience includes numerous matters for the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour, as well as for a number of individual sports teams and other sports-related entities. These matters have included the formation of NBA China, an entity that will operate all of the NBA’s businesses in Greater China, and the related issuance of $253 million in limited partner units to investors; the NBA's $1.7 billion League-wide credit facility; the lease, development and financing of new football stadia for the New York Jets and the Philadelphia Eagles and new arenas for the New Jersey Devils, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Bobcats; the ATP Tour's $1.2 billion transaction with ISL relating to the worldwide television and marketing rights to the ATP World Championships and Super 9 Tournaments; the formation and structuring of the Women's National Basketball Association; the exploitation of Internet rights; national and international television contracts with major telecasters; joint ventures between sports entities and media and technology companies; franchise and tournament transfers and financings; other key agreements relating to arenas and stadia, including naming rights, seat licenses and related arrangements; licensing and other matters relating to the exploitation of intellectual property; the NHL's grants of expansion franchises to Atlanta, Columbus, Nashville and Minnesota in 1998-2000; and the NBA's grant of expansion franchises to Charlotte in 2002, Toronto and Vancouver in 1995, and Charlotte, Miami, Minnesota and Orlando in 1988 and 1989.
Joe also has been involved in a number of matters relating to the acquisition, financing, operation and equity funding of professional sports teams, including the acquisition of the Washington Nationals for Theodore N. Lerner, the New York Jets for Robert Wood Johnson IV and the Philadelphia Eagles for Jeffrey R. Lurie. Joe continues to represent these and other clubs on a continuing basis.
Joe has represented both banks and bond insurers in transactions relating to sports properties, including facilities financings (such as the bond financing for Citi Field in New York) and loans to teams and team owners.
Joe also has extensive media and communications experience that includes numerous acquisitions, dispositions and private and public financings relating to cable television systems, network and independent television stations, radio stations, magazines and other publishing, and trade shows.
Chambers USA has ranked Joe in the first tier as a leading individual in Sports Law. He also has been recognized by Lawdragon 500 as one of the leading dealmakers in the nation. In 2003, Joe was named one of the “45 Rising Stars of the Private Bar” under age 45 by The American Lawyer. In his younger days, Joe was named to “Forty under 40” lists by Crain’s New York and the Sports Business Journal.
Joe is a graduate of Georgetown University and The University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review. Joe also served as law clerk to Judge Joseph J. Longobardi in the Federal District of Delaware.
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