Will Deller

Will Deller is a Partner at Bird & Bird in London. His practice focuses on Entertainment Law, specifically the sport, gaming and media sectors.

Will advises clients on the key commercial agreements that underpin their businesses, with a particular focus on sport, gaming and media. His practice is mainly focused on commercial and contractual matters, though he also has experience in advising on league structuring, rule drafting and interpretation, and other sports regulatory issues.

On the commercial side, he routinely advises on sponsorship and media rights, as well as games publishing and development agreements. He also advises clients from a range of industry sectors on other areas of law, including gambling regulation, advertising and consumer protection.

He has gained experience working across a number of different sports, including football, rugby, cricket, tennis, horseracing, golf and motor racing. He also has extensive experience client-side through multiple secondments at a Premier League football club and a national football governing body.

In addition, he leads the firm's rapidly expanding esports practice, advising stakeholders from across the industry on issues ranging from sponsorship and player contracts through to rule drafting and brand protection. In 2019, he was awarded the "Rising Star" award at the Legal Week Innovation Awards for his role in building the firm's esports practice, and in the same year he was commended in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Report for his work in helping Intergalactic Gaming establish its blockchain-based esports tournament platform. He was also ranked as a "Rising Star" in the 2020 edition of Legal 500.

His experience includes advising Six Nations Rugby on the agreement appointing Guinness as the title sponsor to the Guinness Six Nations Championship, acting on Arsenal Football Club's latest kit supplier agreement, one of the biggest deals of its kind in football, and advising The Football Association on the sale of its international media rights for The FA Cup.

He studied History & Politics at Oxford University and was admitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2014.