Stadium Financing

/Overview

Bringing stadium and arena projects to the finish line takes creativity, persistence, and a deep bench of financing options. Nixon Peabody advises municipalities and state authorities, club owners, leagues, investment banks, investors, and lenders on all aspects of sports facility finance, from project finance and government-sponsored funding to leveraged finance, securitizations, and capital markets transactions. We negotiate and draft core deal documents, including leases, naming rights, and other sponsorship agreements, as well as related operating arrangements.

As a recognized market leader in stadium finance and development, we structure projects across the full spectrum: government-owned and -financed facilities, public-private partnerships, private joint ventures, and fully private, project-financed venues. We also craft non-relocation agreements for maximum enforceability and coordinate league consent documentation to help keep teams—and revenues—where they belong.

/Representative experience

Barclays Center: Represented the underwriters in connection with the financing of the new home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, located in downtown Brooklyn, New York.

City of Los Angeles: Served as bond counsel in connection with the city’s financing of convention center facilities—replacing facilities slated for demolition to accommodate a new NFL football stadium—and other aspects of the stadium project.

DC United & Loudoun United FC: Served as counsel to the Los Angeles County in negotiation of the lease and related team license agreements, non-relocation agreement, and an affiliation agreement in connection with use of an arena and certain other fields and structures by DC United and Loudoun United FC.

Erie County/Ralph Wilson Stadium: Advised Erie County, New York, in negotiations with the Buffalo Bills on the financing of proposed renovations to Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park and a related extension of the stadium lease.

Lambeau Field: Represented the Green Bay/Brown County Professional Football Stadium District as co-bond counsel in connection with the financing of the redevelopment of Lambeau Field, home of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.

Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC): Represented since 2014 in connection with all aspects of the leasing, development, construction, and operation of (i) BMO Stadium in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, and (ii) the LAFC training facility on the Los Angeles campus of Cal State University, including with the lease for the operation of a food hall in an ancillary building.

New York Giants and New York Jets for the MetLife Stadium: Worked on two separate joint venture non-recourse project financings for each team—Project Finance Magazine’s “North American 2007 Leisure Deal of the Year.”

NFL Team: Advised a professional football team in connection with real estate and land use matters. We also advise the storied franchise on immigration matters.

Nissan Stadium: Served as special tax counsel to the Sports Authority of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County on the issuance of $345,795,000 Stadium Project Senior Revenue Bonds, Series 2023A.

Various Professional Sports Stadiums: Underwriters’ counsel in connection with the financing of Levi’s Stadium (San Francisco 49ers), Gillette Stadium (New England Patriots), Golden 1 Center (Sacramento Kings), Target Field (Minnesota Twins), and Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee Bucks), as well as counsel to the NYC Industrial Development Agency in connection with the development, construction, financing, and subsequent refinancings of bonds issued to provide funding for Citi Field and Yankee Stadium (New York Mets and New York Yankees).