Begging Lawyers for Sports Tickets Has an Etiquette All Its Own

Welcome back to the Big Law Business column. I’m Roy Strom, and today we look at the rush for sports tickets in New York this summer. Sign up for Business & Practice, a free morning newsletter from Bloomberg Law.

For Big Law’s sports industry partners, the most eventful summer in New York’s recent history is emerging as a low-stakes, corporate-tinged social tightrope. The payoff is meaningful time to bond shoulder-to-shoulder with clients.

While clients are most interested in getting tickets for the New York Knicks NBA Finals, other big events include the US Open for tennis and golf, and soccer’s World Cup, which will conclude at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey next month.

Clients employ varying strategies to inquire about tickets—even if the harder truth is that the most important clients don’t have to ask.

Lawyers say some clients end calls with a soft request: “If you have any extra tickets, I’d love to go.” It signals interest while belying desperation.

Others are more direct: “I need seats, what do you have?” That approach may indicate a more comfortable relationship with their lawyer—or just an assertive client.

The NBA Finals games at Madison Square Garden between the San Antonio Spurs and the hometown Knicks are a who’s-who of New York celebrities, power players—and Big Law partners. A group of firms have suites for the games, Bloomberg Law reported this week.

“The client interest in the Knicks is absolutely unprecedented—demand significantly exceeds supply,” said Jon Oram, head of the sports practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell. “It’s so rare to see everyone in New York focused on the same thing.”

But the mastering of ticket-request etiquette is useful beyond the Knicks. New York lawyers will descend next week on the Hamptons to take in golf’s third major championship of the year, the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.

The annual tennis US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium has grown into a major law firm-client relationship event.

And then there is what lawyers said is the hardest ticket of all: The FIFA World Cup Final. Even though it’s played in a giant stadium, the fanbase is global and there are fewer access points for tickets. FIFA isn’t in the business of giving out tickets.

The National Football League’s Super Bowl and the National Basketball Association’s All Star Game are other marquee annual events for sports lawyers. (Neither will take place in New York this year.) Formula 1 races are becoming more popular, too.

Because these week-long events are scheduled years in advance, hospitality events are baked in. New relationships are built and business gets done.

“You’re seeing more law firms doing events at major venues and sporting events,” said Eric Geffner, co-head of the sports group at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. “Sports is just very hot right now. It brings people together, and it’s one of the few things that does.”

Sports lawyers say most clients understand that there aren’t enough tickets for everybody who wants to go to these events. But the high demand for tickets exacerbates the risk of overbooking.

Woe unto the partner who invites too many clients to the suite. While no lawyer admitted to having faced that situation, one lawyer said the hypothetical solution is straightforward.

“We’d just kick the firm’s lawyers out,” the partner said, half-joking, but noting that law firms are a client service business.

Michael Kuh, who also co-heads Simpson’s sports group, said sitting at a game shoulder-to-shoulder, rather than face-to-face, elicits vulnerable, deeper conversations.

“I’ve had clients at sports games talk to me about their families, their children, their parents,” he said. “These are people who are at the top of their careers, and they are talking about whether they are experiencing job satisfaction. It’s conversations I would never have otherwise.”

There will be plenty of those conversations this summer—for the lucky clients who make the short list to attend the Big Apple’s summer of sports.

“It’s a good time to be in New York,” Davis Polk’s Oram said.

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That’s it for this week! Thanks for reading and please send me your thoughts, critiques, and tips.