Business case
Our client had acquired naming rights for the stadium of a major European football club, which was due to be renovated. Following alleged material changes to the stadium design, our client terminated the agreement. The club claimed that the loss of funding delayed the renovation works and sought damages of more than EUR 100 million.
The analysis made clear to the Tribunal that the dispute was not a mechanical question of termination and delay. It turned on whether the revised stadium design changed the value of the rights acquired and whether the claimed renovation losses were causally connected to the termination. That distinction gave the defence a more focused economic narrative under cross-examination.
We challenged the claimant’s damages case by testing whether the alleged design changes had affected the economic value of the naming-rights package. We assessed the claimant’s but-for renovation scenario against the evolving design evidence, construction timing and the commercial drivers of naming-rights value.