Jon H. Oram is a partner in Proskauer’s Corporate Department and a member of the Sports Law Group. Jon has a broad-based transactional practice with an emphasis on clients in the sports industry, including teams, leagues, owners, financial institutions, corporate sponsors and private equity funds.
Since joining Proskauer, Jon has represented the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour and various other sports leagues in their most significant transactional matters, including team ownership transfers, financings, expansions, relocations, bankruptcies and investigations. His experience includes representing MLB in connection with the Los Angeles Dodgers' television negotiations and bankruptcy proceeding, counseling MLS in its negotiations with David Beckham and its recent expansion transactions in New York, Orlando Philadelphia, Vancouver, Portland and Montreal, and advising the NBA in the formation of NBA China, L.P. and its $253 million private placement.
In addition, Jon regularly advises professional sports teams, including the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Jets, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New York Yankees, the San Diego Padres, the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros in a wide array of corporate matters, including team acquisitions, secured and unsecured financings, employment contracts with coaches and other key executives, and the sale of telecast, naming rights, sponsorship, seat license, apparel, Internet and other new media rights. Recently, Jon represented an ownership group led by the O'Malley and Seidler families in their purchase of the San Diego Padres for $800 million. In 2011, he advised Jim Crane and his partners in their acquisition of the Houston Astros and Shahid Khan in his purchase of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
