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Portrait ofDavid Zeffman

David Zeffman

Partner
Head of Gambling and Sport

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Cannon Place
78 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6AF
United Kingdom
Languages English

David has been one of the leading lawyers in the UK media sector for over 30 years and has extensive experience providing strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to clients in the gambling, sport and television sectors. He has been involved in many of the major transactions that have taken place in these sectors, including the launch of several television channels and the sale of media rights to some of the world's biggest sporting competitions.

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"One of the top advisers in the UK, with a spectacular portfolio of clients."

Who's Who Legal

"A genius in his subject and a patient, humble adviser on all deals, large or small."

Chambers, 2023

"David Zeffman has vast experience in the gambling sector."

Legal 500, 2023

"Offers significant experience handling an array of transactional and regulatory matters in gambling sector. He is praised for his "demeanour and knowledge" and "is a master at assembling an expert team, both internally and cross-border, to handle very complicated matters with ease"."

Chambers, 2022

"He is a pleasure to work with. He understands the racing and gambling industry inside out and also understands the commercial requirements, so is able to advise accordingly."

Chambers, 2022

"David Zeffman is one of the most impressive senior lawyers I have worked with. He is clear, logical, decisive and quick."

Chambers, 2022

"David Zeffman is top of the game in the gambling law context. He is at the forefront of gambling industry developments."

The Legal 500, 2022

"David Zeffman is a figure of prominence within the market and has advised on sales of media rights for some of the largest global sporting competitions."

The Legal 500, 2022

Relevant experience

Gambling

  • Gamesys on a range of commercial, regulatory and corporate matters including: the sale of its JackpotJoy and other brands to Intertain for an initial payment of GBP 425.8m; on its c.£490m sale to JPJ Group plc and pre-sale carve out of its sports betting and games content business, advising on its online gaming partnership with the New Jersey casino Tropicana; and the acquisition of Virgin Games.
  • The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association on its legal challenges to the UK Government’s reform of the taxation of remote gambling services and to the introduction of place of consumption licensing and regulation in Britain.
  • Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp on multi-jurisdictional regulatory reviews and due diligence in support of its agreement to combine with Super Group, the parent company of leading global online sports betting and gaming businesses Betway and Spin, valuing the combined group at USD 4.75bn.

Sport

  • The England and Wales Cricket Board on its GBP 1.1bn sale of the UK media rights to English cricket from 2020-2025.
  • The International Cricket Council on its global media rights tender, bidding and evaluation process for 18 tournaments between 2015 and 2023.
  • The Government on the future funding of British horseracing following the decision of the European Court of Justice in the William Hill v BHB database rights case.
  • FIFA on the worldwide sale of media rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
  • Setanta Sports, SingTel, Sky Italia, Dentsu and many others on their acquisition of rights to broadcast Premier League football.

TV

  • The launch and/or subsequent operations of many television channels since the launch of satellite television in the 1980s including MTV Europe, VH1, FilmFour, E4, AtTheRaces, Bloomberg and Eurosport.
  • The set up, funding, launch and all activities of the DTT pay television platform Top Up TV.
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Memberships & Roles

  • Member - International Masters of Gaming Law.
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Education

  • 1980 - MA Jurisprudence,  Brasenose College, Oxford
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Feed

06/03/2024
Gambling Commission Consultation: Financial Penalties and Financial Key...
In­tro­duc­tion The Gambling Commission (the “GC”) has opened a consultation on proposed changes relating to financial penalties and financial key event reporting. The proposed changes to financial...
29/01/2024
Gambling White Paper Consultations: Consumer-led tools
On the 29 November 2023, the Gambling Commission (“GC”) released its second set of con­sulta­tions on the Gambling White Paper which covers five key areas: Socially responsible in­cent­ivesCus­tomer-led...
29/01/2024
Gambling White Paper: Socially responsible incentives
On the 29 November 2023, the Gambling Commission (“GC”) released its second set of consultations on the Gambling White Paper which covers five key areas:Socially responsible in­cent­ivesCus­tomer-led...
24/01/2024
Upheld – ASA Ruling on Buzz Group LTD
In the latest example of the new strong appeal rules in action, on 3 January 2024 the ASA issued a ruling which was upheld concerning a post on Buzz Group Ltd’s (“Buzz Group”) Facebook page (the...
20/12/2023
Gambling White Paper: Embracing the Future with a Statutory Levy
On 29 November 2023, the Gambling Commission (GC) published their second set of con­sulta­tions on the Gambling White Paper, which cover five key areas:Socially responsible in­cent­ivesCus­tomer-led toolsImproved...
19/12/2023
Gambling White Paper: Improved transparency on customer funds in the event...
On the 29 November 2023, the Gambling Commission (“GC”) released its second set of consultations on the Gambling White Paper which covers five key areas: Socially responsible in­cent­ivesCus­tomer-led...
19/12/2023
Gambling White Paper: Changes to the frequency of regulatory returns submissions
On the 29 November 2023, the Gambling Commission (“GC”) released its second set of consultations on the Gambling White Paper which covers five key areas:Socially responsible in­cent­ivesCus­tomer-led...
05/12/2023
UK ICO enforcement threat for gambling companies failing to comply with...
On 21 November 2023, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), the UK’s data protection reg­u­lat­or, is­sued a statement warning that websites face enforcement action if they do not make...
30/11/2023
Mecca Bingo faces criticism over Instagram ad implying gambling boosts...
Mecca Bingo has recently found itself in hot water following a complaint about one of its Instagram ads (“the ad”). The Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) upheld the complaint, asserting...
10/11/2023
DCMS Consultation on proposals for a maximum stake limit for online slots...
On 26 July 2023, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published its public consultation which proposes potential stake limits for online slot games. This Consultation directly followed on...
10/11/2023
Upheld – ASA consider Gary Neville and Anthony Joshua to be of strong appeal...
On 1 October 2022, a new gambling advertising rule was introduced (a summary of which can be read here) which strengthened the obligations on gambling operators to ensure the content of their ads is...
09/11/2023
CMS advises LiveScore Group on two strategic deals
International law firm CMS has advised global sports media business, LiveScore Group, on two strategic deals with South Africa-based software development specialist, Wonderlabz, and Swedish sports betting...