|
Matthew Pace joined Duval & Stachenfeld in 2005 as a partner and is the founder of the Firm’s Sports Business Practice Group. The group focuses on meeting the specialized needs of companies who are either directly or indirectly involved in the business of sports. With over 20 years of professional experience, Matthew Pace brings a diverse set of skills and an innovative way of thinking to the Firm and the practice of law. From his nearly 10 years of practice as a corporate lawyer in two New York law firms to representing some of the biggest players in the sports and entertainment business, Mr. Pace is one of the most highly respected professionals in the sports business today. Mr. Pace worked for the law firms of Finley, Kumble and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy representing clients in complex corporate finance transactions, leveraged buy-outs and mergers and acquisitions from 1985 through 1994. In 1994, Mr. Pace set out to launch a career in the sports and entertainment world. Forsaking the traditional route of talent agencies or entertainment law firms, Mr. Pace joined Kaleidoscope Sports and Entertainment, a small sports marketing and television production company as their General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development. Two years after Mr. Pace joined Kaleidoscope, General Motors expanded their existing relationship with Kaleidoscope by appointing them as its exclusive sports and entertainment agency. As part of that appointment, Kaleidoscope was purchased by The Interpublic Group of Companies in 1996 and renamed GM EventWorks. Mr. Pace was named the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of GM EventWorks and was assigned to manage all of the sports marketing for General Motors, the largest sports marketer in the world. At GM EventWorks, Mr. Pace was responsible for advising General Motors on what sports properties to engage; negotiating the deals and creating marketing plans to leverage the assets once they had been purchased. Mr. Pace oversaw nearly $1 Billion in sponsorship deals for General Motors including deals with the USOC, NCAA, WNBA, Disney, Warner Brothers, PGA Tour and Nascar to name a few. In 2001, Mr. Pace became the Executive Director of Major League Lacrosse, the world’s first outdoor professional lacrosse league. During his term as Executive Director, Mr. Pace was responsible for securing the first national television contract for the sport of lacrosse with ESPN, securing the League’s sponsorship base and creating its current expansion model. Prior to joining Duval & Stachenfeld, Mr. Pace provided business development and partnership consulting to retailers Sam Goody and Foot Locker and high school marketing companies FAME Media and Ihigh. Mr. Pace is admitted to practice law in New York. | 