Dean Kino

Dean is a lawyer and strategic advisor to a broad range of national and international, private, public and governmental clients, including sporting bodies, media organisations and other corporate clients. His particular expertise – with over 20 years of focused practice throughout the world – includes advising clients on the acquisition, disposition, regulation and commercial exploitation of media, sports, talent, venue and event rights, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, governance and integrity and risk and crisis-management, as well as general commercial corporate and labour matters.

Between 2004 and 2014, Dean was Cricket Australia’s Company Secretary and General Manager of Legal and Business Affairs. While at Cricket Australia, Dean was instrumental in the establishment of the Indian Premier League and Champions League Twenty20, as well as leading the negotiations for Cricket Australia’s media rights deals and collective bargaining agreements.

Prior to joining Cricket Australia, Dean worked as an attorney with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, London, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Tokyo from 1999 to 2004. Dean’s areas of experience at the firm included major US, Asian and trans-Atlantic mergers and acquisitions, corporate advisory, management buyouts and US capital market transactions.

Since 2014, Dean’s servicing of his clients has included negotiating and managing:

• the creation of professional sporting events and competitions and new governing sports bodies and tournaments in various countries, including Australia, China, India, New Zealand, England and the UAE;
• the development of marketing, commercial, investment and licensing strategies and programs for numerous clients, including the NRL, the AFL, Netball Australia, Basketball Australia, Golf Australia, the ACA, RUPA and the Professional Pickleball League (PPL);
• equity, asset and license acquisitions into sports franchises, including Melbourne United, the Perth Wildcats and the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL, the Melbourne Mavericks in the Suncorp Super League and multiple IPL team franchises;
• numerous venue hire arrangements, licensing and merchandising arrangements and other customary arrangements for sporting bodies, venues and sports rights holders;
• the negotiation of team participation agreements and licenses for teams/franchises participating in numerous sporting leagues, in Australia, England, South Africa and India, including the NBL, BBL/WBBL, Super Netball League, WNBL, IPL, the PPL and the NRL;
• the acquisition or disposition of ICC, AFL, NRL, Cricket Australia, BCCI, IPL, FFA/A-League, Basketball Australia, Netball Australia, NBA, NBL, WWE, WNBL, Racing Queensland, APL, UKC, FIFA, ECB, UEFA and English Premier League media rights;
• the negotiation of major sponsorship/partnership agreements across numerous sports bodies and events, including sponsorship of the AFL, Supercars and participating teams, the Grand Prix Corporation, Cricket Australia, the NRL, the NBL, Basketball Australia, Golf Australia, Netball Australia, Rugby Australia, Australian PGA, Tennis Australia and the Australian Open, UFC, the A-League and W-League, the Adelaide FC, Essendon Football Club and Collingwood FC (AFL), the WAFL, Melbourne Storm, numerous BBL and WBBL teams, the IOC, the AOC, the APC, the Commonwealth Games, Swimming Australia, Athletics Australia, Optus Stadium in Perth, various esports teams (including Legacy, The Chiefs and Order), the Afghanistan Premier League, the Spartan Race, UFC, Melbourne United Basketball Club, Perth Wildcats Basketball Club and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, as well as partnership and government funding arrangements for major theatrical, sporting and cultural organisations and events, such as various state and national art galleries, Harry Potter the Cursed Child Parts One and Two, the Melbourne e-Sports Open, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, WorldPride, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, True North (Wanderlust), all Australian Boomers and Opals exhibition series in Australia and White Night;
• numerous collective bargaining agreements for each of the NRL, Cricket Australia, Basketball Australia (Boomers, Opals and WNBL), Netball Australia (Diamonds and SSN) and the Australian Cricketers Association, with my role being to lead the negotiations from the strategy development right through to the negotiation and documentation of CBAs, as well as assisting the AFL and other sports in their most recent CBA negotiations;
• the assessment of tenders and the drafting and negotiation of licensing agreements for the Web3 (tokens metaverse, gaming, fantasy, etc.) programs for Australian cricket, the NBL, the NRL, Crusty Demons, World Rugby, Village Roadshow and UNICEF as well as assisting numerous web3 licensees with their procurement of rights from rights holders across sport, fashion, culture and charitable causes;
• the acquisition of client ambassadors, particularly in Australia, China, the US, India and the UK, including Daniel Ricciardo, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Drake, Usain Bolt, Cathy Freeman, Ian Thorpe, Kevin Pietersen, Marnus Labuschagne, Ash Barty, Mack Horton, Nick Kyrgios, Adam Scott, Elsa Pataky, Ellie Cole, Drew Barrymore, Pamela Anderson, Russell Brand and Mark Wahlberg, including the negotiation of talent contracts for SEN, Optus, Magic Millions, Wanderlust and numerous other clients and the negotiation of playing contracts for the BBL and WBBL;
• the resolution of numerous integrity and code of behavior issues for governing sports bodies and sportsmen and sportswomen, as well as the representation of various sportspeople in disciplinary tribunal matters across five major sports;
• the review and changes to the governance of four major governing sport bodies in Australia; and
• the completion of numerous M&A transactions for clients in the digital marketing, leisure, media, F&B, technology and sports industries in Australia, India, Hong Kong, China, the UK, the United States, the UAE, Canada and Vietnam.

Dean’s clients include Optus, Racing Queensland, the Gold Coast Turf Club, the AFL, the NRL, Netball Australia, Basketball Australia, Golf Australia, the Australian Cricketers Association, Liberty Financial, BlockTrust, Kardinia Park Stadium Trust, Sports & Entertainment Network (SEN), Wanderlust, PPL, Mott32, Spartan Race, The Embrace Collective, GrowthOps, Fortress, GSM, iAthletic, Gelteq, Sportway, AppScore and numerous professional athletes.

• Director – The Chappell Foundation
• Director – Prahran Cricket Club
• Pro bono service provider for various organisations