Introduction

Abstract

‘Sport and the law’ is, for sure, something of a niche interest – though, thanks to Jean-Marc Bosman (and Jean-Louis Dupont too) it is a good less esoteric to claim an interest in sport and the law today than it was back in the distant 1980s when I first grappled with the complexities – but it is one that repays the investment of time and energy. Researching the field tells us something about sport, of course. But it tells us something about EU law too. Examination of the special character of sport when placed under EU law’s microscope reveals the scope of EU trade law’s adaptability to the particular context in which it is applied. And the story of EU sports law told through the case law illuminates the way in which EU law is exploited by actors as a lever to prise open sometimes long-established organisational patterns. Sport has in recent years become more commercialised and more juridified too. The challenges to its self-regulatory preferences have strengthened, and EU law plays a significant part in this narrative. But how to assess the quality of the EU’s contribution?