Rooney Scores Win by Kicking Image Rights Agreement into Touch - Proactive Sports Management v Rooney and Stoneygate, High Court

Wayne Rooney had assigned his image rights to S, to act on his behalf with negotiating sponsorship deals. P agreed with S whereby P would act on behalf of S for exploiting some those rights. The agreement was for eight years and P was entitled to be paid commission at the rate of 20%. The parties got into a dispute and S stopped paying P commission. S argued that the contract was in restraint of trade.

The High Court agreed that the contract was in restraint of trade and it was therefore void. It had been entered into when the footballer was just 17 years old. He had no commercial experience and was unsophisticated in financial and contractual matters. The terms of the agreement had been dictated by P and there had been no negotiation as to the terms. The contract was for a long period of time and did not provide for different commission rates according to revenue levels. Rooney and S had not taken independent legal advice as to the...