Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

Welcome to the first blog in our AI and Outsourcing series, where we explore the disruptive and transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on outsourcing and managed services transactions.

While morals clauses have long been common in athlete endorsement agreements, their importance to sponsorship agreements between teams and sponsors is mounting as brands seek greater protection against reputational harm tied to their association with a team. In the team sponsorship context, however, the analysis will differ.

Please join partner Marie Davy and of counsel Emily Lowe on Thursday, April 30, 2026 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm ET for a discussion on current issues and key contractual provisions in global distribution agreements. Topics will include territory and exclusivity, compliance, and intellectual property protection.

World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, 2026 provides a timely lens through which to examine the increasingly complex role that intellectual property (IP) and commercial rights play across the sports industry. Far beyond traditional questions of trademark, copyright, patent, and design protection, the modern sports ecosystem is shaped by layered rights and contractual structures governing athlete branding, sponsorships, media distribution, data, venue technology, and emerging artificial intelligence (AI)-driven uses.

While stadium naming rights agreements have traditionally focused on the core commercial points one would expect—category exclusivity, signage rights, use of trademarks, media integration, hospitality benefits—as more stadiums host global events such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, temporary obscuring signage language has become an increasingly important consideration in naming rights negotiations.

The White House’s April 3, 2026 executive order, Urgent National Action to Save College Sports, signals a sharp expansion of federal involvement in college sports by moving beyond broad policy statements and toward an enforcement-focused framework tied to federal funding.

In our May 2025 blog post, Study Finds Average Cost of Data Breaches Significantly Increased Globally in 2024, we highlighted the key findings of the Ponemon Institute’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024. The Ponemon Institute has now published its Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025, showing a decrease in data breach costs, driven by faster identification and containment. Each year, the report sets forth a vast dataset analyzing data breaches at hundreds of organizations to spot trends and developments in security risks and best practices.

Join partner Ben Klaber and of counsels Ariel Seeley and Eric Pennesi on Thursday, April 9, 2026 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm ET for a discussion on innovations and trends in digital health. Topics will include artificial intelligence and connected devices, as well as data governance and regulatory developments.

We are currently witnessing a fundamental shift in the role that AI plays in enterprise operations, transitioning from a system that responds when prompted to one that plans, decides, and acts on its own. This shift has a name: agentic AI. And for business leaders and counsel advising on technology strategy, it deserves serious attention right now.

Two years ago, many technology agreements addressed artificial intelligence (AI), if at all, through a generic disclaimer or a brief acknowledgment that AI features might be included in the offering. Today, that approach is inadequate. The integration of AI into commercial products, outsourcing arrangements, and enterprise software agreements has forced a rethinking of longstanding contract frameworks.