Cambridge United Becomes First Football Club to Sign Players Using AI

We’re proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Cambridge United Football Club - and it's one that’s particularly close to home.

As of today, Cambridge United becomes the first professional football club to manage all player contracts end-to-end using artificial intelligence. With Genie AI, the club can now draft, review, and approve legally robust player contracts faster and more affordably just in time for the transfer window closing on 1st September.

“Growing up in Cambridge, it’s an absolute pleasure to help the Club sign their players in line with EFL regulations through the use of AI.”
— Rafie Faruq, Co-founder & CEO, Genie AI

Football Meets Legal-Tech: A Local Collaboration With Global Potential

This collaboration is more than a legal upgrade - it’s a strategic move that brings together two local Cambridge success stories.

Following major investments in its training ground and stadium, Cambridge United continues to operate at Premier League levels of innovation. Behind the scenes, the club handles a wide variety of contracts - from sponsorships and stadium catering to complex multi-party property agreements. Now, Genie AI will automate these workflows by:

• Generating compliant contracts from approved templates
• Surfacing clause deviations and risks in seconds
• Reducing review cycles from weeks to days
• Ensuring consistency with EFL guidelines while offering flexibility on custom clauses (e.g. bonuses, appearances)

Instead of coding trees or rule-based templates, soon clubs will be able to use smart questionnaires which operate using information from the club’s own documents. The platform will provide playbook-based options automatically, meaning no more wrestling with Word or waiting on external counsel.

Saving Time, Reducing Costs, Signing Faster

The immediate benefit? Speed and savings.

“If we can keep the same legal quality while saving serious time and money, that’s exactly the kind of smart decision that lets us reinvest in players, facilities and our matchday experience.”
— Alex Tunbridge, CEO, Cambridge United FC

Early pilots of Genie AI showed it slashed legal turnaround time - meaning more time focused on player recruitment and fan engagement. With multiple signings planned ahead of the transfer deadline, United is using AI where it matters most: unlocking operational efficiency without sacrificing legal quality.

A First for Football (and a First for AI)

No football club has publicly stated the use of AI specifically for drafting, reviewing or negotiating player contracts - until now.*

While other teams experiment with AI in scouting or performance analysis, Cambridge United is setting a new standard for how football clubs handle legal work. It’s also a milestone moment for the legal tech industry:

• AI isn’t just reviewing documents anymore. It’s closing deals.
• This isn’t theoretical. This is live on our platform.
• And yes, it’s compliant with EFL requirements.

“The challenges Cambridge United faces in managing contracts - ensuring accuracy, reducing turnaround times, and maintaining fairness - are shared by organisations everywhere. Genie empowers them to focus on the pitch while we handle the paperwork.”
— Rafie Faruq, Co-founder & CEO, Genie AI

What’s Next?

Cambridge United will continue rolling out Genie AI across its contract workflows throughout the 2025 season. Live test cases include:

• Player signings
• Sponsorship agreements
• Commercial supplier contracts

Later this year, we’ll share results with the wider football and legal communities.

About Genie AI

Genie AI is the safest place to contract. Our autonomous legal agents draft, review and track contracts using your pre-approved language, with 97% accuracy on critical issues and 92% counterparty acceptance. Genie reduces legal review time by 4.2 hours per contract and scales from startups to enterprise in over 40 languages. We're backed by Google Ventures, Khosla Ventures and 150,000+ businesses globally.

Experience Genie for yourself: why not try creating a legal document for free or book a demo.

*No other football club has publicly stated that it uses AI to draft, review or negotiate player contracts. Our research covered major leagues and official statements across Europe and the US.

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