Sports And Intellectual Property Rights

Commercialization of sports has become enormous. Marketing through franchising as well as brand building of sports, sportsmen, and events has gained gigantic importance. In such a scenario, Intellectual Property protection is needed as a safeguard. For the people who run the show, it is a multi-billion business, and protecting this business is the strong arm of Intellectual Property.

Sports, for a very long time, was just considered to be a recreational activity. However, it has now become one of the major sources of entertainment and a big market for business. The Sporting Events are no longer just Sporting Events as money has now acquired an enormous role in all sporting events and the Corporatization of sports has become massive. A major portion of revenue flows from various activities such as branding, merchandising, licensing, etc. which involve exploitation of various Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) of sports clubs/ teams. In the formation of a sports team or club or organizing of a sporting event, a great deal of Intellectual Property (IP) is generated. Marketing through franchising as well as brand building of sports, sportsmen, and the sporting event has gained gigantic importance, surpassing all other major aspects of a game.

Popular games such as cricket, football, tennis, carracing, and so on have evolved into international sporting events with huge following, making way for colossal marketing potential for organizers. Therefore, the sports franchisees are tapping and capitalizing on various Intellectual Property Rights created by them. This is then used in the form of merchandising, advertising, licenses, etc. mainly for creating brand equity and reputation, in turn building huge profits. We can take examples from teams to even individuals who have started making their own brands to taglines which are trademarked and used commercially to extract gains and benefits. The business quotient in sports is way past to what one could have imagined a few decades ago.

There is no particular law that protects the proprietary material and resolves all the issues that arise out of them. Numerous laws are resorted to in order to safeguard the business interests involved in sports. IP laws form a chief part of such laws and are often pressed into service in tackling various legal issues.