Trademarks in Sports: How Teams and Athletes Use IP to Build Brands

 Introduction

Sports as an activity is so much involved in our daily lives, whether it is playing sports physically or watching it on Television or in stadiums, it brings people together regardless of origin, religion, gender, and age, whether it’s a teenage child or a senior citizen, we all love to watch sports and witness our favorite sports stars perform well for their franchises or country. A single player has a fan base of a million people. These athletes are celebrated for their consistency, hard work, and determination on the field, and as much as their names speak for their performances, they do so off the field also and can be just as powerful.

Trademarks are important tools that are used by teams and athletes to protect their brand identity. Thus, trademarks in sports are not just something related to fan bases, franchises, and team players. The game is beyond that, and this blog will explore how trademarks are serious revenue generators as far as the field of sports is concerned, and how athletes leverage their names into successful and famous brands.

What are trademarks, and why are they important to sports?

So, Trademarks are marks of trade that distinguish one brand’s products and services from another brand’s products and services by means of logo, names, tagline, symbol, or any kind of expression and in the field of sports, when we apply this, it means a trademark could be the logo of a sports team or a particular player, or any slogan that is being used by the fans.

[1]

Whether it is for normal business owners or for sporting entities or sports players individually, trademarks really come as life savers as they protect their brands from other infringers who intend to bank on the reputation of these sporting professionals. This protection provides assurance that the trademark may be used only by authorized parties related to a particular team or player. We live in a world where sports stars bank on their names they created over the years of hard work on the pitch and receive massive endorsement deals, sponsorships, which are crucial revenue generators for these sports stars apart from what they earn as salaries.

How are trademarks revenue generators in the world of sports?

The role of trademarks is not just limited to being a protective mechanism, but they also play the role of customer pulling while being a revenue-generating asset. Teams and athletes seem to have understood the value of their names and their team names, and also how they can be made cash cows to achieve maximum financial success. First, they will secure their trademarks, and then they will enter into licensing agreements with merchandise makers to ensure that they are the only ones to sell items such as jerseys, socks, wristbands, etc.

Sports in itself is a fully developed field and a multi-billion-dollar industry. The day players and teams realize that their salaries may not be the only way they can earn but its beyond that.

In modern days, athletes are no longer just athletes; they are brands. Many top sports stars have already realized the potential of their names and trademarked their names, nicknames, slogans, and logos, which they use for business interests. The only reason these sports stars were able to make their names, nicknames, slogans, and logos into a brand is because of their fan bases. The people all over the world are so passionate about sports that they love watching their favorite stars and idolize them. Before entering the stadium, they want to buy jerseys with their names on the back. Now, let's take some famous examples of some sports stars who created their own brands. Michael Jordan is one of them with the “JUMPMAN” logo, Cristiano Ronaldo’s “CR7” and Lionel Messi’s stylish Messi logo; similarly, tennis stars like Roger Federer have trademarked the “RF” Logo. While in cricket, Indian players are known for their brands off the pitch, of course, like Virat Kohli “VK18” or “One8” and MS Dhoni as “MSD”.

Now these trademarks not only protect the brand identity of these sportsmen but also open various business opportunities such as endorsement, merchandise, which generate massive wealth for these sports stars.

Many emotions are attached to a particular player or a team, and these trademarks are also a result of their continuous loyalty and love towards their favorite sportsperson. The success of a team depends on how much a fan is willing to pay for purchasing merchandise, stadium tickets, and subscriptions to exclusive content.

Trademarks in sponsorships and endorsements

Now we will discuss how trademarks work in sponsorships and endorsements. When a sports player trademarks their name, logo, and tagline, it goes on to become their brand identity. Sponsors and companies then use these trademarks in advertising, campaigning to connect with their respective fan bases.  For example, let's say there is a shoe company now, this shoe company gets into a contract with a particular player to use their trademarked name, symbol on their shoes when they might be selling special edition shoes. This collaboration really helps both parties on a business level because, as we know, fans are emotionally connected to their sports heroes means that whatever the sports players do or launch, their fan bases will be more than happy to follow them and do the same thing that is the reason companies bring on board top athletes whose name speaks for themselves and that is how company maximize their sales and earn profit and in the same deal according to what the contract says and athlete agreed to will receive the payment percentage accordingly. So basically it’s a win-win situation for both parties, maximization of profit by the company, and the player too gets their payment and a wider set of fans.

Protecting against Counterfeiting and Infringement

Lets now discuss how counterfeiting and infringement of trademark in the area of sports can disrupt the business of genuine companies and sportspersons. As sports is now global and connected, the risk of trademark violation have also increased. There are sellers who are unknown and unauthorized trying to sell the products with a team’s logo or an individual athlete’s name at a price lower which is offered by genuine and authorized sources due to which the customers being unaware of this fact purchases it from the sources which are unauthorized attracted by the lower price and It is a huge loss for the company and athletes financially and also to that there is no guarantee that the products which are being sold by these unauthorized sources are genuine or fake. Now here comes trademark to the rescue of these companies and athletes when a trademark is protected, and if there is any information of its misuse in any way, then cease-and-desist letters are sent, and lawsuits are filed to take action against counterfeiting and infringement. This level of protection gives assurance at least that the fans are getting official and genuine merchandise and that teams, athletes get to profit from their registered trademark.

The future of Trademarks in sports

The sports industry is a booming business and growing area of interest and as it is growing because of the players their names are doing the business off the pitch for them and players have realized the financial potential of their names so they turn them into brands and trademarked them so that only them and sources connected to them can use their trademark. And in the new generation the social media is a game changer for the athletes as they continue to grow their fanbases there. In the coming future, we can expect more and more players to trademark their names, nicknames, logos, and taglines because these will help them earn money through business, endorsement, and sponsorship deals. In online gaming, there is a rise of NFTs,s virtual reality athletes may even trademark digital avatars. Thus, even after their playing career ends, their names will still speak for themselves, which means trademarks will play a bigger role in helping athletes protect their brands and, at the same time, turning them into cash cows.

For athletes or teams, trademarks in sports are more than just a legal formality. They are the lifeblood of a brand. They can build loyalty and, at the same time, build business for athletes and also protect them from any kind of infringement and counterfeiting from any unauthorized sources. If we expect sports to grow in all parts of the world, then at the same time, we must expect trademarks to develop also. So suitably employed trademarks not only protect the identity but it also opens doors for various business opportunities for the sports persons as sports persons career is short if we take it by age and they need something to sustain on after their playing career is over so this is the right means by which they can earn even after they have left the sport.

Author: PRANAV, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at  Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney. 

References

1.     New York Yankees Partnership v. M. P. G. Co. (1985)

2.     National Football League Properties, Inc. v. The Wichita Falls Sportswear, Inc. (2002)

3.     L.A. Lakers, Inc. v. Federal Insurance Co. (1999)

4.     FC Barcelona v. Topps Europe Ltd (2015)

5.     Nike, Inc. v. Already, LLC (2012)

[1] Author name-Pranav,   4^th year BBA.LLB KIIT School of Law, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha  email- 2282073@kls.ac.in