The Lifecycle Of An International Athlete – Negotiating Sponsorship & Endorsements Deals
This blog in our series for international athletes explains the key points to consider when entering into sponsorship and endorsement deals or merchandising agreements.
Most athletes in most sports have relatively few years at the top. The average playing career of a Premier League footballer is eight years, and it’s a similar story at the highest level of most other professional sports. For this reason alone, it is important that athletes and their advisers consider how to leverage their elite status and commercialise their name and image rights, through sponsorship and endorsements (and possibly also merchandising). Not only is it an important revenue stream but it may also enable the athlete to maintain their “brand value” long after their playing career has come to an end.
This blog examines some of the key issues to consider including:
- What are the different options available to athletes?
- What are the main things that athletes should be considering?
- What are the key terms to be considered when negotiating a contract?
- Exclusivity
- Marketing rights granted
- Reputation management
- Athlete’s liability
- Control and approvals
- Overall strategy
To continue reading or watching login or register here
Already a member? Sign in
Get access to all of the expert analysis and commentary at LawInSport including articles, webinars, conference videos and podcast transcripts. Find out more here.
- Tags: Commercial | Employment | Endorsement | Sponsorship | UK
Related Articles
- #Sport: The digital battle between sponsors, rights holders and ambush marketers
- Top of the league: How football clubs protect and exploit their brands in a global marketplace
- Matrix Chambers announced as sponsor of the LawInSport Annual Conference Understand the Rules of the Game 2017
Written by
Mary-Clare Palmer
Mary-Clare is an associate in Penningtons Manches Cooper's IP, IT and commercial team in Oxford. She advises on a range of commercial agreement, intellectual property and data protection issues.
Global Summit 2024
andy pittman
I enjoy reading these articles and comparing them to situations here in the US. We are dealing with NIL (Name image and likeness) , NFT (Non fungible tokens) and making college athletes employees of their college. Nobody knows where all of this is eventually heading.
reply