What the UEFA EURO 2024 tournament has taught us about ambush marketing for future events

This article discusses the key takeaways from the UEFA European Championships 2024 in Germany, focusing on advertising and ambush marketing. It examines the lessons for rights holders and tournament organizers on how they can protect their rights and effectively commercialize their event. It also looks at the considerations that brands, who are not associated with such events, must be mindful of when designing their marketing campaigns during these events.

Article Highlights

• Introduction
• What is Ambush Marketing?
  • Two forms of ambush marketing
  • Previous instances of ambush marketing campaigns
• How does UEFA protect itself from ambush marketing at the EUROs?
  • UEFA Rights Protection Programme
  • Rights Protection Programme requirements for host countries
• German laws
• UEFA’s protection against ambush marketing
• Do’s & Don’ts for brands
  • Do's 
  • Don’ts
• Conclusion

Introduction

The UEFA European Football Championship (“EUROs”) are recognised as the world’s third largest sporting event.^[1] The 2024 EUROs have attracted huge audiences in both those attending the championships in Germany and the millions watching around the globe remotely. Such large audiences present golden opportunities for brands’ marketing teams to catch the eyes of consumer. However, such marketing needs to remain compliant with the law and brands’ legal teams should ensure such marketing campaigns do not provoke UEFA into bringing action for an unlawful ambush marketing campaign including on the basis of trade mark infringement, unlawful competition or violation of local (German) advertising laws.