In today’s sports industry, image and reputation is sometimes just as expensive or as valuable as the cost of marketing for an entire year. How you say? Well for example, consider Tiger Woods who has been the most marketed and top grossing athlete in the world. After his reputation hit an all time low from his sexual encounters with numerous women while being married, most of Woods’s sponsors, endorsements, and marketing companies dropped him and his services. These companies understood the importance an image and reputation and how their trademarks could potentially be represented in his actions. Their brand and trademark was on the line with the reputation Woods developed, and in order to protect what these companies have built, it became an expensive and risky to continue to have Woods represent them and their trademarks.
We see these types of issues happening everywhere within the sports and business world. But in professional sports, playing within the league and/or team regulations in order to protect the brand and trademark is a must. There are more stipulations and rules that must be lived by in order to keep them from being suspended, fined, or even banned from the league. Protecting a leagues shield, property, or team logo comes first in the sports industry because their revenue is reliant on their reputation. Misusing a trademark can cause significant problems and potential income loss. And being that these leagues and professional teams draw so much attention and money, there are many potential trademark infringements suits due to outside businesses seeking to use these trademarks for illegal personal gain. “Trademark infringement occurs when one improperly uses another’s protected trademarks or uses a mark likely to cause confusion about the source of a product or service” (Conrad, 2006).
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Back in June of 2011, the National Football League was made aware of a few of their athletes in a promotional campaign for a party featuring alcohol, adult movie stars, and a three-day event for an adult-themed expo in Miami Florida. These athletes were in full uniform on the promotions ad and their names were listed as attendees to the event. As you could image, this is not the image the NFL wanted to be represented with and with the illegal use of the NFL trademark, the NFL had a potential case on their hands that needed to be addressed and dealt with for the betterment of its brand, league, and its financial implications. After touching base with the players represented in this promotion, it became aware that none of these players authorized their names, team logos, or the NFL shield to be used for the promotion of any such event. The company that used these names and trademarks illegally now had many potential legal issues of their own.
In this situation, the NFL acted appropriated in the matter by discussing the situation with the players first, then finding out the remaining facts. All too often the players can be blamed and punished first, before they have a chance to explain their sides of the story. Professional athletes are walking trademarks and with social media today, it is pretty difficult to protect your name and image without being exposed for someone else’s own personal financial gain. Chicago Bears spokesman Jim Christman explained, "many times players themselves are unaware of the violation and companies simply pull images and make ads not realizing they are in violation" (ESPNChicago.com 2011). None of these players were disciplined, but their names will forever be connected to such illegal actions, which in this case, is more expensive then the actual punishment.
Protecting trademarks is not easy or cheap; just ask all of the companies that represented Tiger Woods or the sports industry’s public relations departments. These illegal actions are always a potential problem for the sports industry. Players, logos, and shields will always be protected at the highest cost in order to serve as a better image for the fans. So in conclusion, keeping and protecting a positive image and reputation is worth a pretty penny, but crossing these protected lines will cost an ugly dime that most should not be willing to pay.
Check out these articles to learn more about this trademark infringement:
References:
Conrad, M. (2006). The business of sports: A primer for journalist. New Jersey London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
ESPNChicago.com. (2011, June 15). Nfl looks at risque ad. ESPN.cm, Retrieved from http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=6664169
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