Marketing your bar for the World Cup? FIFA’s strict trademark rules could
With tens of thousands of footy fans expected to descend onto the city for the World Cup, the tournament is being seen as a golden business opportunity by many local bars and restaurants.
But they have to walk a fine line around how they market themselves or risk violating FIFA’s intellectual guidelines, which are notoriously strict and could land them a cease and desist notice.
To get a sense of FIFA’s branding rules, CBC News went through its publicly shared intellectual property guidelines and its hosting addendum with the city.
Here’s what we found:
Words like ‘World Cup’ off limits
Unless a commercial establishment is a licensed partner, using words like “FIFA” and “World Cup” in marketing isn’t allowed, according to FIFA’s guidelines. Using certain trademarked images, like the official World Cup trophy, is also off-limits.
It may seem like a lot, but many high-profile sporting events engage in such practices out of commitment to their partners, said Cheri Bradish, a sports marketing professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, who also runs its Future of Sport Lab.
“They [FIFA] work very hard to control the marketplace … because they need to protect the integrity, in theory, of those partners that have paid millions of dollars to be associated with the World Cup and FIFA as a brand,” she said.
Some of FIFA’s official partners include Coca-Cola, The Home Depot and Adidas.
In its guidelines, FIFA says businesses and the public can still celebrate the tournament by sticking to “generic football or country-related images” and terms.
Special rules around stadiums
Toronto will host six FIFA matches at Toronto stadium, a venue that was temporarily renamed because of — take a guess — branding rules.
The first game will be Canada versus Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12. On match days and days leading up to a match, there are stricter rules in place.
FIFA’s website says the city must establish “clean zones” around stadiums and FIFA Fan Fest locations that “restrict the commercial activities of unauthorized businesses.”
That means any promotional material for brands that could compete with FIFA or its partners would be prohibited.
For example, if you’re a tour guide looking to bring a group to the game, you cannot visibly identify yourself with something like a wooden sign or shirt bearing your company logo at the stadium, according to the guidelines.
Or if you’re Burger King, you can’t advertise within the clean zone because McDonald’s is an official FIFA sponsor.
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