Sports Law Attorney Mark Rosenthal Offers Advice for Protecting Brand Sponsorship Exclusivity
LOS ANGELES-(Business Wire)-September 28, 2009 - In a recent article for Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal, Mark Rosenthal, Chair of the National Sports Law Group at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP, advised brand sponsors — and the sports teams they sponsor — that the sponsorship agreement is key to a productive brand campaign and a successful business relationship.
Brand sponsorship is a big issue today, according to Rosenthal, who has represented companies such as Quiksilver, Red Bull and Kawasaki in connection with athlete endorsement agreements and sports sponsorships. Rosenthal said it is important to identify his sponsor's potential competitors and define "exclusivity" expectations to avoid costly legal battles.
Identifying competitors
"A company that spends a substantial amount on an exclusive sports sponsorship needs to get the exclusivity it is paying for. The executives of a bank that just purchased the naming rights to a stadium would be horrified to see an ad for a rival bank on the team's Jumbotron," said Rosenthal.
His article addressed how the definition of “competition” among sponsors may evolve as companies acquire new brands or roll out new products: “For example, what if the team has a beer sponsor who later acquires a competing soft drink brand?... is a product like flavored water competing with soft drinks? What about iced teas?” Rosenthal advised that agreements should be structured to include categories that will accommodate future changes rather than specific competitors so that a contract still applies to newly introduced products or companies.
Agreements should also acknowledge the possibility of brands changing hands in a merger or acquisition. "With good front-end agreements, teams and brands alike can avoid the huge legal costs and the kind of negative publicity that surrounded the Cup Series when AT&T, Sprint and NASCAR were involved in a major legal battle regarding logo changes made to Jeff Burton's Chevrolet," he said.
Defining Exclusivity
To help define exclusivity, Rosenthal advised that the areas of sponsorship must clearly identify sponsorship activities and spaces, such as whether certain areas of a stadium, like entrances or lounges, can have different sponsors than the company with naming rights to the venue. Additionally, his article urged sponsors and teams to consider the dynamic nature of the media when structuring the agreement: “Today’s sports sponsorships can include exposure both on traditional media and new media as diverse as Web sites, online game broadcasts, mobile content, video games, simulations, YouTube, Twitter and more…the agreement should also provide contingencies for unknown media that may be developed in the future.”
About Mark Rosenthal
Mark Rosenthal chairs the National Sports Law Group at Jeffer, Mangels, Butler and Marmaro LLP. He has over 20 years experience representing sports teams, leagues and sports-related companies, and has negotiated over 100 sports contracts for professional sports teams. Rosenthal has also represented companies such as Quiksilver, Red Bull, Kawasaki and others in connection with athlete endorsement agreements and sports sponsorships. He was named to The Best Lawyers in America 2007-10 editions for Sports Law. Rosenthal is the only sports lawyer in Los Angeles to receive this distinction.
About JMBM
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP is a full-service law firm committed to providing clients with outstanding results. From our offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange County, we serve our clients' needs worldwide. The JMBM National Sports Law Group is the largest sports management law group on the West Coast, and has handled some of the highest profile litigation and arbitration proceedings in the sports industry. For more information go to www.JMBM.com.
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