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With the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 now underway there will be many participants who are using this opportunity not only to vie for that Gold Medal but also to create a platform for their personal brand to extend their career in sport beyond that of participation in the sport itself.
Since the last time we wrote on Olympic and Paralympic branding (During the Rio Games 2016, see here), several things have changed in relation to the Olympic/Paralympic Brand Guidelines. The rise of personal brands being curated by athletes across a number of sports is very much at the centre of this change. This article will highlight how an Athlete can create and showcase their personal brand at the Olympic and Paralympic Games and how this might conflict with or work alongside the Olympic brands.
When in attendance at the Olympics, athletes are considered to be representing their country and promoting the Olympic and Paralympic brands. Therefore, I ask the question, is there room to promote their own brand also? And if so, what does this look like?
A good place to start is with the Athletes Rights and Responsibilities Declaration put together by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which “aspires to promote the ability and opportunity of Athletes to leverage opportunities to generate income in relation to their sporting career, name and likeness, while recognising the intellectual property and other rights, rules of the event and of sport organisations as well as the Olympic Charter” and “encourages athletes to respect the solidarity principle of the Olympic Movement which allows assistance and support to be provided among Athletes and members of the Olympic Movement”[1].
In 2019, the Olympic Charter was amended following a push to provide athletes with more autonomy and flexibility around sponsorship and branding. The changes mean that athletes can now promote their personal brands and mention their personal sponsors during the period in which the Games take place.
Athletes can now engage in social media posts and generic advertisements so long as they don’t use the Olympic IP logos, trade marks and slogans. Athletes who possess personal logos (for example, the famous RF created by Roger Federer or the Lightening Pose by Usain Bolt) cannot use them in tandem with the Olympic uniforms. Additionally, pre-approval for sponsorship campaigns during the Games is required from the National Olympic Committee. One of the latest examples of an athlete incorporating their own logo in their Olympic kit is Rayssa Leal the Brazilian skateboarding prodigy who at the age of 16, not only has two Olympic medals but also her own logo. This logo has made its way to the Paris Olympics where Rayssa wore her new NIKE SB DUNK LOW sneakers as part of a collaboration with Nike.
The ways in which current athletes such as the likes of Simone Biles, Tom Daley, and Naomi Osaka are leveraging their platforms to build strong and lasting personal brands can be seen predominantly through social media. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and X have provided the opportunity for these athletes to offer an insight into their training and preparation, their personal journeys and challenges, their sponsorships and many have taken the opportunity to bring the public along on their journey to the Olympics. For example, posts and reels featuring updates of their arrival at the Olympic Village and their new training and performance kits. In particular, TikTok has been taken over by athletes’ reviews of the famous Olympics Paris 2024 cardboard beds and their kit unboxings via dance routines. Both are excellent demonstrations of athletes promoting their personal brand/image via social media whilst incorporating the Olympic Brand into the mix.
Another example of an athlete who promoted their personal brand at the Olympics is Ibtihaj Muhammed from the USA, who became the first Muslim woman to wear a hijab whilst competing at the Olympic Games on behalf of Team USA. She has since written books, delivered speeches empowering marginalized minorities and has even had a Barbie doll modelled after her by Mattel as part of her mission of inclusivity and representation[2]. Ibtihaj Muhammed, who demonstrated a career as an athlete and participation in the Olympic Games, is not limited to the sport itself but is an excellent opportunity to build a personal brand that includes advocacy, fashion, and publishing.
The extensive promotion of personal brands and personal sponsorships, combined with the changes to the Olympic Charter in 2019 might lead you to believe athletes are now free to promote themselves and their sponsors however they wish, but don’t be fooled. There are still a myriad of issues associated with promoting personal brands during the Games. Not only could athletes find themselves in breach of the Olympic Charter and find themselves facing disciplinary action, they could also find themselves facing allegations of IP infringement. Third party sponsors who are not official sponsors of the Games could equally find themselves being accused of infringing Olympic and Paralympic IP by creating a false association between their brand and the Games for their own commercial gain. Given the extremely high global profile of the Games, successful claims of infringement could carry with them significant damages claim as well as particularly damaging PR issues.
The safest option is to put your personal brand and personal sponsorships to one side during the course of the Games and focus on promoting your country and your sport. However, if you do want to promote your personal brand, make sure you seek advice on how you intend to achieve this to ensure you are not infringing the IP rights of the Games or any other third party, and if necessary, seek permission from the IOC before proceeding.
Our final piece of advice is to tune into the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, sit back, relax and enjoy several weeks of sporting excellence at its finest. If you are as addicted to IP as we are, whilst you are enjoying the sport, look out for the various ways in which athletes promote their personal brands and ask yourself and those around you if you think they have crossed a line?
[1] PARIS-2024-Commercial-Opportunities-for-Athletes_for-publication-amended (2).pdf
[2] Ibtihaj Muhammad ; A Barbie Inspired by Ibtihaj Muhammad Gets an Athletic Frame and Hijab | Vogue
If you have any queries regarding this topic, or would like assistance creating or implementing an IP strategy, please contact Sarah Neil of our team.
Category: Latest Insights | Author: Sarah Neil, Christina Frame | Published: | Read more
