When most people think about sports, they imagine world-class athletes, stadiums full of fans, and billion-dollar sponsorship deals. But behind the scenes, there’s another game being played—the game of intellectual property, and more specifically, trademark ownership and domain control.
Today, sports clubs, leagues, and even individual athletes are global brands. Trademarks are used not only for logos and merchandise, but also for:
Event names (e.g., UEFA Euro 2024™)
Player nicknames and personal logos
Esports teams and virtual competitions
Digital media rights, NFTs, and metaverse experiences
Protecting these assets requires a full-scale IP strategy. For example, global football organizations like UEFA and FIFA register their trademarks years in advance and aggressively pursue unauthorized use.
In a recent case, UEFA won a domain dispute against a private company that had registered "Euro2028.net" and other related web addresses. The ruling favored UEFA, citing trademark infringement and bad-faith domain registration. This highlights how domains are now considered part of a brand's intellectual property portfolio.
Clubs and leagues often miss the importance of registering:
Multiple domain extensions (.com, .org, .football, etc.)
Localized domains for different markets (e.g., euro2024.de, euro2024.fr)
Defensive domains (e.g., spelling variations)
If you’re in the sports industry—whether managing a team, organizing events, or building a personal athlete brand—your trademark strategy should include:
The value of sports IP is growing rapidly, and those who ignore it risk losing control of their brand—on and off the field.