Commercial rights, ethical duties and challenges in sports: Towards an effective framework in Nigeria

Abstract

By providing financial support for sporting events, companies use sponsorship deals as a marketing strategy to promote the sale and request for their products and/or services. A broadcasting company that acquires the media rights in relation to a particular sporting event enjoys the exclusive right to televise visual and audio signals from such an event to its subscribing audience. There are also image rights that may be attached to a particular individual which allows such an individual to be in control of his/her personality/publicity and be in a position to monetize it, either by selling or licensing it. Collectively, sponsorship, media, and image rights are all exploitable commercial rights. So as to avoid undue exploitation of these rights, there are existing rules and regulations guiding the participation of commercial brands and athletes in various sporting events. There is a clear need for the appraisal of these rules so as to better understand their full scope and impact on concerned participants. This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive review of some of the relevant provisions of these rules and regulations at the global and continental level before examining Nigeria’s country-specific regulatory framework.