Ambush Marketing & Sports IP - How to Manage the Risks

Introduction

The fight for brand attention is no longer confined to official sponsorship deals. Today’s most disruptive brands are winning global visibility through bold ambush marketing tactics, from viral social campaigns and influencer hijacking to real-world activations that challenge the boundaries of event IP rights.

This short webinar takes you inside the rapidly evolving ambush marketing landscape. Drawing on real-time examples from the Paris 2024 Olympics, Euro 2024 and other major sporting events, it will examine how brands are successfully dominating the conversation without paying for official partner status.

Discover the tactics that are reshaping sports marketing and the legal risks that come with them. Designed specifically for IP litigators and in-house counsel, this webinar will help you identify where the legal ‘red lines’ now sit in an era of increasingly sophisticated and aggressive ambush campaigns.

Register today to understand the strategies, spot the risks and prepare for what is coming next.

What You Will Learn

The webinar will cover the following:

• Ambush by association - explore the Huggies World Cup 2026 campaign and how brands align with tournament timing, fan sentiment and cultural moments without directly using protected event IP
• Ambush by intrusion - examine Zalando’s Euro 2020/21 activation, including the legal consequences and €100,000 fine arising from high-visibility advertising in close proximity to official event spaces
• Opportunistic and viral ambush - analyse how Bandit Running’s ‘Unsponsored Project’ at Paris 2024 transformed unbranded athletic wear into a globally recognised media and social commentary campaign
• Fan-led visibility tactics - insights from the Check24 and Puma Euro 2024 campaign, where mass fan distribution of merchandise helped dominate televised coverage and compete with official sponsors for audience attention
• The IP toolkit - legal protections against ambush marketing:
• Passing off and trade marks - key lessons from the USOPC v Prime Hydration dispute and the risks surrounding Olympic-related references and terminology
• Copyright and advertising regulation - understanding the CAP and BCAP Codes in the context of sports-inspired advertising and creative campaigns
• Contractual enforcement - the growing importance of ticketing terms, venue controls and ‘clean site’ protocols in protecting sponsorship exclusivity
• Event-specific rights protection - updates on legal protections surrounding the 2026 World Cup and the continuing evolution of Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter governing athlete commercial rights
• Managing risk in 2026 campaigns:
• Advertising dos and don’ts - practical guidance for brands seeking to engage with major sporting events without official sponsorship rights
• Emerging enforcement trends - how rights holders are increasingly relying on real-time digital monitoring, rapid takedowns and summary enforcement mechanisms to protect commercial exclusivity

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Friday 10th July 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,400+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.