Download Sports Image Rights Foreword

VII
FOREWORD
As a sports lawyer with particular interest and practice in the field of sports image
rights, I am very pleased and honoured to write the Foreword to this Book. Our
company, which represents many leading footballers and other sports
personalities of international renown, is actively involved in this exciting and
ever changing area and the challenges that are presented as a result are intense
and complex.
First of all, I would like to warmly congratulate the Publishers and the Editors,
Ian Blackshaw and Robert Siekmann, on their initiative in bringing together – for
the first time – between the covers of this Book a wealth of information and
expertise across the European Union on the creation and legal protection of the
image rights of sports personalities. These rights are an increasingly valuable and
commercially exploitable commodity in the media dominated age in which we
live.
This Book will – I am sure – be of great interest to sports personalities themselves and their professional advisers, as well as sports marketers and administrators, in the planning and execution of marketing, advertising and public
relations programmes to maximise their commercial value and potential – not
only at the National but also at the European level. For me – and also for many
others involved in sports marketing on an international scale – a particularly
valuable feature of this Book is that the reader is able to contrast and compare the
different legal treatments of sports image rights in the different countries that the
Book covers. This is particularly important, when – as in my own case – one
needs to plan European wide campaigns to promote the name and image of sports
personalities. After all, sport, whilst, of course, continuing to be important
nationally, is now and increasingly becoming a global phenomenon transcending
individual country boundaries.
We at SFX are part of the Clear Channel group of companies and are the
biggest producer and marketer of live entertainment events with over 60 million
people attending more than 25,000 events promoted or produced by the company
all over the globe. The concept of image rights is crucial for a company that
represents athletes such as the legendary basketball player Michael Jordan, golfer
Greg Norman and tennis players Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. Furthermore,
in my own professional and business practice, I am concerned on a day-to-day
basis with the exploitation, development and protection of the image rights of
diverse individuals ranging from David Beckham to Michael Owen and from
Gary Lineker to Gabby Logan. As a result both in the UK, and in the market
world-wide, image rights underpin the needs of our clients and our business.
foreword
VIII
All of our clients’ have their own particular requirements but, at every turn,
we seek to maximise the potential of the individual. In the last 12 months, SFX
has secured over £50 million of commercial revenue for our clients and, at the
same time, ensured that advertisers and sponsors have achieved the maximum
return from their association with our clients. The importance of understanding
the unique worth of image rights has not been lost on companies such as Pepsi,
Vodafone, Umbro, Coca-Cola and Walker’s, who equally have to ensure that the
individual’s image adds value to their own brand. We believe the relationships
with sport and sporting personalities have worked well and will continue to do so
in the future.
So, as you can see from my own professional and business activities outlined
above, this Book will be a very welcome and invaluable resource for my clients
and me. And one that I can heartily recommend to all others who – in any way –
are involved in the exciting and challenging world of marketing sports
personalities, and developing and protecting their well-earned and very valuable
rights and interests in their personalities and images in an ever competitive and
complex sporting and business world.
London, June 2004
Sam Rush
Chief Operating Officer
SFX Sports Group (Europe) Ltd