The Fifa Men’s World Cup has showcased enormous star power, with goals from Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, and Lamine Yamal capturing global attention throughout the tournament.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both set world records during the group stages, underscoring the extraordinary commercial value attached to the sport’s biggest names.
Fifa owns all rights to tournament broadcasts, footage, photographs, and official marks, leaving little room for unauthorised commercial exploitation by brands or players alike.
Only official Fifa partners and media rights holders are permitted to commercially exploit or broadcast content from the tournament, creating a tightly controlled commercial environment.
Players are contractually committed to this position under their participation agreements, meaning that if you want to play, you must play to Fifa’s commercial rules.
While players have waived certain rights, they retain ownership of their personal brands but are forbidden from leveraging their tournament participation to endorse products without express prior authorisation from Fifa.
This framework closely mirrors the International Olympic Committee’s so-called “Rule 40” principles, which similarly restrict athletes from using Games-related imagery in personal endorsement deals.
National associations add another layer of complexity, with all 47 associations holding their own brand partnership deals and competing fiercely for content featuring the tournament’s biggest stars.
Marks and Spencer, for example, will want to feature Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, and Declan Rice prominently in its activations, meaning the competition for player airtime operates at national team sponsor level too.
This year’s tournament also introduces overlapping legal regimes across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, each with distinct publicity laws, false endorsement protections, and intellectual property frameworks.
Layer on top of that Fifa’s trade mark enforcement capabilities, and unofficial partners face a genuinely complex risk-reward calculation before launching any campaign featuring tournament players.
To stay safely on the right side of the line, brands should ensure players wear unbranded generic sportswear and expressly prohibit club crests, stadium imagery, and all Fifa intellectual property from any campaign materials.
American Eagle’s approach with Lamine Yamal offers a useful case study, with posts appearing shortly before Spain’s matches rather than during or after his scoring performances.
The imagery features Yamal in American Eagle clothing with no Fifa intellectual property included and no reference to the tournament itself, illustrating how careful timing and visual discipline can reduce legal exposure.
Some brands are adopting very conservative approaches and not posting on matchdays, or even during the tournament window, while others are taking a more liberal, risk-based approach.
Looking further ahead, the UK’s bid to host the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2035 and the impending introduction of the Sporting Events Bill will create significant new frameworks that brands should work to understand well in advance.