USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Irwin A. Kishner, Daniel A. Etna, Joel Wagman and Barry Werbin, Herrick, Feinstein LLP
or even on the players’ uniforms. Broadcast of events provides an advertising opportunity by promoting different brands through commercial segments between periods of play. Additionally, sports organisations can provide sponsors with title rights as the “official” service provider of the team in the sponsor’s industry, complete with in- game announcements or broadcasting tie-ins. Title rights may even extend all the way up to the large-scale sponsorship right over naming a stadium. For food and drink sponsors, stadium advertisement can be tied to exclusive sales of sponsors’ products in concessions at the team’s stadium or facility. Sports organisations will often have some input on the advertising material that may be dis - played by the sponsor, as well as some level of veto or control over the material displayed. Sponsors will look for strict intellectual property rights reservations and controls, to ensure own - ership over all trade marks, copyrights, or other intellectual properties of the sponsor displayed by the sports organisation. 2.3 Broadcasting Holders of sports rights package broadcast - ing rights for broadcasters who then monetise their broadcasts of games and other content through various methods. These arrangements encompass regional versus national broadcast - ing agreements, licensing for interactive media, and venue access rights. Broadcasters primarily exploit their broadcasting rights via advertising, subscription services, and licensing previously aired games. Advertising is the main revenue source – broadcasters endeav - our to sell airtime to various sponsors during live sporting events. Increasingly, broadcasters lev - erage their rights by providing content through streaming platforms, deriving subscription
income from viewers. Subject to league copy - right regulations, broadcasters can also license their recorded broadcasts for replays and future programming. Traditionally, sports rights-holders package broadcast rights by the season. Different broad - casters bid to secure the right to broadcast a specific number of games within each season. Often, these packages are split between regional and national broadcasters, with regional broad - casters acquiring more games while national broadcasters purchase only select high-profile games. This split not only maximises revenue but also ensures a team’s wider access to larger audiences. Sports rights-holders are increasingly retaining digital broadcasting rights to enhance audience reach and potential profits. Teams have utilised league-specific broadcast services for some time, like NFL Game Pass. However, teams are now extending broadcasting rights to major streaming platforms such as Hulu, Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime. Recent developments include exclusive rights deals, such as Apple TV acquiring specific MLB games as well as Ama - zon Prime and Paramount Plus broadcasting NFL games, and NBA games being broadcast on certain premium Hulu packages. Continuing the expansion into this territory, 2024 saw the first-ever NFL play-off game broadcast exclu - sively on a streaming platform through Peacock as well as Netflix’s record-breaking NFL live streaming debut on Christmas Day featuring two games bolstered by an advertised Super Bowl- level halftime performance by Beyoncé that resulted in nearly 65 million US viewers accord - ing to Nielsen (ie, the most-streamed NFL games in US history). Broadcasting arrangements provide not only for fees, but also for certain access rights and intel - lectual property concerns. Broadcasters need to
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