Austria [Vienna], June 21: Austria coach Ralf Rangnick was highly amused by a small PR coup while Jamal Musiala will probably have to carry a roll of tape with him for the next few weeks.
The Germany star's headphones are not made by a World Cup sponsor which means that he had to cover the clearly visible logo with tape in official tournament areas.
The zeal with which world governing body FIFA protects the exclusivity of its sponsors at the World Cup is causing more than just surprise. It is also prompting companies that are not among the official sponsors to come up with clever ideas.
What the sponsors pay Being an official FIFA or World Cup sponsor is not cheap.
Florian Pfeffel, professor for sports management at the university of applied sciences in Bad Homburg, says that official FIFA partners pay $50-100 million per years and World Cup sponsors $20-30 million.
There are also regional sponsors that only appear in certain areas.
To protect exclusivity, there is strict trademark protection for terms such as "World Cup 2026," as well as logos, mascots, and even the World Cup trophy.
Around the stadiums and at official fanfests, no competing products from non-sponsors may be sold. Stadiums have also been renamed in a neutral way for the World Cup.
"FIFA follows a clean-site principle, under which stadiums must ensure that the venue and surrounding grounds are free from potentially competing third-party naming rights," economist Markus Voeth from Hohenheim university says.
Please cover it up: Musiala's headphones and ketchup containers FIFA was not particularly lenient when it came to Musiala's headphones.
"You naturally think: that's terribly petty. And it is," says Pfeffel.
"On the other hand, you also have to understand the rights holders and FIFA. These partners pay substantial sums for these rights, and FIFA must ensure that there are no free riders who benefit from the reach without paying for those rights."
Tape apparently ranks among FIFA's most important tools when it comes to sponsor protection.
In Foxborough, the naming sponsor has its logo on every single seat, which means that tape was needed for more than 60,000 seats.
In Santa Clara, the manufacturers' names on ketchup and mayonnaise containers were covered with black tape.
For advertising executive Robert Zitzmann, managing director of Jung von Matt Sports, such action is counterproductive: "It's an invitation to pay attention, because otherwise we would never concern ourselves with the ketchup bottle or with Musiala's headphones that are now being taped over."
Levi's trick
Naming rights sponsorships for stadiums are commonplace in the United States, but they are prohibited during the World Cup. Jeans brand Levi's had its logo covered with white tarps in such a way that the outline of the logo remained clearly recognizable.
"A good marketing stunt," says Pfeffel, but he also notes: "FIFA will probably keep this in mind for future tenders and add a few more clauses so that something like this may no longer be legally possible." Rangnick did not miss the trick either, saying: "I had to laugh a bit when I saw outside that the Levi's logo had been covered. Of course, now nobody can tell what it's actually called underneath."
For advertiser Zitzmann, the campaign offers "an outstanding cost-benefit ratio."
After all, an advertising campaign generating similar attention would have been far more elaborate and expensive.
"All sports fans and sports media in the US know that it's the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Levi's Stadium, or MetLife Stadium. And with that brand awareness capital, these companies can get people talking by creatively and actively playing with the ban on visibility."
The problem in Atlanta Atlanta's futuristic stadium is named after car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, which reportedly pays $10 million per year for the naming rights through 2042. The company's logo is displayed prominently on the arena's roof.
FIFA obviously wanted it removed but was told by the the stadium operators: We can do that, but then we'll have a structural problem.
Each of the eight roof sections weighs 500 tons. The issue of structural integrity ultimately convinced FIFA and Atlanta is thus the only stadium where the naming sponsor's logo did not have to be concealed. Inside the stadium, however, around 2,000 Mercedes logos were covered.
The tricks of the others Those who are not official FIFA sponsors find ways to sneak into the tournament's attention span anyway. Companies deliberately buy TV advertising slots during halftime or during the hydration breaks newly introduced by FIFA.
At World Cup host locations, FIFA's restrictions are countered with wordplay.
The term "World Cup" may not be used, so slogans such as "Atlanta welcomes the world" were invented, or people refer to the "summer of soccer."
Completely permissible - and everyone knows what is meant.
(DPA)FIFA makes a big effort to protect its sponsors which can lead to bizarre measures. Tape is an important tool but some of the measures are deemed counterproductive.
Source: Qatar Tribune
