Brief Introduction About Athlete Sponsorship Contract
An athlete sponsorship contract is a contract between an athlete and a sponsor or any company. This contract sets out the legal agreement between the sponsor and the sponsored party or athlete. Such a contract is made informally when the contract is for a few days to months and done formally through a written agreement for a long-term contract. Both the party has to agree on the terms and conditions before signing the agreement. A sponsee must check for many personal life restrictions in the contract so that the sponsee can negotiate such terms to sponsor with the help of a legal attorney.
Who Takes the Athlete Sponsorship Contract?
Athlete Sponsorship contract is between the corporate company or sponsor and the sponsee or athlete. Before signing the contract, both the party agree on the certain terms and conditions that they decide together. Such a contract mentions various crucial things, such as the terms of the agreement, the period, budget, and the other things that the sponsor has agreed based on the negotiations of the sponsee.
Additionally, the details such as the name of the sponsor and sponsee, the company or organization’s name, the addresses of the parties involved, etc. are also furnished in the contract clearly for the future reference by the parties. These details are particularly essential to mention in the contract so that everyone will understand the parties involved in the agreement.
Purpose of the Athlete Sponsorship Contract
Most of the people doubt about why you are giving importance to the athlete sponsorship contract. The purpose of the contract is to help the company or sponsor in some part to achieve the goal. The sponsorship contract will help to improve the company’s reputation in a good way. To create a sponsorship contract, look into the athletic contract template which you can use and customize it according to your needs. Search for the legal agreement templates online so that you will know how to create the right legal agreement. Thus, the main purpose of the contract is to improve the reputation and growth of an organization.
Contents of the Athlete Sponsorship Contract
In any sports sponsorship agreement, it is necessary for the sponsor and the sponsee to define the scope of the licensed good or service that the sponsor wants to promote through sponsee. It is essential to define the product in the contract to determine other factors such as exclusivity provision, the types of advertisements, and the problems of non-compete clauses.
Sometimes, the issue of exclusivity is the main reason for causing many disputes. The sponsor has several events throughout the year for which he/she needs the presence of the sponsee in each event. But due to exclusive sponsorship rights over different events, the sponsee might not attend few events that cause disputes. But it is easy to resolve such issues by proper negotiations at the early stages of the agreement.
The next thing will be the financial stuff. The parties need to check financial benefits. There are several financial issues, including the cost of the sponsorship deal, the method of payment, the basis for getting the amount, the number of payments, the period of payments, and tax liability, etc. should be clarified by the parties at an early stage of the contract.
Other things, such as the different ways to extend the contract like renewals, rights of first refusal, or rights of the first negotiation, need to be decided by the parties to avoid conflicts in the future. To avoid any disputes in the future, the contract should be written in such a way considering all the above factors and also can look into the athlete sponsorship contract template for reference.
How to Draft the Athlete Sponsorship Contract?
The agreement between the business and the sports should always be in a formal way no matter what the product the sponsee going to promote. Make sure that the contract defines the obligations of each party along with the payment terms and dates. The contract should be clear in simple words and easy to understand by the sponsee. Other than this, it is necessary to mention the terms of the agreement along with the renewal options as agreed by the parties. The renewal options can be renewal rights or first negotiation rights or right of first refusal. The sponsee must understand how exactly these renewal options work.
Negotiation Strategy
The athletes must look into the contract for any personal restrictions so that they can negotiate at the sponsor or company. It is better to hire an attorney for the proper negotiations.
Benefits & Drawbacks of the Athlete Sponsorship Contract
Pros:
- The contract improves the brand image of the company
- While contracting with celebrities to endorse a company’s brand adds to the competitive power of the product developed by the company
- The contract helps to achieve the part of the company’s goal
Cons:
- Sometimes, the athlete will get many restrictions based on the terms and conditions of the contract.
- An athlete could not attend several events conducted by the sponsor due to exclusivity clauses, which will lead to disputes between the parties.
What Happens in Case of Violation?
A Sponsor has the right to terminate the contract(1) when they find any negative publicity about the athlete among people. If the athlete engages in any negative behavior, the sponsor has the right to walk away. To avoid such issues, many sponsors inserting the moral clauses into the contracts(2), which will alert the athletes not to engage in any negative activities. If an athlete violates the terms and conditions of the sponsorship contract, then the sponsor has the right to terminate him/her or impose by law or penalty. Look into the sample sponsorship contract to create a new contract by adding what happens when the athlete violates the contract.
Thus, the athlete sponsorship contract helps both the party to get some benefits and hence, bringing a positive effect on society. Make sure that the parties the terms and conditions of the contract before signing it to avoid any disputes in the future.