{"id":237912,"date":"2018-06-14T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-14T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/image-rights-sponsorship\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T09:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T07:57:06","slug":"image-rights-sponsorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/image-rights-sponsorship\/","title":{"rendered":"Leveraging on sponsorship: how to use image rights in communication"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There is a precise moment when a sponsorship stops being an expense and becomes an asset. It is not when the contract is signed, nor when the logo appears on a motorcycle fairing or a racing car bonnet. It is when the company understands what it can do with those rights \u2014 and decides to act on it.<\/p>\n<p>The starting point is a clause found in every sponsorship contract: the <strong>image right<\/strong>. In the definition by Mullin and Hardy \u2014 authors of the reference volume <em>Sports Marketing<\/em> \u2014 sponsorship is the acquisition of rights derived from affiliation with a product, team, organisation or event, in exchange for monetary compensation or goods and services, with the objective of obtaining an economic, marketing or image benefit.<\/p>\n<p>That word \u2014 <em>rights<\/em> \u2014 is the core of everything. Because without their activation, a sponsorship remains what we at RTR call an &#8220;empty sticker&#8221;: passive visibility, with no leverage. Understanding <a href=\"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/blog\/sport-sponsorizzazione-vantaggi-sponsorizzazione-business\/\">what advantages a sponsorship can generate<\/a> is the first step; knowing how to activate it concretely is the second, and the one that makes all the difference.<\/p>\n<h2>What image rights include<\/h2>\n<p>Concretely, when we talk about image rights in a sponsorship contract, we are referring to the ability to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>officially define yourself as &#8220;Sponsor&#8221; or &#8220;Partner&#8221; of that sports property in your communications, website and company materials;<\/li>\n<li>use the logo, official colours and graphic materials of the team or event in advertising campaigns, presentations and digital assets;<\/li>\n<li>employ videos, photographs and footage of the athlete or team in commercial activities, printed materials and digital activations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is worth reiterating this, because its legal and economic implications are often underestimated: no company that has not signed a sponsorship contract can legally use images, logos or names of teams, athletes or sporting events in its own communication. It is not possible to produce a commercial with a MotoGP rider, publish a campaign with the logo of a Formula 1 team, or use images from a Grand Prix without having acquired the right. This is intellectual property that is rigorously regulated and protected.<\/p>\n<h2>Social media: where image rights deliver the best returns<\/h2>\n<p>In today&#8217;s media ecosystem, the channel where image rights produce the most immediate return is social media. Top-tier sports properties \u2014 MotoGP, Formula 1, WEC \u2014 generate extremely high-engagement content that sponsor brands can amplify through their own profiles, reaching audiences that would otherwise be very difficult to intercept through traditional advertising.<\/p>\n<p>Social activation can take many different forms: resharing official team content with brand tags, Reels or Stories built around racing moments, co-branded hashtag campaigns, exclusive &#8220;behind the scenes&#8221; content reserved for the sponsor&#8217;s community. The principle is always the same: the sports property brings the audience, the brand brings the message.<\/p>\n<p>A telling example is <strong>Petronas<\/strong> as title sponsor of the <strong>Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team<\/strong>. Petronas is not simply present on the car&#8217;s livery: it produces autonomous content around the partnership, brings journalists and clients into the garages, and tells the story of its lubricants technology through Formula 1. The result is an editorial presence that goes well beyond the logo and builds value association over time \u2014 what sponsorship produces when it is truly activated.<\/p>\n<h2>PR and advertising: the &#8220;official sponsor&#8221; signature changes everything<\/h2>\n<p>The second major area of activation is institutional and advertising communication. Adding the wording &#8220;Official Sponsor of [sports property]&#8221; to a press release, an ad or a digital campaign is not a detail: it is an immediate change of status in the eyes of the public and the media.<\/p>\n<p>Writing &#8220;Aramco, Global Partner of Formula 1&#8221; \u2014 as the Saudi group does in its international communication campaigns \u2014 is something radically different from simply writing &#8220;Aramco&#8221;. Collaboration with one of the world&#8217;s most-followed sports properties immediately transfers a system of values \u2014 precision, innovation, global reach \u2014 to the partner brand, conferring a status that would otherwise be difficult and costly to build.<\/p>\n<p>The same principle applies to traditional print media, billboards and POP materials at points of sale. Any reference to the sports partnership in any communication channel creates an effect of associative credibility that ordinary campaigns rarely replicate.<\/p>\n<h2>TV advertising and video: athletes and teams on stage<\/h2>\n<p>Athletes, racing teams and major events can become the protagonists of commercials that, thanks to digital distribution on YouTube and brand channels, reach audiences well beyond traditional media. A video built around a MotoGP or Formula 1 partnership has a much greater organic reach potential than a generic spot: sports communities are among the most active and loyal in amplifying content.<\/p>\n<p>One fundamental point often missed in initial planning: the image right grants access to the sports property&#8217;s materials, but production costs \u2014 direction, post-production, distribution \u2014 remain the sponsor&#8217;s responsibility. These are additional expenses that must be planned from the outset, within the overall activation budget.<\/p>\n<h2>Events and hospitality: experience as a commercial lever<\/h2>\n<p>Corporate events \u2014 from distributor conventions to dinners with strategic clients \u2014 change their nature when the sports partnership is introduced. Taking a group of key stakeholders into a Grand Prix paddock, or setting up a hospitality area with the partner team&#8217;s colours and materials, creates a memorable experience that no advertising campaign can replicate and that builds business relationships on a much stronger emotional foundation.<\/p>\n<p>Image rights translate here into: use of the property&#8217;s logo in event materials, the possibility of ambassador or driver presence, co-branded setups, and exclusive content for guests. It is probably the most effective tool for building deep commercial relationships with a selected circle of B2B interlocutors.<\/p>\n<h2>Co-marketing: two brands amplifying each other<\/h2>\n<p>Co-marketing is the most sophisticated application of image rights: the sponsor and the sports property build together an initiative that amplifies both. Fan contests can be structured (such as winning tickets to a Grand Prix), physical product co-branding campaigns, or joint awareness initiatives across their respective channels.<\/p>\n<p>Here applies the fundamental rule: no contest titled &#8220;Win the Italian Grand Prix&#8221; is possible without being a sponsor of the property that organises that event. Exclusive rights are exactly that \u2014 exclusive \u2014 and their legal protection is stringent on both sides.<\/p>\n<h2>The real risk: not activating<\/h2>\n<p>The applications of image rights are, potentially, infinite. The real risk \u2014 one that agencies specialised in sports sponsorships know very well \u2014 is exactly the opposite: <strong>not exploiting them<\/strong>. A poorly activated sponsorship, or worse an unactivated one, is a waste of budget and opportunity. The logo is there, but it does not work.<\/p>\n<p>The activation plan must be built <em>before<\/em> the contract is signed, not after. The rights negotiated today determine the campaigns that can be run tomorrow: knowing already at the negotiation stage which channels you want to cover \u2014 social, advertising, events, co-marketing \u2014 allows you to acquire the right clauses and avoid ending up with a contractual asset you cannot use.<\/p>\n<p>If you are considering <a href=\"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/sponsorizzazioni-sportive-2\/\">entering the world of sports sponsorships<\/a> or optimising the <a href=\"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/blog\/piano-di-sponsorizzazione\/\">plan of an already active sponsorship<\/a>, the starting point is always a thorough evaluation of the available activation opportunities \u2014 not only the visibility obtainable. That is where the real return on investment is built.<\/p>\n    <div itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/FAQPage\" class=\"faq-schema-wrapper question-list-wrap\">\r\n\r\n                    <h2><b>Frequently asked questions<\/b><\/h2>\r\n        \r\n            <div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" class=\"faq-item question-list-row\">\r\n\r\n        <h3 class=\"h5\" itemprop=\"name\">\r\n            <b>What are image rights in a sports sponsorship?<\/b>\r\n        <\/h3>\r\n\r\n        <div itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\r\n            <div itemprop=\"text\" class=\"question-answer\">\r\n                <p>Image rights are the part of a sponsorship contract that authorises the sponsor brand to use the name, logo, photographs and videos of the sports property (team, athlete, event) in its own communication and marketing activities. Without these rights, any commercial use of sports images is illegal.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n\r\n    <\/div>\r\n        <div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" class=\"faq-item question-list-row\">\r\n\r\n        <h3 class=\"h5\" itemprop=\"name\">\r\n            <b>How are image rights activated on social media?<\/b>\r\n        <\/h3>\r\n\r\n        <div itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\r\n            <div itemprop=\"text\" class=\"question-answer\">\r\n                <p>Sponsor brands can publish co-branded content, amplify the sports property&#8217;s official posts, produce Reels or Stories with exclusive materials, and launch joint hashtag campaigns. It is one of the channels where the return on image rights is most immediate, thanks to the natural engagement of sports communities.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n\r\n    <\/div>\r\n        <div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" class=\"faq-item question-list-row\">\r\n\r\n        <h3 class=\"h5\" itemprop=\"name\">\r\n            <b>Do image rights cover the production costs of commercials?<\/b>\r\n        <\/h3>\r\n\r\n        <div itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\r\n            <div itemprop=\"text\" class=\"question-answer\">\r\n                <p>No. The image right allows the use of the sports property&#8217;s materials, but production costs \u2014 direction, post-production, distribution \u2014 remain the sponsor&#8217;s responsibility and must be planned separately within the activation budget.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n\r\n    <\/div>\r\n        <div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" class=\"faq-item question-list-row\">\r\n\r\n        <h3 class=\"h5\" itemprop=\"name\">\r\n            <b>What happens if a company uses sports images without being an official sponsor?<\/b>\r\n        <\/h3>\r\n\r\n        <div itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\r\n            <div itemprop=\"text\" class=\"question-answer\">\r\n                <p>It is a violation of intellectual property rights. Sports federations and properties protect very stringently the unauthorised use of logos, names and images. Consequences can include legal cease-and-desist orders and damage claims.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n\r\n    <\/div>\r\n        <div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\" class=\"faq-item question-list-row\">\r\n\r\n        <h3 class=\"h5\" itemprop=\"name\">\r\n            <b>How do you maximise the return on image rights acquired through sponsorship?<\/b>\r\n        <\/h3>\r\n\r\n        <div itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\">\r\n            <div itemprop=\"text\" class=\"question-answer\">\r\n                <p>By building an activation plan before signing the contract. Priority channels (social media, advertising, events, co-marketing), production budgets and communication objectives must all be identified upfront. A specialised sports sponsorship agency significantly accelerates this process.<\/p>\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is a precise moment when a sponsorship stops being an expense and becomes an asset. It is not when the contract is signed, nor when the logo appears on a motorcycle fairing or a racing car bonnet. It is when the company understands what it can do with those rights \u2014 and decides to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20024,20026],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing-sportivo","category-sponsorizzazioni-sportive"],"acf":[],"contentshake_article_id":"","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.8 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Leveraging Sponsorship: How to Activate Image Rights in Marketing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to use image rights acquired through a sports sponsorship: social media, PR, advertising, events and co-marketing. 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