A novel, comprehensive, detailed and critical review aimed at providing much-needed balance to the ambush marketing debate

Introduction: 'Two million reasons not to wear Reebok'.- The Commercial Monopoly in Sports Mega-Events.- Ambush Marketing of Sports Mega-Events.- Harnessing Special Laws to Protect Commercial Rights to Events.- Mega-Event Rights Protection and Intellectual Property Laws.- the legitimacy of 'IP+' event protection in light of the traditional theories of IP law.- Mega-Event Rights Protection and Competition (Antitrust) Laws.- Mega-Event Commercial Rights Protection and Human Rights.-Jumping on the Brand Wagon: 'Association Rights' and the Thematic Space of the Sports Mega-Event.- In Defence of the Monopoly? Conclusions.

This book undertakes a critical examination of commercial rights to sports mega-events (focusing on sponsorship), the exclusivity of such rights and the legal implications of the modern mega-event sponsorship model. It examines ambush marketing of events and the law's treatment of ambushing (specifically in the form of sui generis event legislation) in a review of 10 major jurisdictions selected on the basis of the importance of the events they are to host in the near future or have hosted recently, and the relevant domestic legislation. It critically examines the legitimacy of such commercial rights protection by means of the use of laws in the context of accepted principles of intellectual property law, competition law and human rights law. Specifically, it questions the legitimacy of the creation of statutory 'association rights' to mega-events, and considers potential future developments in respect of the law's treatment of mega-event commercialisation.Valuable for practitioners and academics (in the fields of sportslaw/sponsorship/marketing/intellectual property law); sports administrators (sports governing bodies); corporate sponsors of sports and other events; potential mega-event host governments and law-makers; civil rights organisations.