Ambush Marketing? Criminal Offence or Free Enterprise.

Sports lawyer Luisa Leone will be speaking at the Seventh Annual Sport And The Law Conference on Thursday 15th May 2008. The event, taking place at The Westbury Hotel, Bond Street, Mayfair, London will see Luisa give a talk on "Ambush Marketing: Criminal Offence or Free Enterprise?"

Ambush Marketing is the name given by an event organizer to any marketing campaign which takes place around the event but does not involve payment of a sponsorship fee to the event. At most sporting events of any significance, one brand will pay to become the exclusive and official sponsor of the event in a particular category or categories, and this exclusivity creates a problem for one or more other brands. These other brands often find ways to promote themselves in connection with the same event, without paying any sponsorship fee to the event organizer.

“The arguments in favour of banning ambush marketing are normally aired to justify the often draconian legislation introduced to protect major sporting events from ambushers” said Luisa.

Luisa’s presentation will air the various arguments against such legislative bans, its central theme being that anti-ambush legislation will benefit neither sport nor the economy. In raising these arguments, Luisa will also explain the phenomenon of ambush marketing and alternative non-legal methods for combating it, as well as considering specific recent legislative developments such as the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006.

Our expertise in sports law ranges from advice on regulatory and disciplinary issues to advising on sponsorship, the exploitation of broadcasting and other rights, and of course Ambush Marketing activity. For further information or just an informal chat, Luisa can be contacted on 01223 461155 or you can email her at luisaleone@hewitsons.com