Title: Ambush marketing and the Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act: a national sponsor perspective

Authors: Dana Ellis; Philippe Patry; Benoit Séguin; Norm O'Reilly

Addresses: School of Sports Administration, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Rd. Sudbury, ON P3E2C6, Canada ' 260 Wayside Court, Ottawa, ON K1E 2P6, Canada ' School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, 125 University St., Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Ontario, Canada ' Department of Sports Administration, Ohio University, Copeland Hall, 45701, Athens, Ohio, USA

Abstract: With one of the most sophisticated and successful sponsorship programs in sports, the Olympic movement generates billions in revenues. The IOC has therefore mandated host countries and cities to enact new laws (i.e., event-specific legislations) that offer supplementary protection against ambush marketing. Through a qualitative case study, this research explores the perspective of the National Partners of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games on the subject of anti-ambush marketing legislation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted reporting that: 1) event-specific legislation may contribute to sponsors' confusion around ambush marketing; 2) sponsors showed only moderate awareness of the legislation suggestive of a lack of consultation; 3) sponsors recognised both positive and negative impacts of anti-ambush marketing legislation; 4) sponsors perceived a level of powerlessness to stop ambush marketing and a need to focus on activation for true protection and increasing the remedies available through such measures.

Keywords: Olympic Games; Olympic marketing; legislation; ambush marketing; sponsorship protection; stakeholder management; Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act; sponsors.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2019.099783

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2019 Vol.19 No.3/4, pp.184 - 207

Accepted: 07 Feb 2018
Published online: 22 May 2019 *

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