UEFA Euro 2016: An Analysis of Sports Licensing and Merchandising

This case study examines the sports licensing and merchandising strategies employed during the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament. It highlights how the UEFA leveraged its intellectual property rights, particularly the tournament logo, through licensing agreements with third-party manufacturers. The study analyzes the benefits for both the licensor (UEFA) and the licensees, emphasizing the importance of well-defined grant rights, payment terms, and termination clauses in these agreements. A significant challenge identified is counterfeiting, which negatively impacts the brand and revenue. The case study concludes with recommendations for improving the licensing program, including enhanced market research to combat counterfeiting, wider distribution channels incorporating e-commerce, sustainable product development, diversification of product lines to cater to all age demographics, selection of reputable licensees, and effective marketing strategies. Strategic alliance partners like Reebok, Nike, and Puma are suggested for future collaborations.

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Sports Licensing and Merchandising
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Sports Licensing and Merchandising
Over the last two decades of Europe's biggest football competitions, clubs and leagues
have embraced licensing and merchandising, which have made them become global brands
(Franck, 2016). These brands are appealing to fans and have the potential to attract millions of
people's attention across the globe. This capability has made some marketers to use them as
marketing tools and a major source of revenues. The good thing about merchandising in sports is
that it offers the leagues, clubs and the events a great opportunity to exploit their brands and the
players’ image (Thrassou, Vrontis, Kartakoullis & Kriemadis, 2012). Football is among the most
watched games in the world, and especially in Europe (Kiefer, 2012). As such, football has many
merchandising opportunities due to its popularity. These range from key rings to masks of
players' faces, beach towels, and replica shirts. This paper will analyse merchandising and
licensing with a focus on the UEFA Euro 2016.
Licensing and Merchandising in the UEFA Euro 2016
The UEFA Euro 2016 was an event organised in France. The UEFA are the ones
responsible for organising European Championships and hence, as the organisers, they have been
granted some property rights over the tournament. Among the many intellectual property rights
is the logo. During such a tournament, the logo was seen on several products such as sticker
books, caps among others.
It should be noted that UEFA is not a manufacturer of such products. As a confederation,
UEFA licensed the rights to third parties to use its branding to produce the EURO 2016
merchandise. In any agreement, both the licensor and licensee benefit. The licensor generates
revenue and exposes the brand. The licensee, on the other hand, will benefit from the fact that
they can produce a product that is popular to the global market, which, in turn, increases sales

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revenues. One of the most essential things about license and merchandising agreements is that
they vary based on how the involved parties will bargain.
Issues that are often included in sports license and merchandising include: grant rights
which define the scope and nature of the rights that a licensor will grant; the term which specifies
the duration that the licensee will legally use the brand in its marketing campaigns; payment
terms which specify the amount and how the payment will be done; termination clauses which
specify what will happen once the event or agreement expires, among other considerations.
One of the biggest challenges that Euro 2016 merchandising agreements faced is
counterfeiting. This particularly affects the licensor because some companies may use similar
intellectual property rights. A good example of this problem is when police seized several
counterfeit goods with an estimated value of over £2 million on Moulton Street in Manchester on
the 13th of December 2016 (BBC News, 2016). It is crucial to understand that the market has
become very competitive, which have the potential to devalue the brand of the licensor as the
licensee is likely to face stiff competition from rivals.
Recommendations to improve the Licensing Program
Considering the fact that counterfeiting is among the biggest challenges, the licensee
should, first of all, do market research in order to identify the counterfeit products and let the
UEFA officials stop their circulation. The second recommendation to improve the licensing
program is to consider distribution. More focus should be directed to building distribution for the
licensed products and should also consider e-commerce platforms to sell the products. The
licensing partner, which, in this case, was IMG, should build a wider distribution so that products
can be sold to as many countries around the world as possible instead of focussing on Europe
and Asia. In a time when climate change is a concern around the globe, UEFA should consider

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sustainable strategies when developing licensing programs. This will enable the products to be
accepted by environmental enthusiasts and will make the league more popular, which will, in
turn, attract more sponsors. The fourth recommendation that should be considered is the
diversification of products. The Euro 2016 products were mainly for adults. In order to capture a
wider market, the products should include all age demographics. Children also love football and
to teach the culture; the sponsor should include children products. The fifth recommendation is
to select a reputable licensee that has the capability to improve the brand image of the
tournament. Proper vetting should be done to ensure the best licensee is given the rights. Last but
not least, UEFA should market the tournament effectively in order to attract many supporters
around the globe. This will ensure that the right licensees are attracted and many sponsors will be
willing to sponsor the events.
Strategic Alliance Partners to consider
As earlier stated, sports businesses have recognised the value of strategic alliances. One
of the partners to consider is Reebok. Reebok has been successful in other leagues, such as the
NFL in the United States (Hecox, 2007). Other renowned companies include Nike and Puma.
These are reputable sports businesses that have established themselves as among the best in the
world and have a wider market.

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References
BBC News., (2016). Fake Adidas, Nike and Prada goods worth £2m seized in Manchester raids
Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-38391117
Franck, E., (2016). A comment on the newly revised" 2015 version" of the UEFA Club
Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations. UZH Business Working Paper,
Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich, (362).
Hecox, M. G., (2007). Strategic alliances in the sport industry: a case review of Reebok
International and the NFL.
Kiefer, S., (2012). The impact of the Euro 2012 on popularity and market value of football
players (No. 11/2012). Diskussionspapier des Instituts für Organisationsökonomik.
Thrassou, A., Vrontis, D., Kartakoullis, N. L., & Kriemadis, T., (2012). Contemporary marketing
communications framework for football clubs. Journal of Promotion Management, 18(3),
278-305.