Copyrights and copyright claims are terms that are pretty well-known to the people who spend time watching YouTube and Twitch. Why? Because every so often, in some cases, every single week, some of our favorite channels and streamers get a copyright claim. 

Intellectual property is taken very seriously, especially by large companies which benefit from every single time that property is mentioned. Even online sportsbooks and casinos are often trademarks or parts of larger companies. When they use promo codes and offers like this Virgin Bet Welcome Offer, you can be sure that a part of that is IP.

What about professional sports? Is there IP in professional sports and if there is, how does it manifest? Here are some examples of IP in professional sports.

Broadcasting Rights

This is one of the first things you will come across as a sports fan if you want to transition to another television provider or other streaming service. You will check whether they have the broadcasting rights to transmit and show the events that you want to watch. 

This is very important and people have stuck with some providers simply because they have their favorite channel or sport and they broadcast it daily. Some people have canceled other subscriptions and subscribed only to a single site that streams one sport, for example, tennis. Broadcasting rights are bought by both standard media companies, as well as those which stream online. Everybody would like the rights to stream the Champions League, but not everybody has the money to buy the said rights.

Technology in Sports

Technology helps advance sports, just look at formula racing, or any other sport, like football. Even in football, better materials and combinations of materials have made cleats lighter, balls better and the referees almost obsolete. While there are a lot of controversies around video-assisted referees, the technology used in sports in IP. 

That IP can be anything from the type of materials used to make balls, shoes, skis, to the technology powering Hawkeye in tennis or other types of AI referee systems.

Brands

This is another very important part of sports. Let us look at cycling, for example. When you look at cycling gear, namely the derailleurs, shifters, and everything related to the drivetrain and braking, there are two companies you will buy your gear from, Shimano and SRAM, or rather, two brands.

Such brands are present in all sports, for example, Asics, Nike, Adidas, they cover a lot of sports, namely clothing, and footwear.

Brands like Wilson and Head are the major racket manufacturers in tennis and Sparco is a known brand in the automotive accessory world.

Design in Sports

Imagine not having a logo and being a popular team? It is almost impossible. All such things, graphical and musical, which are found in sports, are intellectual property. From the logo of your favorite team to the jingle which always plays during a commercial for a piece of gear, there is plenty of IP in sports, particularly in the design. All the iconic logos are IP and using or misusing them would get one in a lot of trouble. 

Intellectual property is present in all industries and is a standard way of protecting one’s design, technology, or anything that they deem valuable and could be a source of income. These were some examples of IP in sports.