With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games fast approaching, athletes and brands will be refining their marketing and advertising campaigns. To do so they must reacquaint themselves with the specific rules regarding this set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), particularly Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter.
Rule 40 aims to protect the exclusivity of official Olympic partners by restricting the advertising activities of other brands during the Games. While athletes can still earn income from personal sponsorships and participate in advertising during the Games, the use of an athlete’s image is strictly regulated, covering any reference to their appearance, image, name, or sports performance.
For Team GB athletes, this encompasses all commercial promotions, including social media, traditional advertising, direct advertising, PR activities, product lending or gifting, and in-store promotions.
Navigating the complexities of Rule 40 is crucial for athletes and their sponsors, including Team GB partners, to effectively leverage brand visibility during the Olympics.
Breaches of Rule 40 carry sanctions which apply to the athlete, not the advertiser. The IOC or the National Olympic Committee (NOC) can penalise the athlete, potentially leading to campaign withdrawal and negative PR for the brand and, by extension, Team GB.
Historically, Rule 40 has been contentious, leading to significant friction between athletes and the IOC and NOCs. Prior to the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, 20 high-profile Team GB athletes, led by sprinter Adam Gemili, initiated legal action against the British Olympic Association (BOA) to challenge what they saw as “unjust and unlawful” sponsorship rules.
The BOA and the athletes eventually reached an agreement which allowed athletes more freedom to acknowledge their personal sponsors during the Games. This settlement was a significant victory, removing the requirement to submit all marketing materials for prior approval.
The agreement also expanded opportunities for athletes to publicly thank their sponsors, albeit with strict limitations: one message per sponsor per event, one message per day, three messages per sponsor throughout the Games, and a maximum of 10 thank-you messages in total. These posts cannot contain Olympic branding, promote specific products or services, or imply a commercial association with Team GB or the Olympics.
Following these successes, the pressure from athletes around Rule 40 has eased. The focus has shifted to broader issues such as athlete funding and prize money.
Toyota recently announced it would not continue its top-tier sponsorship of the Olympics beyond Paris 2024, reportedly due to dissatisfaction with how its payments were — or were not — supporting athletes. This development may point towards possible future sponsors prioritising athlete funding issues in their sponsorship negotiations with the IOC.
On the prize money front, World Athletics has announced it will start paying $50,000 to each track and field gold medal winner at this year’s Olympics, with a commitment to pay all track and field medallists at the LA 2028 Games. This marks the first instance of Olympic athletes being paid by an international governing body rather than by their government or NOC.
While this is positive news for top athletes, it does not benefit those who do not make the podium. It remains to be seen whether other international governing bodies will follow suit or direct prize money to their own World Championship events instead of the Olympics. Perhaps the time will come when the focus falls on further relaxation of Rule 40 once again.
Nick White is a partner and Sarah Johnson an associate at Charles Russell Speechlys.