Most football matches are decided in ninety minutes. But the real value of the game is decided long before kickoff and long after the final whistle. Behind every famous club badge, every sold-out jersey, every streamed match, and every football video game lies a powerful system of intellectual property rights.
Modern football is no longer just a sport. It is an intellectual property ecosystem. Every time a fan buys a jersey, watches a match, or plays a football video game, they are interacting with intellectual property. Club identities such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Liverpool FC are not just teams. They are global brands protected by trademarks, copyrights, and licensing systems.
The same principle is increasingly visible in Zimbabwean football. Clubs such as Caps United FC, Dynamos FC, Highlanders FC, and Scotland FC in Zimbabwe are also developing strong brand identities through sponsorships, merchandise, media visibility, and fan engagement. However, the level of formal intellectual property protection differs significantly across clubs, revealing an important gap between brand popularity and legal IP structuring.
Their logos, jerseys, stadium identities, slogans, digital content, and merchandise are carefully protected assets in more commercially developed systems. Without intellectual property, much of modern football’s commercial power would collapse.
Image Rights and the Modern Footballer
One of the most important modern intellectual property debates in football emerged through the EA Sports football video game franchise.
Football superstar Zlatan Ibrahimović publicly questioned the use of his image, name, and likeness in the game, sparking a global debate on player image rights. Gareth Bale raised similar concerns. EA Sports argued that it secured rights through official partnerships and FIFPro agreements, but the controversy revealed a deeper truth. In modern football, a player is also intellectual property.
Image rights in modern sport increasingly extend beyond a player’s physical appearance to include names, nicknames, gestures, celebrations, and even voice and branding identity, many of which are now being protected through trademark law as commercial assets. For example, Chelsea and England midfielder Cole Palmer has reportedly moved to trademark his “Cold Palmer” celebration, where he folds his arms and shivers to depict being “cold,” turning a viral on-field gesture into a marketable brand. Gareth Bale previously trademarked a heart-shaped celebration logo linked to his shirt number 11, and Robert Lewandowski has used “RL9” as a protected commercial identity across merchandise. Neymar Jr has also secured protection over elements of his name and branding, while Erling Haaland has taken steps toward protecting aspects of his distinctive goal celebrations. Collectively, these examples illustrate how image rights in sport are no longer incidental but strategically managed intellectual property portfolios, where even a simple celebration can evolve into a legally protected commercial brand.
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Broadcasting Rights: The Financial Engine of Football
Broadcasting rights further illustrate the scale of football’s intellectual property economy.
Competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, and the English Premier League generate billions through media rights. These rights control who can show matches, where they are streamed, and how content is distributed globally.
Football piracy and illegal streaming remain major threats because they directly undermine this intellectual property system.
Footballers as Global Brands
Footballers themselves are now global brands.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappé generate income through endorsements, trademarks, image licensing, and social media influence.Cristiano Ronaldo has built a global empire around his “CR7” trademark, while Kylian Mbappé has protected elements of his crossed-arms celebration and associated branding.
Modern footballers are no longer just athletes. They are commercial entities whose identities are carefully managed and monetised across global markets.
The Zimbabwe Case Study: Emerging Football IP Structures
The situation in Zimbabwe offers an important contrast that highlights how intellectual property in football develops unevenly across different markets.
Highlanders FC stands out as one of the few Zimbabwean clubs with a documented approach to intellectual property protection. The club has registered multiple trademarks, including its name, logo, and associated branding elements such as Bosso, BossoLona, and Amahlolanyama. This reflects a structured attempt to protect its identity as a commercial asset.
Dynamos FC also has recognized trademark protection for its name and branding, although much of the public discussion around its intellectual property has focused on legal and financial disputes rather than commercial expansion of its brand portfolio.
Caps United FC, one of Zimbabwe’s most historic clubs, has a strong and widely recognized identity, but there is limited public evidence of a fully developed trademark portfolio comparable to more commercially structured clubs. Its brand value is significant, yet its intellectual property framework appears less formalized.
For clubs such as Scotland FC and several other Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League teams, brand identity is strong at the fan and sporting level, but intellectual property protection is still largely emerging or not publicly documented. These clubs rely heavily on reputation, league recognition, and sponsorship visibility rather than structured IP portfolios.
This creates a clear divide. While some Zimbabwean clubs are beginning to formalize their intellectual property rights, many still operate with commercially active brands that are not fully structured as legal IP assets. This contrasts sharply with major European clubs, where trademarks, licensing systems, and global brand protection strategies are deeply institutionalized.
Technology, Data, and the New IP Frontier
Modern football is also driven by technology and innovation.
VAR systems, artificial intelligence analytics, wearable tracking devices, and smart stadium technologies are all part of a growing intellectual property landscape. Many of these systems are protected through patents and innovation frameworks that give companies exclusive rights over how football data and technology are used.
Football is no longer just about physical performance. It is about data, technology, and intellectual assets that shape decision-making on and off the pitch.
Conclusion: The Invisible Game Behind the Game
In conclusion, football is not only played on the pitch. It is also owned, licensed, protected, and commercialized through intellectual property.
From global giants such as Real Madrid and the Premier League to emerging African football institutions like Caps United FC, Dynamos FC, Highlanders FC, and Scotland FC in Zimbabwe, every club exists within a broader system where value is created and controlled through intellectual property.
The future of football will be defined not only by goals scored, but by who controls the rights behind the game itself.
The ninety minutes on the field are only the visible part of the game. The real contest begins long before kickoff and continues long after the final whistle.
Rachelle Anesu Chaminuka holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours)degree, a Master’s in Intellectual Property, and a Master’s in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She has completed several WIPO-sponsored intellectual property courses and is passionate about intellectual property law, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
