Are Player Focused or Squad Wide Image Rights The Way To Go?

We will unpack the different approaches when it comes to image rights in football, through looking at both player and club perspectives, while later focusing on SSC Napoli’s unique approach to image rights.

By Maxwell Kablan

Image rights are one of the most interesting developments in sports contracts, and their importance has grown considerably in the 21st century. As players are becoming a lot more focused around building their personal brands, it is crucial that their image rights contracts allow them to maintain and grow their brands with freedom.

On the other side, clubs will want to ensure their players promote club sponsors and brands without conflicting with the club. This causes tension when it comes to image rights – should they be player-focused or club-focused? We will explore the different options available when it comes to image rights, and how they could develop in the future.

But first, we will outline what Image Rights are and how they work.

The Nature of Image Rights in Football

Image rights relate to everything that makes an athlete identifiable. This can include their name, image and likeness, but can also cover their voice, appearance and signature among many other categories. With all of these combined, an athlete has an individual image, which creates a commercial asset that they can earn revenue from.

Players are then able to grant these image rights to entities, such as their clubs to use for marketing purposes, sponsors to feature athletes in advertisement campaigns and media and governing bodies to use for coverage and sporting events. These contracts should clearly define factors such as where and how the image can be used, how long the agreement is for and payment terms.

What makes image rights so unique is that it is an area which doesn’t have a single way of being regulated. They do not fit into any particular legal category, and therefore, there is no worldwide regulation which all players, clubs and federations must follow.

This is seen in the way different jurisdictions and countries deal with image rights matters. In England and Wales, there is no statutory law which governs image rights. This gives clubs and players a lot more control and freedom to draft these contracts as they see fit, without suffering repercussions for it.

In the EU, different countries have different approaches when it comes to image rights Regulations. For instance, in Switzerland, Image Rights are regulated as a subcategory of personality rights, while in France and Italy, they are protected under the right to privacy.  Additionally, in Spain they are seen as a self-image right, which also links to privacy.

The lack of a centralised framework concerning image rights has allowed different countries to use their own unique approaches. And this has translated into the football and sports landscape, which is mainly down to the negotiations between clubs and players. We will compare and contrast the player- focused approach with the club-focused approach.

Player Focused Approach – Setting up Image Rights Companies

In recent years, players have taken up a bold approach when it comes to managing their own image rights. One way they have done this by setting up their own Image Rights Companies (IRCs). This allows them to have complete ownership over their image, and they can then assign ownership and license them to clubs, brands and sponsors and earn revenue through endorsements.

For high-profile players, setting up an IRC is very lucrative and beneficial, in the sense that it allows them to exploit their own commercial image, brand and reputation. In the Premier League, for example, while image rights are not regulated by law in England, standard Premier League contracts limit the use of image rights for players without their own IRC. It outlines that the club’s use of the player’s image must not be greater than the average of all the first team players (Clause 4.6.1).

However, through players having their own IRCs, it essentially creates a loophole around this. Players can enter separate image rights agreements with their club outside of their main contract, and can then promote themselves while also exploiting the products of the club they are signed to.

These type of deals would essentially support both elite players, and clubs who want to sign them to be able to profit over the image. They give clubs the license to use a player’s image across a greater range of sponsorship opportunities. In theory, this is a win-win for both players and clubs.

But players in particular benefit the most from these types of agreements. They are able to exert greater control over how their image is used by their clubs and sponsors, and they are also able to monetise these commercial opportunities.  

Additionally, there are also tax advantages for players who set up their own IRCs. In the UK, these are only subject to 19% or 25% in corporation tax, compared to the income tax rate of 40% or 45%.

Lastly, setting up an IRC benefits players long-term, as it allows them to plan for life post-retirement, so they can continue to receive income once they have retired. With the boom in players trademarking their name, celebrations and image such as Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham (check out my previous article about athlete trademarks later) this greatly supports players looking grow their brand for years to come.

Now that we have looked at the player-focused approach, we will now focus on the club-focused approach.

Squad-Wide Club Focused Approach – The Napoli Example

While players look to maximise their image rights to expand their commercial growth, clubs want to ensure maximal exposure when it comes to their own revenue growth through their sponsors.

Premier League clubs for example can have over 70 commercial partners who want to use a player’s image rights. But clubs can face barriers when it comes to their players promoting their partners if their players are already under sponsorships with competitor brands. As a result, some clubs will look at ways to limit players’ personal deals to prevent these clashes from occurring.

One emerging approach is squad-wide image rights, where a club will have full control over their players’ image rights. While this approach is quite common in Formula 1, it is much less common in football, but the lack of strict regulation in this area has caused some clubs to take up inventive approaches.

Italian club SSC Napoli is one of the trailblazers when it comes to squad-wide image rights. And it gives the club unique advantages when it comes to its commercial growth and revenue. The club’s Chief Global Business Development Officer, Leonardo Giammarioli, explained these benefits, appearing on the Sports Pundit Podcast Network.

Firstly, they are able to instantly know the commercial value of a player’s image rights, and what they are getting out of a player in commercial revenue if they sign. This allows them to manage their expenses and plan accordingly.

Secondly, having control of their players image rights reduces clashes with player sponsors. As discussed earlier, when players have their own IRCs, clubs could face limitations when it comes to endorsement campaigns if they endorse a brand which is a competitor of one of their players.

But through having squad-wide image rights, Napoli retains full control and can therefore avoid these potential clashes. This allows sponsors to have clear access to their players, and they can create more bespoke and personalised endorsement campaigns for them as a result.

The Italian club are a unique case when it comes to image rights, with them also having end to end control of their merchandise and their kits. They are able to have full control over design, production, distribution retail and wholesale when it comes to their kits.

While Napoli are the only European club to own 100% of their players’ image rights, they are not the only club to own a sizeable chunk of them. Real Madrid has famously retained 50% of their players’ image rights for decades, dating back to their Galacticos era. This approach has allowed the club to share the commercial success of their global superstars.

For clubs, squad-wide image rights can be a very attractive approach when it comes to maintaining control over their club image and endorsements through their players.

The Future of Image Rights – What’s Next?

As we have seen, these two contrasting image rights approaches create tensions between both players and clubs. And there are questions which need to be answered in relation to both.

With the rise in athletes taking greater ownership over the IP, would they and their agents see the benefit in giving their image rights away to their clubs? And what role would player agents have if these rights are given to the club.

In Napoli’s case, Giammarioli admitted that their approach of retaining 100% of their players’ image rights meant they had previously lost out on signing some of their key transfer targets, who simply did not want to agree to this.

There would also need to be clarity on how long clubs would own the rights of these players in these agreements, and if they would continue to own part of their rights after they leave the club.

And on the other side of the spectrum, will clubs allow their players to increasingly set up IRCs if it limits their ability to promote club sponsors?

If anything, this all points to a need for greater clarity – a centralised approach when it comes to image rights. Maybe it’s time for FIFA to introduce a framework that sets out a standard that all leagues and clubs can adopt.

At the moment, the current image rights landscape means it’s down to the players, clubs and agents to decide as they see fit. While this offers flexibility, it could birth future clashes over disagreements between those involved. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how this area develops in the future.