Major Events Management Act 2007 (NZ) and its impact on the Rugby World Cup 2011

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 As excitement is building up to the Rugby World Cup 2011, businesses worldwide have been getting ready to capitalise on the lucrative advertising opportunities the event will create. As a result, the Major Events Management Act (MEMA) 2007 NZ (the Act) has been enacted in New Zealand to prevent organisers and sponsors of events such as the Rugby World Cup from being undermined by unauthorised commercial advertising, known as ambush marketing.

Protection of this kind is becoming more common throughout the world. While New Zealand has adopted legislation that can be used and adapted to each major event, other countries have leaned towards event-specific legislation. For instance, Australia enacted the Sydney 2000 Games (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 1996 (Cth) specifically for the Olympic Games.

The MEMA seeks to prevent two types of ambush marketing at declared major events:

1          Ambush marketing by association – this involves an advertiser misleading the public into thinking that a good, service or brand is an authorised partner or associated with an event when it is not.  

For example, in South Africa a company selling lollipops in a wrapper depicting the South African flag with the numeral “2010” and a picture of a soccer ball was found to bring the goods into association with or allude to the Soccer World Cup. Accordingly, the profits earned from the product were found to be unlawful.

In relation to the Rugby World Cup, if businesses use protected emblems or words such as “Rugby World Cup”, “World Cup 2011”, “Rugby Board”, “Rugby New Zealand 2011”, “RWC”, “IRB” and “Webb Ellis Cup” then they will be assumed to be in breach of the Act, unless one of the exceptions apply. This will be the case even if the word or emblem is eligible for trade mark registration or actually registered.

2          Ambush marketing by intrusion –this occurs when an event is used to draw the attention of an audience gathered solely for the major event to the marketer’s brand.

This happened at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996 when Nike placed advertisements on numerous billboards surrounding the city, established a large Nike Centre outside the main stadium and distributed Nike flags to spectators which were later captured on television. This was despite the fact that Reebok was the official sponsor of the Olympic Games.

In an effort to prevent such intrusive marketing practices, the MEMA contains provisions which prevent advertising and street trading in declared “clean zones” around the major event and in “clean transport routes” leading to those venues such as on motorways and railway lines.

What this means for your business?

If the FIFA World Cup is anything to go by, event organisers of the Rugby World Cup and other declared major events in New Zealand such as the World Rowing Championships 2010 and U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 are likely to be active in prosecuting those who breach the Act. The penalties for a breach can be severe, ranging from large fines to criminal sanctions.

As the provisions of the MEMA are likely to be broadly applied by the courts, companies looking to take advantage of commercial opportunities arising from the Rugby World Cup will undoubtedly need to familiarise themselves with the Act and be cautious of the marketing strategies they adopt to ensure that they are not left open to accusations of ambush marketing.