ABSTRACT
Intellectual property contains a broad category of rights; the most important for sports purposes is trademark protection and licensing. Owners of the intellectual property enter into licensing agreements that account for the bulk of the revenue. The licensee, often a firm manufacturing clothing, shoes or sports equipment, contracts with the intellectual property owner or licensing firm for the use of its names, logos and designs on items sold to the public. Merchandising encompasses the practice of companies selling products with the trademark of a league, conference, team, college or other organization on those products. The theory behind sports merchandising is that the market power of that organization as a brand attracts fans of the sport to buy the merchandise and therefore enhances the value of the product sold. In addition to trademark protection, which concerns designs and logos used in commerce to identify products, there is an intellectual property right in one's name, likeness and voice.
