Intellectual property, or IP rights, is something that is an intangible creation that the business, sports property, or individual owns the rights to. An example of this in sports is the right to use a team's logo and marks. 

First, not everyone is allowed to use a school or team's logos or marks. The team owns those IP rights and partners must pay to utilize them. 

But how much does it cost to be able to use official logos and marks?  No one number fits all scenarios. Assigning a price point to them is subjective to the location of your market because different locations, schools, and teams have different markets. That is why different teams and schools have their IP rights listed under different price points. 

With markets being different so is the competition that is in them. In the case of intellectual properties the competition has increased dramatically over the last few decades and with that so has their value. The rise of social media has helped with this as well. 

Caleb Swann of FSU, states, “Competition is king” which refers back to how important it is to figure out the competition in your market. 

Since IP rights are much more well-known today than they used to be there are now different mark levels that correspond to the amount of money that a company will pay for a sponsorship. With the introduction of social media, it has become easier for companies to leverage and advertise their IP rights. 

There are also different price points for different levels of IP rights. There are normally three levels of IP rights. They are official, secondary, and third-tier. Most official and secondary-level marks range between $50,000 and $150,000. However, there are still sponsorships in the third tier that work with local companies. These deals are much smaller in price but can still be very helpful and effective for the company and allow fans of all types to be able to use logos and rights to some degree.

Something that has come up over the last few years is the unintentional use of marks in the market. This happens when companies use marks that are protected illegally for their business.  

It’s unfortunate, but sometimes this unintentional use of marks can lead to business. When confronting these companies about their illegal mark use there sometimes is the opportunity to hire them as a client to allow them to fix what they have done as well as help your company. 

When establishing IP rights in a new area or a new team it is important to recognize who is in the market there already and who has the leverage. Figuring these factors out will help you to pinpoint a fair price point and number for those logos and marks. 

When it comes to deciding if you want to use a team's IP rights in a partnership, you need to look at your goals, objectives, and price points.  Remember there are different price points and tiers that make using the logos and marks doable for many. 

To learn more about intellectual properties or to hear the podcast version, click here.