Sponsorship agreement

About this document

This agreement is for a deal where financial support is given in return for advertising or other rights at a number of events.

These could be sports competitions or shows or exhibitions. The sponsor may receive additional rights, for example, to sell products from a stand or the right to advertise being a sponsor of the event on marketing material.

The agreement is very flexible in the terms between the parties. The rights granted could be of any sort. We suggest common ones, like advertising, product placement and preferential event access, hosting of corporate hospitality functions, and promotion on television or radio, although these can be replaced or supplemented by those that you agree.

The agreement also covers a number of practical considerations to make sure that the sponsor is able to benefit from his rights.

If the parties have not worked together before, we advise that the sponsor should be very precise about what he wants out of the deal. A charismatic organiser may be highly skilled at pulling together the strings needed to arrange the event (such as financing through sponsorship) but may not be the person micromanaging the employees on the day.

The law in this agreement

The law in this document is common law, allowing you to make whatever deal you want.

It includes a number of legal matters to the advantage of both sides that might be left out of less comprehensive agreements, including protection of intellectual property, assignment and rights to renew.

When to use this agreement

This contract could be used by the event organiser or the sponsor, probably at first to explore the deal that could be done, and then as the legal contract. Either party could initiate drafting and send it to the other as their preferred terms on which to start negotiations.

It is suitable for:

• consecutive events, differentiated by timing, content or location
• multi round or knock out sports tournaments and leagues
• fairs, shows and exhibitions

The sponsor could receive any number of rights, but these are likely to include advertising or branding of some sort.

We have another agreement that may be more suitable if only a single event is being sponsored, such as an interior design exhibition, or a charity football match.

Contents

• Definitions and interpretation
• Warranties for authority
• Relationship of parties
• Sponsorship fee and payment
• Sponsorship rights granted
• Obligations of each party
• Indemnity
• Protection of the intellectual property of the organiser
• Right to renew: a valuable provision if the events turn out to be more successful than anticipated
• Termination, and consequences of it
• Assignment: whether either side can transfer the rights to another party
• Miscellaneous matters
• Schedule 1: The event programme
• Schedule 2: Corporate hospitality functions
• Schedule 3: Services and products that will be sold at the events
• Schedule 4: Industry sectors, product ranges and countries that may be promoted