{"id":318533,"date":"2025-12-01T14:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T14:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/318533\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T14:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T14:27:07","slug":"world-cup-contracts-turn-toronto-and-vancouver-bylaw-staff-into-fifas-brand-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/318533\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup contracts turn Toronto and Vancouver bylaw staff into FIFA\u2019s brand police"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

When the FIFA World Cup comes to North America next year, pubs such as the Dog and Bear in Toronto won\u2019t be able to use the words ‘World Cup’ or other associated images or slogans.Fred Lum\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

In June of next year, fans will pack into the Dog and Bear, a popular sports bar on Toronto\u2019s<\/a> Queen Street West, to watch countries battle it out in soccer\u2019s<\/a> greatest tournament, which is being co-hosted for the first time in Canada. Just don\u2019t call it a \u201cWorld Cup\u201d watch party. <\/p>\n

The 2026 World Cup is expected to be the most lucrative sports event ever staged, with FIFA\u2019s revenues projected to be in excess of $14-billion, according to a recent report by a British marketing firm. <\/p>\n

For the 16 Canadian, Mexican and U.S. cities that will be playing host to games, it will also be a test of their ability to protect corporate trademarks. <\/p>\n

As part of their host-city agreements, Toronto and Vancouver<\/a> are obligated to enforce the trademark rights of the International Association of Football Federation, known by its French initials FIFA, and create a two-kilometre-wide brand-exclusive \u201cclean zone\u201d around their stadiums for official World Cup sponsors. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

That means municipal bylaw officers and volunteer brand-protection agents will be patrolling the streets around those venues, looking for signs of trademark infringement. <\/p>\n

Some businesses in the affected areas may be surprised to learn that common terms or images associated with FIFA \u2013 such as the phrase \u201cWorld Cup\u201d or its iconic golden trophy \u2013 are off-limits in their advertising around the tournament, even if it\u2019s just a sandwich board urging people to come inside and watch on TV. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t say the World Cup?\u201d asked Richard Lambert, co-owner of the Dog and Bear pub, when informed of the restrictions for the first time. <\/p>\n

To help businesses such as his, the city has produced a guide on words to use and avoid when promoting World Cup celebrations. He said the rules mean his bar will have to tiptoe around the obvious when it rents out its second floor to create a 600-person watch party for every game. <\/p>\n

\u201cI guess we\u2019ll just have to say \u2018football is being played here,\u2019\u201d Mr. Lambert said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In addition to \u201cclean zone\u201d rules, Toronto and Vancouver are required by FIFA to patrol major routes into their stadiums, looking for any signs of non-FIFA-affiliated companies trying to cash in on the World Cup, and guarantee that airspace above their stadiums is ad-free. They must also keep any host-city events \u201cfree and clean of any visible third-party advertising,\u201d according to the agreements. <\/p>\n

Neither city could provide an estimate as to what these brand-policing efforts might cost, but Vancouver said it hoped to meet its obligations with existing bylaw resources. Saira Virani, a spokesperson for the City of Toronto, said the municipality was still \u201cworking with FIFA to define\u201d what enforcement efforts would look like within the brand-protection zone\u201d around BMO Field \u2013 which for the tournament will be called Toronto Stadium.<\/p>\n

Under the agreements, the costs of policing FIFA\u2019s trademark interests are to be carried by the host cities, which are also barred from generating any outside advertising revenue associated with the World Cup. The international soccer federation says this is \u201ccommon practice for major international sporting events\u201d and that it\u2019s good for the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe FIFA World Cup is one of the most iconic football competitions in the world. Investing time and resources to protect its brands is of paramount importance to FIFA in order to secure the revenue streams which enable us to support the development and growth of football, globally,\u201d FIFA\u2019s Alicia Diotte, head of public relations for the Canadian portion of the tournament, said in an e-mail.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

FIFA is no stranger to the war waged by major sporting events against ambush marketing, a problem that dates back to at least 1996 during the Atlanta Olympics, when Nike blitzed every available ad space in the city despite not being a sponsor. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, FIFA officials ejected 36 Dutch fans from a stadium and had them detained by police after they showed up wearing orange dresses affiliated with a non-sponsor brewery. <\/p>\n

Brand protection was also an issue at the Olympic Games in 2010, when the owner of Olympia, a Greek restaurant in Vancouver, was threatened with legal action over the use of Olympic rings on his business\u2019s sign. The Olympic Organizing Committee finally backed down after thousands of people signed a petition in his defence. <\/p>\n

John Furlong, head of the organizing committee for those Vancouver Games, said most businesses were co-operative, however, and there were not a lot of major trademark infractions. <\/p>\n

Organizers need to use their discretion, he said, and do plenty of outreach so affected businesses understand the rules around trademarks and the reasons behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried not to be ridiculously heavy-handed,\u201d he said. \u201cYou really need the public on your side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada men get first look at what could await them at draw for 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

The brand-protection efforts are not only demanded by FIFA, but also by the companies that partner with it. <\/p>\n

Candice Kloes, a lawyer and expert in trademark law at Borden Ladner Gervais, said FIFA sponsors such as Coca-Cola pay many millions to be affiliated with the World Cup, and have a \u201creasonable expectation\u201d that competitors won\u2019t get the benefit of association with the brand for free. <\/p>\n

Host cities receive a lot of economic benefit from the World Cup in the form of tourism and hospitality spending, so the cost of using municipal staff to protect FIFA\u2019s brands and trademarks are worth it, she added.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why cities are willing to enact bylaws to protect those brands \u2013 as Vancouver did this week \u2013 and why Canada enacted specific legislation in 2007 to protect Olympic trademarks ahead of the Vancouver Games. <\/p>\n

Vancouver plans temporary bylaw changes ahead of 2026 soccer World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

The temporary bylaws introduced by Vancouver will allow the city to aggressively remove any graffiti and clamp down on unauthorized advertising related to the World Cup.<\/p>\n

FIFA has shown that it will use the courts to protect its affiliated brands if necessary. It wants anyone considering ambush marketing at the World Cup to know that they face potential fines and other penalties, and will have municipal staff on the lookout, Ms. Kloes said.<\/p>\n

For companies \u2013 or even the local pub planning to hold watch parties \u2013 that want to cash in on the excitement around the World Cup without paying for that association, it\u2019s just not worth the risk, she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are very famous trademarks that come with a lot of reputation. And so, it\u2019s difficult to be able to say that the small pub down the street can use it, but not the big guy up the road. It\u2019s best to enforce it across the board,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: When the FIFA World Cup comes to North America next year, pubs such…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-318533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}