Olympics Advertising (Rule 40): Restrictions for Athletes

Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter prohibits athletes from marketing themselves (for advertising purposes) during the Games.

Rule 40 states, “Except as permitted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board,” it states, “no competitor, team official or other team personnel who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.”

Basically, the rule says that Olympic athletes cannot use their name, image or ages/videos of their sporting performances in advertising during the Games Period.

This is to protect the rights of the official Olympic sponsors, who pay huge money to showcase their respective brands during the games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) strictly enforces the rule and Athletes cannot publicly thank, or even acknowledge, sponsors that haven’t paid their due to the IOC.

#Rule40 starts tomorrow so I won’t be able to say Thank You to my sponsor. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING @newbalance 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/udSEIPhsIA

— emma coburn (@emmajcoburn) July 26, 2016

The IOC adopted the rule in 1991 to protect sponsors who pay hundreds of millions of dollars to be the official sponsors of the Games.

This rule turned out to be a disadvantage for many athletes, who wished to capitalise on the commercial opportunities presented to them during the Olympic Games, since performing at the Olympic Games is the highest point of their sporting career.

In recent years, the IOC has amended Rule 40 so unofficial sponsors (those who sponsor athletes, but not the Games) can feature those athletes in ad campaigns during the Games. But the rule is the ads cannot mention the words Olympics, Summer Games, or other “Olympic-related terms.”

However experts feel that Platforms like Twitter have already forced the IOC to revise its position on Rule 40, and they expect the IOC to relent further as social media’s reach expands.

Meanwhile, Athletes and non-Olympic sponsors must familiarise themselves with the key principles of Rule 40, before undertaking any advertising campaigns during the Olympic Games.