Reviewing a sponsorship agreement

A sponsorship agreement sells association: the sponsor's name on the shirt, the event, the venue, the podcast or the programme, with the rights to use the rights holder's marks and content in its own marketing and to entertain its guests. The agreement has to define those rights precisely, protect the category from competitors, keep both sides within the advertising rules, and deal with what happens when one side's reputation damages the other's. I review the agreement from whichever side instructs me and return it marked up with a written explanation of the changes, for a fixed fee of £495 in three working days.

Who this is for

Sponsors and rights holders in England and Wales: businesses sponsoring a sports club, event, festival, conference, venue, podcast, award or charity, and clubs, organisers, venues and creators selling sponsorship. Both parties are businesses; the advertising and disclosure rules protect the consumers who see the sponsorship.

What to look for in a sponsorship agreement

The rights granted and the category protected

The schedule of rights should list every benefit: naming, logo placement and its size and position, tickets and hospitality, digital and broadcast exposure, access to players or speakers, first refusal on renewal. The review checks that each right is defined, that the rights holder can deliver it, that the sponsor's category is defined and protected against competing sponsors at the same and lower tiers, and that the rights holder's other commercial partners, governing body rules and venue agreements do not cut across the rights sold.

Marks, content and how each side may use them

Each party will use the other's trade marks, which under section 28 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 needs a written licence signed by the proprietor, and the sponsor will want to use event photography, footage and player images, whose copyright belongs to the creator under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and whose subjects may have image rights the rights holder must clear. The review checks the licence scope, the approval process for each use, the territory and duration, and the rights holder's warranty that it can grant what it is granting.

Advertising rules, disclosure and regulated sectors

Sponsored content in social media, podcasts and editorial must be identified as advertising: paragraph 12 of Schedule 20 to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans using editorial content to promote a product where a trader has paid without making that clear, and the CAP Code requires paid partnerships to be labelled. Some sponsors are restricted: tobacco sponsorship is prohibited by the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002, gambling sponsorship is subject to the Gambling Act 2005 and the operators' codes, and alcohol sponsorship must comply with the CAP Code and the Portman Group code. The review checks that the agreement allocates compliance to the party that controls each output, with the rights holder responsible for its own channels and the sponsor for its own advertising.

Hospitality, gifts and the Bribery Act

Sponsorship hospitality offered to a sponsor's customers or public officials can be a bribe if it is intended to induce improper performance. The Bribery Act 2010 guidance published by the Ministry of Justice recognises proportionate hospitality as legitimate, and section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 makes a business liable for bribery by those acting for it unless it has adequate procedures. The review asks for hospitality to be allocated and recorded, for each party to comply with the other's gifts and hospitality policy where it is entertaining the other's guests, and for a right to refuse hospitality that would breach either party's policy.

Fees, activation, delivery failures and make-goods

The fee schedule should set the instalments and their dates, any value-in-kind supply and how it is valued, and the sponsor's activation budget if the agreement requires one. The review asks for make-goods where the rights holder fails to deliver a right, for a fee reduction where an event is shortened, moved, held without spectators or cancelled, and for insurance and force majeure clauses that say who bears the cost of cancellation. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 applies to the fee instalments.

Morality clauses, reputation and termination

Each side should be able to terminate if the other's conduct brings it into disrepute, and the clause should define the trigger objectively, apply to individuals the rights holder controls, and give a remedy period where the damage can be undone. The review checks the term, renewal and matching rights, the rights holder's ability to sell the category to a competitor after termination, and the sponsor's obligation to stop using the marks and content and to remove branding within a stated period.

What it costs

Standard review, £495. Marked-up document and a written explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Complex review, £895. Heavily negotiated or unusually complex documents. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the contract review page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• Your own contract returned with my amendments as tracked changes, plus a clean version with every change accepted, ready to send to the other side
• Comments in the document where a point needs explaining
• A written explanation of what I have changed and why, by email or as an attachment if it is lengthy, marking the points I would hold firm on and the ones that are negotiable
• A view on what is normal market practice and what is the other side pushing their luck
• One round of follow-up questions by email, included

What is not included

• Negotiating directly with the other side, which I quote separately once I know who is on the other side. Where the other side is willing to share a live document, I can work in that document directly
• Drafting a replacement contract from scratch
• Advice on the law of any jurisdiction other than England and Wales
• Tax, accounting or regulatory advice
• Disputes about a contract that is already signed

Questions I am often asked

Another company in our category is sponsoring a lower tier of the same event. Is that a breach?

Only if the category exclusivity you bought covers all tiers, and rights holders define categories and tiers narrowly. The review asks for the category to be defined by product and service, for exclusivity to apply across all tiers and official partners, and for a remedy if a competitor appears.

Can we use footage and photographs of the event in our own advertising?

Only on the terms of the licence in the agreement, because the copyright belongs to whoever created the footage and the people in it may have rights the rights holder must clear. The review checks the scope, approvals, territory and duration of the licence and the rights holder's warranty that it can grant it.

The club's captain has been charged with an offence. Can we terminate?

That depends on the morality clause, and many are drafted to protect the rights holder, not the sponsor. The review asks for an objective trigger covering conduct by individuals the rights holder controls, a right for the sponsor to suspend activation, and termination without further fees where the damage cannot be undone.

Related guidance and services

• Contract review, £495, the service this page describes
• Terms and conditions drafting, £995
• Reviewing a media buying or advertising agreement

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.