Naming rights — a sponsorship deal over the name of a stadium, arena or tournament — are not regulated in Georgia by a separate statute: the deal itself is written under the general rules of trademark and contract law. What the Law on Sport does establish are the objects and symbols such a deal touches: the locked rights over Olympic and Paralympic symbolism, the object regime of the sports base, and the rules for using the emblems and official signs of competitions. On this page we explain what a sponsor and a rights holder must know when working with these norms.
Olympic and Paralympic Symbolism — a Locked Asset
The National Olympic Committee of Georgia is an independent public organization that coordinates the Olympic movement in Georgia and is a legal entity; it is governed by Georgian legislation, this law, the Olympic Charter and its own statutes. In the International Olympic Committee and its events, including the Olympic Games, Georgia is represented only by the National Olympic Committee. The decisive norm for sponsorship is this: the Committee has its own symbolism, and only it has the right to use that symbolism. The same model operates for the Paralympic movement: the National Paralympic Committee of Georgia is an independent public organization, only it represents Georgia in the International Paralympic Committee and its events, and only it has the right to use its own symbolism. A naming deal that relies on this symbolism, or associates itself with it, is possible only by agreement with these organizations — a sponsor cannot directly incorporate Olympic or Paralympic symbols into its own naming or campaign. Both committees cooperate with the ministry and the national sports federations on a contractual basis and participate in ensuring the preparation and performance of national teams.
The Sports Base as an Object — the Bans on Function Change and Liquidation
A name is most often given to a sports object, and the law gives this object its own regime. The material-technical base of sport comprises every kind of sports and health-promoting construction, equipment, inventory and other property designated for sporting activity. A sports base is an object whose aim is the training of athletes and the health improvement of the population, or which meets the requirements for holding sports competitions. On these objects the law establishes three firm prohibitions: it is inadmissible to change the function of a sports base without agreement with the ministry; it is inadmissible to build or reconstruct early-education and school institutions without accounting for sports objects; and it is inadmissible to liquidate sports objects or change their profile before the transfer of an equivalent object for operation. For a sponsorship deal this means that the named object cannot lawfully change its function or disappear — the investor's interest is protected by statutorily fixed stability. The ministry controls the targeted use of state sports constructions, and on state sports bases the priority right to train belongs to the national teams.