World Cup Soccer (or football, for my international friends) only happens once every four years, and boy has it been a good time so far! I’ve been enjoying multiple games with my friends, and have been dealing with the “early” play times. Well, early for us in the USA, at least. You know how we are – we can’t wait for a delayed broadcast of a game, we want and NEED to see it live, right? Which means watching games that air here around dawn.
I have been talking with several clients and friends in the hospitality industry, and those who deal with the hospitality industry regularly for business, and I’ve been hearing some common themes, as well as some novel issues, arising from the World Cup cycle. First, many pubs, bars, sports venues, etc., are opening at very early hours – times they would normally never be open. Which means extra staff, extra hours, compliance with TABC (or whatever alcohol and beverage organization you deal with in your state) rules, extra food and beverage ordering, and . . . well, you get the picture. Also, some places expected record crowds and wisely dealt with fire marshal/occupancy codes early on. Finally, there is the secondary World Cup paraphenalia that your business can sell – like t-shirts, cups, mugs, etc.
Why am I mentioning these things in a hospitality law blog? Well, there are laws and legal implications in every one of the things mentioned above. If your employees will be working more than full-time hours, you have overtime laws with which to deal. There are hiring laws and age considerations if you will be hiring people who will be serving alcoholic beverages to patrons. Here in Texas, there are regulations related to how early you can serve alcohol containing beverages and whether it has to be served AFTER food is served. Yep, things you never really needed to know when you run a pub that doesn’t normally open until 3:00 in the afternoon. If you’re opening at 6:30 am, there are special considerations.
Another issue that has been mentioned to me is the use of World Cup logos. I would hope that you all know that the official FIFA World Cup logo is legally protected, like EVERY LOGO OUT THERE. Which means that you cannot just put it on t-shirts, papers, menus, cups, whatever, without legal permission to do so. “Licensing” is what we call it. A friend, who will remain anonymous, told me about the following story: Friend works for an International Company that sells beverages. His “clients” tend to be businesses that are restaurants who have contracts with the company for which he works. Many of those clients want to get in on the World Cup mania. One particular Client wanted to print commemorative cups for patrons to take home, and wanted Friend’s International Company to pay for the printing of those cups. So far, so good. Until Client told Friend that he wanted International Company to print the cups with the FIFA World Cup logo, and the Client did not have licensing rights to use the logo. Uh, oh. Friend, wisely, told Client he couldn’t arrange for International Company to print the cups because there was no permission to use the logo, so Client and his business decided to do it themselves, after Client’s own legal counsel supposedly told them that there was no problem with using the logo without permission. Oh boy! I can hardly wait to see that lawsuit, and wonder what that attorney will be doing for work once he gets sued for malpractice. It will certainly put Client out of business, all because Client wanted to use a logo without licensing rights, and attorney presumably didn’t want to anger his client. Bad business decision. Sometimes it is an attorney’s job to tell a client that what he is doing or wants to do is a legal problem, and will cost him dearly.
There are lots of legal considerations that go into planning for World Cup events, or other similar events. Please don’t go it alone – consult your attorney or find an attorney to discuss these issues with. It will be well worth the relatively small amount you will pay your legal counsel in comparison to the staggering liabilities that could arise if you act without proper knowledge and legal counsel.
Let me know what issues you’ve dealt with this World Cup season!
- Beth
