Companies invest millions of dollars to become “official sponsors” of major global sporting events. The tremendous publicity and consumer audiences generated by such events provide an attractive marketing opportunity for companies other than the event’s official sponsors who seek to associate themselves in the minds of the public with the goodwill and popularity of these events. This activity, known as ambush marketing, poses significant legal and business challenges for sport event organizers seeking to protect both the financial investment of official sponsors and the integrity of their sponsorship programs. With rising sponsorship stakes, event organizers have become increasingly proactive in their efforts to combat ambush marketing. This article examines the implementation and effectiveness of a variety of evolving sponsorship program protection strategies including: pre-event education and public relations initiatives; on-site policing tactics; contractual language in athlete participation and spectator ticket agreements; and the enactment and enforcement of special trademark protection legislation.

Purpose – Building on prior research in interactions between sales and marketing departments, the purpose of this paper is to investigate departmental alignment among professional hockey teams. By using a single industry sample, the authors are able to identify high and low performers, along with structural antecedents that lead to higher alignment (Rouse and Daellenbach, 1999). Expiring inventory, customer knowledge, and volatile demand enhance the need for alignment and suggest opportunities for innovative mechanisms to share information among departments (Mullin et al., 2007). Design/methodology/approach – Through the usage of Kotler et al.’s (2006) survey instrument, the authors survey NHL Vice Presidents of sales and marketing to assess levels of structural alignment. The authors further explores strategies for alignment through qualitative interviews of select team executives. Findings – The authors find examples of high alignment, achieved through structural elements of proximity, cross-functional tasks, financial incentives, and new technologies. The qualitative interviews provide insight into how organizations attempt to create high levels of alignment. Originality/value – These results help advance the literature by identifying high performers and going inside organizations for the source of a competitive advantage, thus following Rouse and Dallenbach’s (1999) approach for theory development. The authors also contributes by identifying strategies for practitioners to apply as they attempt to design optimal work structures.

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As sport properties and brands leverage the use of hashtags to expand their share of voice and audiences, they also face a host of emerging legal issues at the nexus of social media and intellectual property laws. This article examines the current potential conflict between the courts and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding the legal status of hashtags as trademarks, which provides the backdrop discussion of sport properties' approaches to potentially infringing use of hashtags in the context of ambush marketing. The Federal Trade Commission has also initiated regulatory efforts aimed at hashtag-based promotions. Analysis of significant cases and application of a typology of hashtags to sport industry examples provides guidance to sport organizations. While typically favoring strict enforcement in matters involving intellectual property, the risk in stifling conversations stimulated by hashtags may call for more innovative tactics to achieve brand protection and consumer protection goals.