World IP Day 2026 – Key insights from Kenya’s Draft Sports Bill and commercialisation of sports IP

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) set the theme for this year’s World Intellectual Property Day (26 April 2026) as ‘IP and Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate’. The theme reflects the reality that modern sport is no longer defined solely by athletic competition, but by the sophisticated ecosystem of intellectual property (IP) rights that underpin its commercial value.

This is particularly relevant in 2026, a year marked by two major global sporting events, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup and the Winter Olympic Games. These events are not just sporting spectacles; they are highly structured IP-driven enterprises. Every element, from team branding and broadcast content to athlete endorsements and performance technologies, is carefully protected, licensed, and monetised.

Within this global context, Kenya’s legal framework sits at the intersection of sport, regulation, and commercial value. The Sports Act (Cap. 223) (Act) establishes the governance structure for sport. The draft Sports Bill, 2026 (Sports Bill), which has been prepared by a ministerial taskforce, seeks to replace the Act. The Sports Bill inter alia provides for the protection of image rights and commercialisation of sports which we have discussed further below.

A shift towards commercial rights in Kenyan sport

A central feature of the proposed Sports Bill is its recognition of commercially exploitable rights within sport. Historically, Kenyan law has not recognised a standalone right in a sports person’s image. The commercial use of an athlete’s name, likeness or reputation has instead been protected indirectly through contract, trade mark and copyright law, as well as the tort of passing off. While functional, this approach has resulted in fragmented protection and uncertainty, particularly where athletes, clubs and federations assert competing or overlapping interests.

Section 95 of the Bill introduces a substantive legal development by conferring on every sports person the right to control the commercial use of their name, image and likeness, and by prohibiting unauthorised exploitation without consent. This provision does not merely restate existing practice; it creates a statutory right where none previously existed. In effect, it shifts the treatment of athlete image rights from a matter of private contractual arrangement to one of statutory recognition, with implications for enforceability, licensing and dispute resolution.

The legal consequences are material. Endorsement and sponsorship arrangements will need to be structured with reference to a defined right, rather than inferred consent. Questions relating to ownership, control and permitted use, often a source of dispute, are likely to be assessed against a statutory standard. This is likely to affect how athlete agreements, sponsorship deals and media rights arrangements are negotiated and enforced.

Section 96 reinforces this shift by expressly mandating the promotion of the commercialisation of sport, including media rights, merchandising, event hosting and athlete branding. While framed in broad terms, it signals a legislative intention to recognise sport as an economic sector in which rights can be systematically exploited.

Section 97 provides the institutional framework to support this commercialisation. It requires commercial sports organisations to operate through recognised legal structures and to obtain accreditation, and permits the use of subsidiaries, special purpose vehicles and joint ventures for the exploitation of commercial rights. This creates a clearer legal basis for structuring ownership and licensing arrangements, including those relating to intellectual property.

Taken together, the Sports Bill represents a shift from an implicit, contract-driven model to a more explicit statutory recognition of commercial rights in sport. While not a comprehensive IP regime, these provisions move Kenyan law closer to the realities of a rights-based sports economy.

IP in global modern sport

This legislative shift reflects how sport already operates globally. Modern sport is structured around IP rights, supported by contractual frameworks that govern their exploitation. At major events, trade marks, covering team badges, tournament logos, mascots and sponsor branding, form the basis of merchandising and sponsorship arrangements, while governing bodies such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA retain ownership and delegate enforcement. Copyright protects broadcasts and audiovisual content, enabling rights holders to license content across platforms and territories, often forming the largest revenue stream in sport. In parallel, patents, industrial designs and trade secrets protect innovations in equipment, technology and performance systems.

Within this ecosystem, athletes function as commercially exploitable assets, with their names, likenesses and digital presence monetised through endorsements, sponsorships and media. In Kenya, however, these interests have traditionally relied on contractual and common law protection. The introduction of statutory image rights therefore represents a significant alignment with global practice.

Looking ahead at the practical implications

As the commercial and regulatory landscape for sport continues to evolve, stakeholders will need to adopt a more structured approach to managing IP and related rights. In practice, this means ensuring that trade marks, content and other protectable assets are secured and that ownership is unambiguous, particularly where multiple parties are involved. Sponsorship, licensing and endorsement arrangements should clearly allocate rights of use, define exclusivity, and address issues such as image use, content exploitation and revenue sharing. For athletes, clubs and federations, this will require more deliberate structuring of agreements to avoid conflicts and ensure that commercial rights can be effectively licensed and enforced.

At the same time, the proposed Sports Bill signals a shift towards a more structured and commercially oriented sports sector. The introduction of statutory image rights and the formalisation of commercial sports organisations will require stakeholders to reassess existing arrangements. Contracts, commercial structures and compliance frameworks should be reviewed to ensure alignment with the emerging legal framework, particularly in relation to the control and exploitation of athlete identity and the structuring of commercial entities. As the regulatory environment evolves, those who proactively align their legal and commercial strategies will be better positioned to capture and sustain value in an increasingly rights-driven sports economy.

Daniel Mwathe is a partner in the Nairobi office of Bowmans who specialises in intellectual property, technology, privacy law, and regulatory & compliance, among other areas. Richard Odongo is a Senior Associate whose practice areas include commercial intellectual property advice and technology law. Associate Victoria Njenga also contributed to this article.