The Legal Entitlements of Football Stars

Football is the most popular sport in the UK with high participation rates and 59% of the total UK TV audience tuning in to watch live matches and the BBC’s Match of the Day highlights in season 23/24.

The success of football in the UK does not stop there. Last month, England’s Lionesses took home gold in the Women’s Euros 2025 tournament after battling Spain in a gripping final.

Today, a footballer’s personal brand and persona can be just as profitable as their rewarding playing careers due to the vast popularity of the sport. Premier League clubs have many commercial partners, who are all looking to use and exploit the image rights of high-profile players.

Image rights essentially refer to an individual’s proprietary rights in their personality and the ability to control, licence, exploit and prevent unauthorised third parties from making use of attributes related to their image. These may include factors such as squad numbers, voice, autograph and nicknames, to name a few.

It is crucial that players understand their rights and the best ways to manage these so that they can avoid their rights being exploited.

The individual player is the owner of their image rights, not the club, however players often choose to create their own Image Rights Company (IRC) and assign ownership of all their image rights to that company.

An IRC authorises a player with a public persona to commercially exploit their brand and image through a separate corporate entity.

Clubs are then subsequently required to enter into a separate agreement with the IRC to be able to utilise the player’s image rights to promote itself and to endorse the products of their own commercial partners.

Alongside image rights, there are a number of other legalities that footballers should be aware of to protect their best interests and personal rights. It is essential that players are aware of these since they often use relevant stakeholders to negotiate agreements on their behalf.

For instance, a professional football contract establishes a base salary and how it will be paid to the player, this is variable based on the club’s finance’s and the respective player’s skill and desirability.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who is arguably the most famous player in the world, has just signed a new two-year contract with Al Nassr worth £178 million per year. Whereas, Manchester United midfielder, Mason Mount, is on an annual salary of £13 million.

The contract may also outline the terms under which a player receives a bonus, the duration of how long the contract will last and set expectations regarding their training, conduct and match appearances.

Additionally, release clauses, which are found in most Premier League contracts, authorise players to transfer to another club if a stipulated fee is met. Buyout clauses give players the power to leave their contracts in an alternative manner to termination.

Loan arrangements take place between the club a player is employed by and the club a player is joining on loan, during this period, the contractual obligations between the player and parent club are suspended.

Instead, the player must enter into a written contract with the loan club covering the duration of the agreement. The player, or the individual negotiating on their behalf, must ensure that the contract covers various aspects that protect their rights and align with their contract at the parent club.

It is common for English domestic loan agreements to include a clause that requires the parent club is to continue their responsibility for paying the player their full contractual entitlement while out on loan.

Players must guarantee that they are provided with the same health benefits as they did with their parent club, from access to a physiotherapist and gym to admittance to necessary treatment and rehabilitation.

However, in instances where the loan agreement is prematurely terminated, the parent club is obliged to immediately reintegrate the player, upon their request. This is legally referred to as Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP).

Despite the rising popularity of women’s football, pay in domestic football is not equalised and it is a lot more common for female football players to play under part-time contracts compared to their male counterparts.

Whilst the Equality Act 2010 does prohibit the unequal pay of men and women who are performing equal work, those provisions regularly do not apply to professional sporting leagues.

Whilst many aspects of the sport may be treated differently, the underlying principles of Intellectual Property laws remain the same for both male and female footballers. In 2024, it was recorded that 20.9 million individuals in the UK watched at least 3 minutes of women’s sports.

The increased attention on female athletes means that there are more opportunities for brands to capitalise on their personality and image rights, in fact, sponsorship deals in women’s sports reportedly grew by over 22% between the years 2023 and 2024.

It is clear that, throughout their lucrative careers, footballers enter into countless agreements. Therefore, knowing their legal rights and entitlements can ensure that these agreements are always within their best interest both on and off the pitch.