At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, German athletes and their sponsors will benefit from wider advertising options secured by the Bundeskartellamt in a previous proceeding. In addition, they will now also have more options than before when it comes to using social media. This is the result of the Bundeskartellamt’s monitoring of the advertising rules applicable to members of Team Germany and their sponsors at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “Athletes are the key figures of the Olympic Games. However, they cannot benefit directly from the IOC’s high advertising revenue generated with official Olympic sponsors. This is why self-marketing through advertising is all the more important. At this year’s Olympic Games in Paris, members of Team Germany and their sponsors will be able to benefit from advertising rules that have already been relaxed as a result of our 2019 proceeding. As from this year there will be a further relaxation of the rules governing the use of social media, which is probably the most important means for athletes to stay in touch with their fans at home and directly share impressions of the highlights of their sporting careers.”

In an administrative proceeding initiated in 2019 against the German Olympic Sports Confederation (Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund, DOSB) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on suspicion of abuse of a dominant position, the Bundeskartellamt succeeded in relaxing the strict advertising restrictions pursuant to Rule 40 bye-law 3 of the Olympic Charter. As a result IOC and DOSB committed to relaxing the rules for German athletes (see press release of 27 February 2019).

According to the updated DOSB guidelines on advertising options and restrictions during the Olympic Games, German athletes can now also record short videos with their smartphones at the Olympic sites and during the opening and closing ceremonies and use these videos in their social media accounts. However, the videos may not be used for advertising purposes. The use of the short videos, in particular the question of whether or not they are used for advertising purposes, is to be determined according to the relevant terms set out in the DOSB guidelines. In February 2019 the DOSB and the IOC acknowledged the guidelines as a binding set of rules applicable until the end of the 2026 Olympic Games. The guidelines include rules for applying the Olympic Charter’s advertising restrictions to the advertising activities of Team Germany members with their sponsors. Compared with the IOC’s rules the DOSB guidelines are much less strict, in particular with regard to the use of social media (updated DOSB guidelines for Germany).

Moreover, within the monitoring process for the upcoming Games, illustrated examples explaining the options for and limits to advertising activities, especially those on social media, were released (Illustrated examples on the DOSB website).

Since the conclusion of the administrative proceeding the implementation of the DOSB guidelines has been monitored by the Bundeskartellamt. The DOSB and the IOC update the guidelines for the relevant Olympic Games in consultation with the Bundeskartellamt. This also applies to adjustments that have become necessary due to the Olympic Charter’s newly defined advertising rules.