Rugby World Cup Ad Restrictions

The power of the International Rugby Board (IRB) to control advertising around the Rugby World Cup is so absolute that it would probably generate free speech issues if and when the competition is ever conducted in North America. The board's success may also inspire other major events to seek similar restrictions.

New Zealand, which will host the next cup competition in 2011, has already passed advertising laws to enforce the IRB’s stringent restrictions against "ambush marketing." That’s what advertising is called when non-sponsors try to capitalize on a sponsored event.

Major Events Management Act Will Allow Officials to Seize Advertising

According to the Feb. 17, 2008, issue of New Zealand’s Sunday Star Times, the Major Events Management Act 2007 will allow enforcement officials to enter private property and to "seize (rival) advertising material or force groups of people to remove clothing carrying it."

The New Zealand law, passed in August 2007, may apply to other upcoming functions designated as "major events," but it was passed to meet the IRB rules for protecting the World Cup’s official sponsors.

The paper said the law provides for criminal convictions, fines up to $150,000 and prohibits such activities as: