MasterCard Wins Lawsuit to Retain World Cup Sponsorship
By Justin McHenry
MasterCard prevailed yesterday in its lawsuit against the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of the World Cup soccer tournament, to force FIFA to honor the contract which gave MasterCard exclusive sponsorship rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. FIFA had signed a new sponsorship deal with Visa despite MasterCard’s claim that it had the right to continue its sponsorship, and had informed FIFA that it would do so.
U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska issued a 125-page ruling saying that FIFA had reneged on its deal and that “MasterCard’s loss of the next FIFA World Cup sponsorship would be, in its now-famous words, ‘Priceless’” (a reference to MasterCard’s well-known advertising campaign).
FIFA says it will appeal the decision.