When Italy advanced to the 2006 World Cup semifinals, Rocco Mastrangelo Jr. mobilized his family’s Italian restaurant in Toronto to host a full house of soccer fans for the nail-biter match.
He printed thousands of fliers, bought radio ads and had a billboard installed near a major subway stop to advertise the semifinal screening at Cafe Diplomatico, his restaurant and bar.
Just hours before kickoff, representatives from FIFA, the tournament organizer, threatened legal action against Mr. Mastrangelo Jr. for violating its copyright — unless he took everything down.
“Sure enough, I complied,” Mr. Mastrangelo Jr. said. Italy won. And a lightbulb went off: He would call the watch parties something else.
“That’s where ‘Cafe Dip Soccer Headquarters’ was born,” he said, referring to a shorthand for his restaurant. “I had to pivot and build my own little brand.”
With the World Cup coming to Toronto this year, there will be even more eyes on businesses like his and across 15 other host cities in Canada, the United States and Mexico when the tournament begins on June 11.
Sports teams and athletic organizations, such as FIFA, the International Olympic Committee and others, are aggressive about protecting their copyrights because their names, logos and brands are considered commercial assets.
Sponsors can pay millions for the exclusive right to be associated with the events.
FIFA said in a statement on Saturday that it is safeguarding the value of the World Cup, calling it “one of the most iconic” in the world.
“Investing time and resources to protect its brands is of paramount importance to FIFA in order to secure the revenue streams, which enable us to support the development and growth of football globally,” the statement said, referring to its soccer competition. “This is common practice for major international sporting events.”
Marketing rights are FIFA’s second-largest revenue source, after broadcast television rights, bringing in $965 million in 2025, the organization’s financial records show.
Toronto and Vancouver, where a total of 13 World Cup games will be played, are bracing for the rigid enforcement of intellectual property rules, particularly at businesses like restaurants and bars. FIFA relies on volunteers, lawyers and staff members to enforce its brand protection.
“Unfortunately, most of them will not be able to actually advertise on their chalkboards or anywhere else the words ‘FIFA’ or ‘World Cup,’” said Josh Matlow, a city councilor in Toronto. “There will have to be some coded language,” he added, likening such a venue to a speakeasy.
The copyrights apply in other languages as well; for example, in French for “Mondial” or “Coupe du Monde,” and in Spanish for “Mundial” or “Copa Mundial.”
Canadian businesses will also largely be monitored by municipal enforcement officers, who will patrol a “controlled area,” a 1.2-mile radius around the soccer stadium in each city.
Toronto will deploy about 60 such officers on game days, said Russell Baker, a spokesman for the city. The officers will also monitor for illegal vending, public parking and noise complaints.
In Vancouver, officers will enforce the removal of unauthorized commercial signs throughout the World Cup, said Elayne Sun, a spokeswoman for the host committee of the FIFA World Cup in Vancouver.
The work will begin on May 13, about a month before the tournament, and run until July 20.
As part of its efforts to protect the brand, FIFA conducts surveillance and designates clean zones around stadiums and event sites, according to the policy on brand protection published on its website.
It checks on registers of intellectual property and monitors online marketplaces and social media for potential infringements. The organization said it contacts businesses it identifies, “seeking their cooperation to resolve the issue.”
Ron MacGillivray, the owner of Fable Diner & Bar in Vancouver, hopes to avoid scrutiny by hanging international flags as decorations and generically worded signs like “Watch Soccer Here” or “Watch the Games Here.”
“You can have fun with it, make it tongue-in-cheek,” Mr. MacGillivray said. “It will stand out more. Everyone’s going to be inundated with ‘FIFA World Cup’ when it gets closer to the date.”
Sneaky Dee’s, a gritty bar that is a fixture of downtown Toronto, will be playing the “Global Kickball Cup” on its televisions. At least, that’s what their signs and social media posts will say.
“We were just spitballing different things that we could call it,” said George Diamantouros, the owner of Sneaky Dee’s.
He is particularly sensitive to the issue after being warned about copyright infringement by the Toronto Blue Jays during the World Series last year.
“We’re obviously going to promote that we’re showing games here, but we wanted to err on the side of caution,” Mr. Diamantouros said.
Private landlords can also impose fines or take more extreme steps toward commercial tenants if copyright infringement issues lead to any breaches in lease agreements, said Arman Poushin, a real estate lawyer and avid soccer fan in Toronto who has been tracking the issue.
While well versed in copyright compliance after his 2006 debacle, Mr. Mastrangelo Jr. of Cafe Diplomatico hasn’t seen any “FIFA police,” as he put it, come by the restaurant yet.
But he has been frustrated that the organization has so much power to dictate fans’ activities through its agreement with the host city.
“It’s like FIFA being God and the city being Jesus,” Mr. Mastrangelo Jr. said.
Opportunities to watch games in communal spaces will be important as most fans are likely to find themselves priced out of game tickets, said Jean-Sébastien Roy, a vice president of the Voyageurs, a fan club for Canada’s national team.
It’s left fans like him less inclined to yield to FIFA.
“We will respect the guidelines that FIFA has put together,” he said. But, he added, “We’re going to call it the World Cup because it’s the World Cup.”
Vjosa Isai is a reporter for The Times based in Toronto, where she covers news from across Canada.
The post Planning a World Cup Watch Party at a Bar? The ‘FIFA Police’ Are Lurking appeared first on New York Times.
