Reflections on the Propertization of Sports EventsSeeking Balance Between Commercial Interest and Common Good of Sports Events Communication

The legalization of sports is the cornerstone of the protection of sports rights. Initially, sports events served as no-cost entertainment for the general public. The entertainment value of sports events, however, was made a kind of commodity as the commodity economy evolved, and spectators had to pay to view them. The "propertization" of sports events started with this. The right of venue can be used to protect the viewing value of live sports events. However, with the development of radio, television, and the Internet, the value has gradually evolved from "quasi-property" in common law into works in copyright law, and the purview of rights has also significantly expanded. The public value of sports events is declining as the rights to those events increase arbitrarily. Drawing lessons from the propertization and expansion of sports events and their necessities, on the one hand, the rights of the owner of sports events should be specified to protect the commercial values of sports events; on the other hand, create a "negative list" of the property rights for sports events should be created to safeguard the public's freedom to use the content of such events.