In the last few weeks in particular, national and international sport was everywhere you looked in the media – you might think of football’s World Cup in Russia, the Tour de France, Wimbledon or the German Grand Prix in Formula 1. But the multi-billion dollar sport industry is not limited to the obvious – what happens on the pitch, on court, on the track, in the air or in the water – by a long way, but rather also includes the gigantic apparatus behind it. The internationalisation of sport makes one special element absolutely essential: translation. Mostly invisible and frequently neglected, it is the means for building international understanding and binds teams and fans of different countries together. The range of topics is diverse: International and compliance regulations must be prepared in multiple languages and sponsors, manufacturers of sports equipment and merchandising suppliers want to attract attention with appealing, multilingual licensing models too. Sponsorship, in particular, is an ideal way to increase brand awareness. According to a study carried out by the research and consultancy company Nielsen Sports in cooperation with the sponsors’ association S20, this is the second most important aim of sponsorship activities for companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (80 percent of the respondents); the main aim is image transfer with 84 percent.
Translating employee contracts for international sporting events
The broadcasting rights for sporting events also carry obligations with them. If a German sports media company secures the rights to broadcast a sporting event taking place abroad, the employment laws of the relevant country must be taken into account. In France, the law was recently changed: Employees of foreign companies, freelancers or even companies themselves who are working in France temporarily must produce their employment contracts in French to be able to prove the legality of the employment relationship. Therefore our customer had to have a large number of contracts rapidly translated from German into French in order to ensure that its commentators and other employees were also allowed to work in France. You can read about how the commercial income of an athlete not based in Germany nevertheless has to be taxed in Germany in the English translation of the German Income Tax Act prepared by the financial translators at EVS Translations GmbH.
Multi-faceted translations in the sport industry
Besides licensing, sponsorship and employment agreements, there is a whole host of other text formats that needs to be translated to enable the successful international organisation and marketing of sports of all kinds. These include rules, doping regulations and medical examination reports, contracts for the transfer of players, information on ticket allocations, business reports and annual financial statements, audits and tax-related documents, legal affairs concerning associations and general legal matters, PR and communications materials such as press releases, speeches, advertising material and social media campaigns and posts.
If your document type was not mentioned, please do not hesitate to contact EVS Translations for more information about your translation requirements and to find out how we can help. We look forward to hearing from you on +1 404-523-5560 or receiving your email via usa@evs-translations.com.
