How Goal Celebrations Are Becoming Big Business

Football has always been rich in spectacle. From acrobatic goals to packed stadiums, the game thrives on emotion, drama, and identity. But in recent years, there’s been a subtle but significant shift, players are no longer just celebrated for their performances, but also for how they celebrate.

What once began as spontaneous expressions of joy are now becoming valuable intellectual property. Goal celebrations are being trademarked, licensed, and used as the foundation for commercial deals, personal branding, and merchandise. It’s a new frontier in the commercialisation of football, where even the way you celebrate can become a business asset.

Trademarking Celebrations: From Playful to Profitable

Players are increasingly moving to trademark their signature goal celebrations. These are not just symbolic gestures anymore, they’re becoming part of a broader strategy to build personal brands and unlock new revenue streams.

Cole Palmer, for example, has filed to trademark his “cold” celebration, a simple yet memorable gesture. It has become an iconic image across social media and football broadcasts. By trademarking it, Palmer can now control how the gesture is used commercially, whether on t-shirts, in adverts, or video games. It also prevents companies from profiting off the celebration without permission.

Other examples of trademarked or commercially leveraged celebrations include:

• Cristiano Ronaldo’s “Siuuu” jump and spin, instantly recognisable and now used by brands and broadcasters around the world. EA Sports and Nike have used the celebration in advertising, and Ronaldo’s team carefully controls its usage across media platforms.
• Kylian Mbappé’s folded arms celebration, inspired by his brother and quickly adopted into video games and merchandise. Though not officially trademarked, it has become a symbol of Mbappé’s brand identity.
• Antoine Griezmann’s dances, including the “Take the L” Fortnite dance, which he brought to football. The crossover between gaming and sport was so effective that Griezmann capitalised on this image in marketing and brand partnerships.
• Jesse Lingard’s “J-Lingz” hand gesture, later tied into his clothing line and overall branding strategy. The celebration helped embed his logo in fans’ minds and became a central feature of his merchandise.
• Erling Haaland’s “Zen” pose, calm and focused amidst chaos, it’s been used in Nike campaigns and social media graphics as a symbol of composure and power.
• New Arsenal signing Viktor Gyökeres’s mask celebration, fingers interlocked to form a mask across his face, has become one of the most distinctive in modern football. While fans and media have speculated that it draws inspiration from Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, Gyökeres has playfully denied every theory, fuelling intrigue with each goal. The mystery surrounding the gesture has only added to his personal brand, creating a unique visual identity that sets him apart on and off the pitch. In an era where image matters, Gyökeres has leaned into mystique as a marketing tool, turning a simple celebration into a conversation starter, a meme, and perhaps soon, a monetisable symbol of his growing influence.

Goal celebrations were once fleeting flashes of joy. Today, they’re strategic assets, capable of generating headlines, followers, merchandise sales, and legal disputes.

By creating celebrations that are visually distinct and emotionally resonant, players can turn a moment of joy into a long-term commercial opportunity.

Intellectual Property and Imitation: The Legal Grey Zones

Trademarking a celebration offers legal protection, but only to a point. It doesn’t stop other players from mimicking a gesture on the pitch, nor does it prevent fans from copying it in tribute. What it does protect is the commercial usage of that gesture.

If a company wants to use a player’s celebration on a product, in an advert, or within a commercial context, they must now seek permission. That’s where disputes can arise.

Take Morgan Rogers, for instance, who also performs a similar “cold” celebration to Palmer’s. If Rogers can prove he was using the gesture first, and that it had some level of commercial or public recognition, he could potentially challenge Palmer’s trademark claim. These situations become more complex when legal teams get involved, and while many cases don’t end up in court, they can cause friction between players and clubs.

In most cases, imitation is harmless, it becomes part of football culture, something fans and players engage with for fun. But the moment money is involved, particularly when a celebration appears in licensed merchandise, digital content, or promotional material, trademark protection becomes critical.

Branding vs Authenticity: Has Football Lost Its Spontaneity?

For all its commercial upside, the monetisation of celebrations raises questions about the changing nature of the game. Celebrations were once raw, emotional, and improvised. Now, with cameras trained on every movement and the potential for marketing spin around every gesture, the line between authenticity and performance is increasingly blurred.

Are players celebrating for their teammates, or for the branding clip that might go viral? Are moments of joy now rehearsed, curated, and copyrighted?

This is the new reality of modern football. Players are more than athletes, they are media assets and personal brands with intellectual property to protect.

Football’s Expanding Commercial Landscape

The rise of celebration branding is part of a broader trend: football is no longer confined to the pitch. The sport now intersects with entertainment, gaming, fashion, and lifestyle in a way that opens new commercial opportunities at every turn.

Celebrations offer high visibility moments that can be clipped, shared, and monetised. They connect fans to players on an emotional level, and, if done right, they become symbols that outlast the match itself.

The Future of Celebrations: What Comes Next?

As footballers become more aware of their image rights and commercial value, expect more legal protections, more curated gestures, and more cross-industry collaborations. We may see celebrations integrated into player-led product launches, used in augmented reality campaigns, or even tied to NFT releases and fan engagement platforms.

In short, the celebration has become a message. And in today’s football economy, messages have value.

Conclusion

Goal celebrations were once fleeting flashes of joy. Today, they’re strategic assets, capable of generating headlines, followers, merchandise sales, and legal disputes. As players become increasingly brand-conscious, the celebration has emerged as one of the most powerful pieces of real estate in the modern game.