Pubs, restaurants careful to avoid World Cup trademark trouble

TORONTO – Flags, soccer balls and mentions of match days are hinting at goings-on in downtown Toronto pubs as they get ready to host hundreds of fans for FIFA World Cup watch parties — without alarming the trademark police. 

Businesses within a two-kilometre radius of Toronto Stadium are being cautious not to infringe on the soccer association’s strict guidelines that ban them from using trademarked symbols such as its logo, the championship trophy and even the word “FIFA” itself. That also extends to implying they may have a connection to FIFA.

But that’s not stopping local businesses from being creative or hosting watch parties as matches kick off on Thursday.

Left Field Brewery sits across from Toronto Stadium in the Liberty Village neighbourhood and has found ways to indicate it’s showing all the soccer matches without explicitly saying so.

Brewery co-founder Mandie Murphy says she has named the viewing parties “Liberty Match Days,” and instead of mentioning the World Cup in any signage, they have hung flags of participating countries across seating areas.

She said the allusion to the match is enough for people to figure out what’s happening at the pub.

“We’ll be pretty busy operating a busy restaurant, so getting into trouble with trademark law or any rights protection is not something we want to be dealing with,” Murphy said.

She added that she’s ready with her binder of approvals and licenses if someone comes knocking.

Aarij Wasti, partner at Gowling WLG who specializes in entertainment and sports law, said the city has been policing and enforcing FIFA guidelines at local businesses but trouble is unlikely as long as the advertisements are compliant.

He said FIFA volunteers in purple vests between the Bentway under the Gardiner Expressway, Liberty Village and Exhibition have been enforcing brand protection checks and notifying authorities if they notice something out of line.

“Because that’s a hot spot of activity, the enforcement authorities will be looking quite closely at what bars and restaurants are using to invite people in,” he said.

While some bars abstained from any allusions to the soccer matches, most of Liberty Village is now painted with posters and banners of official FIFA partners — Labatt’s Michelob Ultra, Smirnoff and Coca-Cola, among others.

Wasti said the pubs can only put FIFA ads in association with the official partners and serve their products at that establishment.

“Those companies actually have sponsorship agreements … and restaurants can basically be the venue for those advertisements,” Wasti said.

Brazen Head Irish Pub’s storefront sported a two-storey high poster of Michelob Ultra and decorated seating areas with flags of FIFA’s official logos and participating countries.

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Its floor operations manager Manthan Patel said posters are important for inviting tourists to the pub for the games.

“Whoever is not able to book tickets or not get tickets for the World Cup at the stadium, we here are ready to give you an amazing vibe,” Patel said.

At Left Field, FIFA is still getting acknowledged with the brewer’s first soccer-themed beer called Home Turf Lager, made from Mexican, American and Canadian ingredients.

“It’s the celebration of the North American tournament,” Murphy said. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2026.