ASCAP Sports & Competitive Event License

Try to imagine a sports game without the crowd's favorite pump up jams playing over the loudspeakers. Music helps energize the crowd and players and creates a festive, upbeat atmosphere, making it a crucial component of your events.

An ASCAP Sports and Competitive Events license provides access to every genre and variety of music you may need to entertain your crowd and players. Each of our licensees has access to millions of musical works from over 600,000 ASCAP songwriters, composers, and music publishers as well as works from over 90 affiliated societies from all over the world.

Interested in learning more about the Sports and Competitive Events license? Fill out our contact form below and one of our representatives will be in touch with additional information.

Get Started

Fill out the form below to let us know more about your sports team or competitive event. If you prefer, you can call 1-800-505-4052 and select Option 3.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Sports & Competitive Events

I've never heard of ASCAP - who are you?

ASCAP - the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a membership organization that operates on a not-for-profit basis, owned and run by the 600,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers who make up our membership. For over 100 years, our mission has been to connect the creative and business communities. We want to ensure our members are appropriately compensated when their music is played, while also making it easy, efficient, and affordable for businesses/events to use their music.

Why do I need permission to play music at my sporting events?

According to US copyright law, any public performance of music requires permission from the writers and publishers. That goes for live music by a band or DJ, or recorded music played off a CD, iTunes, or an online streaming service.

Why am I responsible for obtaining the music license, and not the performers themselves?

Some people mistakenly assume that it's the musician and entertainers' responsibilities to obtain the appropriate permissions to perform copyrighted music. Copyright law, however, says all who participate in, or are responsible for, performances of music are legally responsible. For our Sports and Competitive Event license, the sports leagues, teams, producers, promoters, or hosts of the competitive event is typically the responsible party to secure a music license. Since these organizations make the musical performances available to the general public, they are the responsible party.

What is covered in this license?

As part of the Sports and Competitive Event license, you will be responsible for reporting all team/competitive events. This includes all preseason, regular season, playoff, finals and championship events. Your license fee (specific to your team's sport or event type) will then cover your events at any venue or event facility. You may also license multiple annual events to one organization.

What are some examples of sports and competitive events this license covers?

Sports Groups
Major, Minor, Independent, Amateur Leagues
Arenas and Auditoriums
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
College Conferences
Endurance Races
Football
Hockey
Lacrosse
Martial Arts
Roller Derby
Soccer
Softball
Tennis
Volleyball
Wrestling

Competitive Events
Auto Racing
Bodybuilding
Cheerleading
Dog Shows
Extreme Sports
Frisbee
Gymnastics
Horse Competitions, Races, Shows
Ice Skating
Motorcycle Race/Stunt Competitions
Polo
Rodeos
Skiing
Swimming

Should you not find a particular Sport or Event listed, please contact us.

How do I know which songs are covered by an ASCAP license?

As one of the largest performance rights organizations in the world, ASCAP members represent every genre imaginable - pop, rock, country, EDM, hip-hop, classical, and everything in between. The ASCAP catalog contains millions of songs - from timeless classics to today's hottest hits. Our members regularly top the Billboard charts and win Grammy, Tony, and Oscar awards for their music. Visit www.ascap.com/ace to view and download the entire ASCAP catalog.

Sports & Competitive Events