A video game company sells millions of copies built around a cricketer's face and style, without asking or paying them. That scenario explains exactly why athletes fight to protect their image rights.
Picture a video game company that builds an entire product around a famous cricketer: their face, their physique, their batting or bowling style, their catchphrases, even their wicket-taking celebrations. The game sells millions of copies. The cricketer never gets a call, never signs a contract, never sees a rupee.
That scenario is not hypothetical. It is the core of what athletes mean when they talk about image rights, and why protecting those rights matters so much to them.
They use your face, your style, your celebrations — and sell millions of copies without asking or paying you.
The feeling that something is deeply wrong in that situation is almost universal. A company profits directly from an individual's identity, reputation, and years of crafted persona, without that person's consent or compensation. The value in the product comes from the athlete. The money flows to everyone except them.
That sense of unfairness is precisely what image rights law tries to address. Athletes invest enormous effort building a public identity — their look, their mannerisms, the signature moments that fans recognize instantly. When a third party commercializes that identity without permission, they are extracting value the athlete created. Protecting image rights is not about vanity; it is about ownership of what you built.
They're making money off your image.
For professional athletes, this goes beyond one video game. The same logic applies to advertisements that use a player's likeness without consent, merchandise printed with their image, or AI-generated content that mimics their style. The underlying principle stays constant: the person whose identity is being used deserves a say in how it is used, and fair compensation when it generates commercial value.
Understanding that principle is the starting point for any serious conversation about athlete rights in a world where a recognizable face, a celebration, or a batting style can be worth far more than a single endorsement deal.
