General Motors (GM) "is close to signing a wide-ranging
eight-year sponsorship agreement" with the USOC and a
"separate but related media deal with NBC that's estimated
at more than $200 million," according to Jeff Jensen of AD
AGE. GM "is among the first to buy into the mega-
sponsorships being packaged and sold by the USOC's new
marketing unit," Olympic Properties of the U.S. (OPUS), a
joint venture with the SLOC. The "pacts encompass rights"
to the U.S. Olympic team through the 2004 Olympics, U.S.
marketing rights to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake and
"sponsorship rights to various new events created for non-
Olympic years." Jensen reports that GM "initially wanted to
buy category exclusivity, but is said to have balked at the
hefty" $100M price. Jensen: "Instead, GM is likely to
become the exclusive domestic automotive marketing partner
of the [2002] Games" (AD AGE, 7/14 issue).
MEDIA BUY: While NBC "is said to have made joint
presentations" with OPUS execs, "media isn't included in the
sponsorships." Jensen: "Some media buyers said NBC has told
them it has yet to begin selling its post-2000 Olympic
inventory, but GM and one other undetermined OPUS sponsor
have cut tentative deals with the network." NBC will
broadcast three Olympic Games during the eight-year deal
and, "at the very least, GM will own the domestic automotive
category in those broadcasts." Jensen: "The minimum value
of that portion is estimated at $210 million, based on NBC's
pricing of its 1996 Summer Olympics broadcast and allowing
for inflation" (AD AGE, 7/14 issue).
