IMG has "been enlisted to help secure corporate
sponsors to underwrite" the 2002 Salt Lake City Games and
ongoing USOC programs, according to Mike Gorrell of the SALT
LAKE TRIBUNE. OPUS is currently $300M short of its $859M
revenue goal for the Games and "time is dwindling." The
rate of "sponsor sign-ups slowed markedly last year after an
impressive launch, and was staggered further by the" Salt
Lake City bid scandal. SLOC President Mitt Romney: "They
have more direct personal relationships (with corporate
America) than even OPUS. They have far more people to knock
on doors." IMG will add 27 sales people to the seven
"currently available" at OPUS. IMG will work "strictly for
commission," which "generally" ranges from 15-35%. Romney
said the SLOC will pay all commission costs until OPUS
reaches its fund-raising goal, then SLOC "will pay its
proportional share." IMG Senior VP/New Business Development
Robert Prazmark will oversee the company's Olympic program.
Prazmark: "Call us Olympic crazies, but we will not let
these Games fail without trying to help out from a financial
standpoint. And I don't think they will fail." Gorrell
reports that IMG "will focus, in part, on enticing companies
to fill sponsorship categories that have remained open
before." USOC Deputy Secretary General & OPUS President
John Krimsky said OPUS and IMG have up to a dozen companies
in each of their target categories (S.L. TRIBUNE, 4/22).
ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's
Stefan Fatsis reports that since the bribery scandal, the
USOC and SLOC have signed "just one new corporate sponsor,
watch maker Seiko Corp." (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/22).
