MA-based Monster.com has signed a deal as the Official
Online Career Management Services Sponsor of the 2002 Winter
Olympic Games and the 2002 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Teams.
With the deal, Monster.com becomes the first dot-com sponsor
of U.S. Olympics. The Internet job search site will provide
the SLOC with online career management services for
employees and volunteers, as well as online talent auction
services as part of the sponsorship with OPUS. Monster.com
becomes the 16th OPUS sponsor and the 24th corporate partner
of the 2002 Games and the U.S. Olympic Team (Monster.com).
In UT, Lisa Riley Roche reported that Monster.com is
"contributing cash and services worth more than" $20M to the
SLOC and the U.S. Olympic Teams through 2004. Rob Prazmark,
Senior VP/New Business Development for IMG, which is
handling SLOC sponsorship sales, said that the Monster.com
deal "could open the door to more Internet-based companies
becoming sponsors." Prazmark: "It's a brand-new marketplace
in dot.coms. No one's getting exclusivity over the
Internet. It just happens to be the medium they do business
on." SLOC President Mitt Romney added Monster.com "won't be
the last 'dot.com' sponsor" (DESERET NEWS, 1/18). Romney
said that the "majority of Monster.com's contribution will
be in cash," but the in-kind recruiting service that is part
of the deal is "considerable." Romney added, "In addition,
we will have some advertising capability on their site, for
example, when the time comes to roll out the volunteer or
ticket programs." Romney told SLOC trustees last week that
"most traditional marketing categories were filled" for the
SLOC, so it "was crucial for organizers to fill" the $134M
budget shortfall, and that the Internet "offers untapped
waters" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 1/19).
BREAKING NEWS AT PRESSTIME: This morning at the Sport
Summit in N.Y., Marriott was announced as the Official Hotel
of the 2002 Games. The company will also be an official
sponsor and supplier for the 2000, 2002 and 2004 U.S.
Olympic Teams (THE DAILY).
