Eastman Kodak announced this morning that it will
extend its 104-year involvement with the Olympics by
renewing its TOP sponsorship through the 2008 Games (Kodak).
In a Money section Cover Story, USA TODAY's Bruce Horovitz
writes, "You would never know there was an Olympic scandal -
-at least, not by the recent actions of big-ticket sponsors.
No indignant defections. No symbolic budget cuts. Not even
sorrowful sound bites." Horovitz notes that Kodak's renewal
is for eight years, with industry "experts" estimating the
deal at "at least" $110M. Visa, John Hancock and Sema have
also signed new sponsorship pacts since the scandal and IOC
Dir of Marketing Michael Payne said that "at least two more
global sponsors are expected to announce sponsorship
extensions before summer." Kodak CMO Carl Gustin said the
IOC has put "its problems behind it ... The key is, they've
put regulations and controls into place that will help
prevent future scandals" (USA TODAY, 3/16).
LIKE A GOOD PARTNER: NBC's "Today" show debuted a newly
weekly series on the Olympics called, "The Road To Sydney."
Today's segment features Karen Smyers, who is trying to
qualify for the Olympics in the triathalon after battling
back from thyroid cancer ("Today," NBC, 3/16).
