The Home Depot In Talks Over Future Olympic Sponsorships

Home Depot In Talks With USOC About Continuing To Sponsor Olympics After Beijing Games

With The Home Depot's USOC sponsorship expiring after this summer's Beijing Olympics, the company is "in talks with Olympic officials about sponsoring future games," and a decision "could come before" the Beijing Games, according to Rachel Tobin Ramos of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. The Home Depot VP/Advertising John Ross said the Olympic sponsorship is a "longer-term brand-affinity play." Ramos noted companies such as The Home Depot, at a time when retailers are "suffering from the economic downturn ... are looking harder at where they spend their sports sponsorship and advertising dollars." Ross said that The Home Depot, which already sponsors MLB and NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, is "ramping up its investment in other sports," noting the company has added deals with the NFL and MLS. Ross would not disclose how much The Home Depot spends on sports sponsorships, but the company's '07 annual report indicated that its total advertising and marketing budget last year was $1.2B. IEG Sponsorship Report Senior Editor William Chipps said that The Home Depot "spent [$60-65M] on sports sponsorships" in '07, and Nielsen Co. reported that the company "purchased $25.3[M] and $30.1[M] in ads during the 2004 Summer and 2006 Winter games, respectively." Nielsen also reported that The Home Depot spent "nearly $12[M] on NASCAR ads" in '07 (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 5/11).