Nike has signed a “sponsorship agreement with Rio 2016 and the Brazilian national team, scoring a major corporate victory in the race for market share in fast-growing Brazil,” according to Tripp Mickle in Monday’s issue of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The deal gives Nike its “first official Olympic organizing committee sponsorship” since the ‘00 Sydney Games. Under terms of the four-year deal, Nike receives marketing and licensing rights to the Rio Games, and “will outfit all Brazilian national teams (except volleyball, which is sponsored by Olympikus)” for the '12 London and ‘16 Rio Games. Sources said that unlike “most Olympic apparel partners, Nike won’t outfit volunteers working at the Rio Games, and it is still being determined if it will provide opening and closing ceremony apparel for the Brazilian team.” Sources valued the deal in the $25-40M range, which is “significantly less than Rio organizers could have gotten for the deal.” Rio organizers “opted to take Nike’s tier-three sponsorship offer over a tier-one sponsorship proposal from the Brazilian sportswear brand Olympikus.” In doing so, “it is expected to become the first organizing committee to split team and volunteer outfitting into separate categories” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/2 issue).
