Acer’s option to renew its worldwide Olympic sponsorship has expired, and the IOC “does not plan to renew the computer company’s agreement beyond 2012,” according to Tripp Mickle of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Sources said that the IOC “plans to leave the official computing category vacant and look for new partners to join The Olympic Partner program.” The decision “reflects the IOC’s efforts to deal with a rapidly changing technology category where conflicts have sprung up among existing sponsors that are competitors in new product areas.” Taiwan-based Acer paid approximately $100M to become the exclusive computer partner of the Olympics for the '10 and '12 Games. Marketing agency Encompass Int'l President Davis Butler, who managed the TOP program for six years, said, “The technology is changing so quickly that it’s almost impossible for the IOC to have a hardware category.” Butler, who “had no knowledge of the IOC’s plans, said the IOC was right to re-evaluate the computer category and reconsider how it sells technology sponsorships.” Butler indicated that the IOC “has two options after 2020.” It either can “sell a single sponsorship in the technology area or sell multiple sponsorships and define areas where sponsors have exclusivity and areas where they can compete” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/4 issue).
