Samsung has “opted not to renew its deal” with the Int'l Association of Athletics Federation’s Diamond League “for the forthcoming season, leaving the world governing body with precious little time to find a replacement before action gets underway,” according to Simon Hart of the London TELEGRAPH. Samsung has sponsored the track & field series "for three years since its inception in 2010.” The title sponsorship deal is “believed to have been worth” around US$4.5M a year to the IAAF, which has been “forced to make financial cutbacks in recent years to weather the global economic crisis.” Still, the IAAF yesterday insisted that the series “would not be affected by Samsung’s departure and that it would make up any shortfall in the budget from its own reserves until another commercial partner was found.” Samsung’s decision is “a blow to the sport so soon after it enjoyed spectacular exposure at the London Olympics.” One of the problems Samsung has faced is that “many of the meetings have their own individual title sponsors who enjoy greater projection locally than the series sponsor” (London TELEGRAPH, 4/4). Samsung reportedly is also close to a deal with the NFL that would be worth over $60M per year (THE DAILY).
