Chicago-based building products manufacturer USG Corp. has signed on to sponsor Team USA ahead of the Sochi and Rio Games.
USG didn’t return calls seeking comment, and the U.S. Olympic Committee declined to comment. But two industry sources said that the deal is expected to be announced later this year and that USG had begun exploring how it could leverage the USOC’s logo and assets in business-to-business marketing efforts.
Financial terms of USG’s multiyear agreement were unavailable.
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The deal with the building products manufacturer comes as the USOC is renovating its Olympic Training Center (above) in Colorado Springs.
Photo: NEWSCOM |
The deal comes as the housing market continues to show signs of improvement and USG’s stock rebounds from a 52-week low of $9.60 last year. It closed at $27.96 last Thursday.
It also comes as the USOC embarks on a $16 million renovation and expansion of its Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The organization is planning to give the facility, which was built in 1977, an updated exterior and add new facilities such as an indoor weight-training area and a new athlete-teaching kitchen. It also plans to add meeting spaces, offices and a multipurpose classroom.
The sponsorship deal ensures that the project will incorporate some of USG’s flagship construction products such as Sheetrock gypsum panels and Durock cement boards. The company also makes roofing panels, suspension systems, sealants and plasters.
USG first began dabbling in the Olympics in 2007 when Chicago was bidding to host the 2016 Games. The company signed on to sponsor the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships, which Chicago bid organizers brought to the city in an effort to promote its Olympic bid.
The company’s executives followed that announcement five years later with a trip to the London Games where they were the corporate guests of another USOC sponsor, sources said.
USG’s annual revenue totals more than $3 billion and its market cap is $2.4 billion. It was an official sponsor of NASCAR, but it dropped that sponsorship last year. It has no other sports sponsorships.
