Sara Lee's Champion brand is one of the largest corporate
Olympic sponsors and the largest merchandise licensee of the '96
Games, and at this week's NSGA annual trade show, Champion will
debut their '96 merchandise collection. Sara Lee Olympic
President & CEO Jeffrey Bliss told THE SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY that
Champion's position as the official outfitter of the U.S. Olympic
team affords "the opportunity not to just showcase products, but
also allows Champion to produce replica wear that the company
will be delivering in October or November, in time for the
holidays." Bliss says the merchandise will be available at
"almost every retail outlet you can imagine." With Sara Lee's
Hanes serving as official outfitter of the volunteers and workers
in Atlanta, Bliss sees the Olympics as the "largest and most
exciting opportunity for the entire Sara Lee Company." The
anticipated success of this sponsorship has Bliss and Sara Lee
excited about exploring Olympic options in the future. Bliss:
"We've drawn up parameters of each division about how to measure
the success of the sponsorship and licensing programs and already
we expect this to be a blockbuster. It is something we don't
want to walk away from. So we are already in conversation with
the IOC and the USOC on how we extend our relationships beyond
'96." Bliss says there are other advantages to these
sponsorships, "The positive thing for us is that we not only walk
away in '96 with a terrific opportunity here, but we have already
developed new relationships with other sponsors like a Coca-Cola
and a McDonald's that will extend well-beyond the Olympics" (THE
DAILY).
