UPS "threw in the towel" on its IOC TOP sponsorship,
"saying its six-year participation in the international
event had accomplished its purpose," according to Dave
Hirschman of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. UPS spokesperson
Susan Rosenberg said, "We're not the same company that we
were in 1994. Back then, we didn't have the global brand
awareness that we have now. Sponsoring the Olympics matched
our strategic direction perfectly at the time." Rosenberg
added that UPS spent about $100M during the "two years
leading up to and including the 1996 Atlanta Games on the
sponsorship, as well as hosting clients, advertising and
hiring employee/athletes." Hirschman notes that Olympic
symbols will "gradually disappear from the UPS fleet of
brown delivery vans, employee uniforms, envelopes and
letterhead." IEG Sponsorship Report Senior Editor Bill
Chipps, on UPS' move: "Companies need to see a direct return
on investment, especially for something as expensive as the
Olympics. With UPS, Olympic sponsorship seems to have run
its course" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 12/22).
WHAT'S IT MEAN FOR UTAH? SLOC President Mitt Romney
said that "he's ready to start selling" the express mail/
package delivery sponsorship to U.S. companies "now." In
UT, Lisa Riley Roche wrote, "That would likely mean more
money for organizers, since they keep a bigger share of
deals made for national rights." Romney: "In our view, the
time for the IOC to sell the category has now passed. We
need to get going." Riley Roche noted that companies
"likely to be contacted include" FedEx and the USPS. SLOC's
$1.3B-plus budget "already anticipates organizers will have
to pay the cost of delivering" Olympic tickets in late
December '01 or early January '02 (DESERET NEWS, 12/21).
