The IOC-funded Olympic Channel is close to signing global Olympic partners Intel and Omega to add-on deals to sponsor the startup digital site, General Manager Mark Parkman said Thursday.
If consummated, the two deals would be a significant boost to heretofore sluggish sales for the channel, launched the day after the 2016 Rio Games concluded and staked to a $450 million, seven-year startup budget by the IOC.
“We have pending conversations that are close to concluding with Intel and Omega,” Parkman said.
Intel did not reply to a request for comment. An Omega spokesman said the company is developing content with the channel but declined to elaborate.
When it launched in 2016, the IOC said it hoped to secure six founding partners for the channel, selling among the IOC’s top-tier portfolio of global sponsors. So far, it’s only secured three, all new partners to the IOC: Bridgestone, Alibaba and Toyota. No long-term sponsors have been convinced yet. The asking price has been an additional $25 million on top of their existing nine-figure deals, and several sources have said the channel’s growth has not justified the investment.
“We think we’re meeting the expectations,” Parkman said. “As I said earlier, we still have some growth we have to achieve, but I think overall we’re happy, and they’re happy, and we’re excited about what we’re going to do forward with each of them.”
The Olympic Channel claims 8 million social followers and 1.3 billion views to date. By comparison, a single Premier League soccer club, Manchester United, has more than 90 million followers. Parkman said the Olympic Channel is not comparing itself to established brands given its youth.
Beginning in 2020, the channel will be baked into the IOC’s global sponsorship deals as part of the package.
