USOPP wants to sell available '20 rights as part of long-term deals that include the '28 L.A. GamesGETTY IMAGES
Team USA has "at least five major sponsorship categories vacant" for the upcoming '20 Tokyo Games -- and that is "not likely to change much," according to Ben Fischer of SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL. U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties "only wants to sell" available '20 rights as part of "long-term deals" that include the '28 L.A. Games and Team USA for the full period until then. LA28 spokesperson Lauren Lamkin said that a "short-term engagement for next year is not for sale." The open categories are "beer, financial services, hotels, energy and sporting goods retail." The USOC "usually aspires to sell sponsorships that cover multiple Games, but there have been one-offs before." Long-term deals are priced at $400M or more in "combined sponsorship and media spend with NBC, and will require in-depth negotiations as well as board and CEO-level approval." The '20 Games is "caught in a transitional period between the USOC status quo and the ramp-up to sales" for the '28 Games. The USOC "controlled its own rights when these categories became vacant and did attempt to sell short-term deals that would expire post-Tokyo," knowing that the IOC "requires a clean slate for L.A. after Dec. 31, 2020." The USOPP’s "primary responsibility" is to fund the '28 Games' $6.9B budget, and it "believes a short-term deal with one company would undermine negotiations" for a large '28 deal elsewhere in the space (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/17 issue).
