Visa Becomes First Big Olympic Sponsor To Extend Athlete Deals

Visa sponsors 96 Olympic athletes, and some of its campaigns for Tokyo will require reworkingVISA

Visa has told its global roster of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls that their "sponsorships will be extended into 2021 after the Tokyo Games were postponed," according to Rob Harris of the AP. Visa sponsors 96 athletes across 27 Olympic sports, including U.S. gymnast Simone Biles and soccer player Megan Rapinoe. The athletes on Friday were informed that they had the "option of extending their sponsorship terms with Visa." This marks the "first clear commitment by a major sponsor to extend such sponsorship support." Visa already had filmed some promo campaigns for Tokyo that "will require some reworking." The company this past weekend filmed its "own messages promoting hand washing and social distancing that will be published over the next week" (AP, 3/29).