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Visa Unveils Roster Of Olympic Endorsers Ahead Of Tokyo Games

USWNT F Megan Rapinoe and Gold Medal-winners Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky headline Visa’s global team of Olympic endorsers heading into next year’s Tokyo Games. The list features athletes from 43 countries -- the broadest roster in Visa’s 32 years as a global Olympic sponsor -- and includes more than 30 sports, including new additions surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing. Visa Chief Brand & Innovation Marketing Officer Chris Curtin said Visa had also sought to emphasize sports who mark the Olympics as their true highest calling. As the Games have expanded, the Olympics include more events that are eclipsed by other properties in their sport, like the Rugby World Cup or professional golf’s majors.

“Increasingly, we’re putting a pronounced emphasis on finding athletes whose sport is, in the context of the Olympics, the culmination of that sport,” Curtin said. “That’s more a guideline than a rule, because there’s some exception to that, but nonetheless we think that’s where the magic is.” Other Americans on the list include paracyclist Oksana Masters, sprinter Noah Lyles and surfer Carissa Moore. Visa is a traditionally prized endorsement among athletes because of the brand’s commitment to major media buys during the Olympics and general prestige as a sponsor, offering a coveted promotional boost.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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