Rio Olympics Chief Commercial Officer Aiming For Record $1.5B In Sponsorships

With public money for the 2016 Rio Olympics "getting tougher to find," Brazilian organizers are "scrambling to raise record amounts of local sponsorship revenue to cover any budget shortfall and avoid a government handout," according to Stephen Wade of the AP. Rio Olympics CCO Renato Ciuchini said that his "new goal" is to generate between $1.3B and $1.5B in domestic sponsorship income. This "would double what's been sold to date" -- $650M -- and "easily surpass" the $1.1B raised for the 2012 London Olympics. Ciuchini: "I may have this calm face but there is a lot of pressure here. There is no question about it. Our target is very high. ... We are increasing the team. We are bringing in a lot of senior guys to the team." Ciuchini said $1.5B "was the level at which government aid might not be needed to meet the Olympic budget." He added with "luck," he might raise even more (AP, 11/6).