The 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo "are poised to bring in record sponsorship revenues as the organizing committee goes against the usual convention of one company per product category to accommodate cash-flush Japanese businesses," according to NIKKEI. On Tuesday, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group "brought the list of top-level contributors to 12 companies." The event has already attracted more than 150B yen ($1.24B) in sponsorships, "beating the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the 2014 Sochi games." Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee President Yoshiro Mori said, "With the success of Abenomics, we're probably in an environment that makes it easier for companies to lend a hand." The 2020 committee "has been working out ways to take advantage of Japanese companies' interest." Sponsors of sporting events "typically have exclusive rights to their product category, making sponsorships more valuable and thus more expensive." But the Tokyo games "are seeing exceptions to the rule." Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho "were granted joint rights to the banking category." Similarly, rivals NEC and Fujitsu "were both accommodated by splitting up their category" (NIKKEI, 4/15). In N.Y., Atsuko Fukase reported the 2020 organizing committee has not disclosed any financial terms for the deals but said that "it is targeting sponsorship" of 150B yen. That "compares with a total" of $1.2B for the Beijing Games. According to people familiar with the negotiations, each company has agreed to pay 15B yen ($126M) "for obtaining rights to use the name of 2020 Olympics over the next six years for their products and services." With 12 sponsors confirmed, "that translates into" a total of 180B yen ($1.5B). Former Japanese PM Mori said that the Tokyo committee "will continue to explore all possible fundraising
opportunities." Mori: "We’re making an effort to reduce the burden on
the city of Tokyo as much as possible" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/15).
