Menu
Olympics

IOC's Asian Support Helping Boost Financial Health

If the IOC was a publicly traded company, its stock "might be struggling to stay afloat in a sea of damaging headlines," according to Grohmann & Baker of REUTERS. Instead, it has "never been in better financial health, thanks increasingly to enduring and growing support from Asia" -- from the region’s sponsors, governments, cities and sports fans. The IOC’s revenue from broadcast rights, its main income source, is setting records, "touching" $2.87B at the Rio 2016 Games, up 12% from the London 2012 Olympics, and is "set to reach new heights" at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Its TOP sponsor program, which made up a fifth of its revenues from '13-16, topped $1B for the first time between the Sochi 2014 Games and Rio, "two of the most challenging events for the Olympics brand." Execs betting on the Olympic brand said that "they do not lose sleep over the scandals." IOC TOP sponsor Dow VP/Sports Solutions Louis Vega said, "I haven't seen any evidence that the brand has taken negative hits." Sponsors’ comments and the IOC’s "swelling coffers" contrast with some experts who "doubt that the value of the Olympics brand can withstand the barrage of bad publicity and a drop in interest among Western cities in staging the Games." Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College economist and former adviser to a "No Olympics" campaign in Boston, said that sponsors understand but will not "admit it." He said, "The fact that the current Olympic sponsors assert that the brand is strong indicates little. Why would a company that has invested tens of millions of dollars in building its association with the Olympics do anything to diminish the IOC's image?" The Tokyo 2020 Games has "already accumulated almost three times as much domestic sponsorship" as London or Rio, with a current total of about $3B. Nielsen Sports & Entertainment Global Head of Consulting Michael Lynch said, "The sponsor demand to partner with the Tokyo 2020 Games in particular has been unprecedented and off the charts" (REUTERS, 2/18).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 19, 2024

PGA Tour/PIF inching closer? Another NWSL sale for a big return and MLB's Go Ahead Entry expands

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2018/02/19/Olympics/Olympic-Brand.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2018/02/19/Olympics/Olympic-Brand.aspx

CLOSE