Airline to Join 2012 Tier-One Ranks?
Reports indicate that British Airways will become the latest sponsor for the London 2012 Games. BA ended its sponsorship of the London Eye earlier this month, and is reportedly looking to become an official tier-one partner for the 2012 Games.
The airline will unveil its Terminal 5 in March and will feature the London 2012 logo, reports say.
BA would join Lloyds TSB Group, Adidas and EDF Energy, if it becomes a tier-one sponsor.
Coke Promotes Active Living with 2010 Torch Relay
Vancouver Torch Relay Presenting Partner Coca-Cola is preparing a search for 1,000 people who personify and promote active living to take part in the Torch Leadership Program. The community-based program will have a budget of more than $5 million to promote healthy, active lifestyles to the young. Program participants also will be eligible to be selected to be a 2010 torchbearer.
The IOC TOP sponsor has retained Canadian nonprofit ParticipACTION to help operate the Torch Leadership Program. Coke and ParticipACTION are still working on details and delivery of the program; it is set for a September 2008 launch.
Paralympics Line up IT Support
Atos Origin and the International Paralympic Committee announced a deal this week that sees the France-based company become the Worldwide IT Partner of the IPC. In addition, Atos Origin also is partnering up with the National Paralympic Committee of China to sponsor Paralympians Li Duan and Bian Jianxin for the Beijing Games.
As part of the deal with the IPC, Atos Origin will create an IT system to manage athletes' results, biographical information and classifications.
"The solution to be provided by Atos Origin shall help the IPC grow and offer better services to its members, National Paralympic Committees, athletes and competition organizers," said IPC president Philip Craven of the deal.
Atos Origin’s ten-year TOP partnership with the IOC is its largest sports-related IT contract. The company has been a Partner of the Paralympic Games in 2002, 2004 and 2006.
Sponsor Hospitality CEO Joins Marketing Group
A veteran of Olympics event planning is taking his sport expertise to an executive role with a diverse network of marketing and management agencies.
As founder and CEO of SportsMark Management Group, Jan Katzoff has directed the company's event planning and management projects for nine Olympic Games, as well as four FIFA World Cup tournaments, and other major events.
Katzoff has now taken on the role of executive vice president for sports and entertainment at The Radiate Group, a global network of 21 event marketing and management agencies, which includes SportsMark.
He will continue to lead California-based SportsMark while undertaking "unique and creative" projects at Radiate.
With Katzoff onboard, Radiate is planning to build relations with sports and entertainment agencies, including those involved with London 2012.
How do you Say “Gold Medal” in Chinese?
Top U.S. swimmers Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker and Katie Hoff have signed sponsorship deals with Rosetta Stone, a provider of language-learning software based in Arlington, Va.
This is the company’s first marketing venture with the sport of swimming.
The swimmers will try to learn to speak Mandarin with the Rosetta Stone Personal Edition soon-to-be-released Version 3 Chinese program.
Phelps, who won eight Olympic medals in Athens, and Hoff, a world champion, visited Beijing last April.
Hoff said it was hard to understand and communicate even the simplest words and phrases with people. “I'm eager to get started and extend my very limited Chinese vocabulary beyond 'ni hao' (hello) and 'xie xie' (thank you),” she said.
Sponsor Briefs…
SwissTopSport got a discouraging government response during a discussion on promoting major sport events. The 14 sport stakeholders and sponsors that founded the group met with representatives of the government and the Swiss national Olympic committee during an inaugural conference this week on the economic value of major sport events in Switzerland. "To stay on the map of international sporting events, money and competitive infrastructure are essential. That is why we need more support from the national government and lotteries," said the group's president, Rolf Theiler.
"You can forget that," said Samuel Schmid, one of the seven members of the Swiss Federal Council. He said government funding is aimed at programs for the general population. Schmid went on to acknowledge the importance of major events and suggested that the alliance of businesses with the NOC is an ideal way to proceed.
The Spanish Olympic Committee held the first session of a sports marketing course on Jan. 29. The COE, along with marketing firm TAPSA, and staff from accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers and its affiliated law firm Landwell, will teach federations and other sports bodies about marketing, legal issues, taxation and branding during the four-month course.
U.S. Olympic broadcaster NBC reports high ratings for the weekend broadcasts of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The Jan. 27 finale attracted 3.5 percent of TV viewers. Some events drew 500 percent more viewers than comparable events last year that were broadcast on cable station ESPN. The primetime broadcasts on Jan. 26 and 27 were the two highest rated sports events of the weekend behind golf star Tiger Woods at a California invitational, but ahead of professional basketball. This is the first year NBC has signed with the U.S. Figure Skating Association; the sport had been with network ABC – the owner of ESPN – for 43 years.
The United States Ski and Snowboard Association named Delta as its official airline. Throughout its four-year sponsorship, Delta will provide transportation for the team, coaches and equipment to worldwide competition destinations.
Written by Laura Grundy
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