DHL Knocks Down Olympic Sponsor Talk

DHL is a sponsor of Special Olympics and was a USOC sponsor through the Turin Olympics. (ATR) Is worldwide shipper DHL in the tracking system to become the next worldwide Olympic sponsor? The company says no, despite a U.K. report that the company is giving it some serious thought.

“According to DHL insiders, the global delivery company is hoping to secure the deal to become the official logistics partner after next year's Beijing Olympics,” reports Ed Kemp in the on-line Brand Republic news site Nov. 13.

But a DHL executive in the U.S. who would not be named, tells Around the Rings that the U.K. report is wrong. A DHL staffer at the company’s headquarters in Bonn, Germany reacted with surprise to the Brand Republic report, indicating nothing involving the Olympics is imminent.

Regardless of the DHL disclaimers, the logistics category is believed to be one the IOC has wanted to fill since UPS abandoned its worldwide sponsorship in 2004.

There has been no comment from the IOC on the DHL rumor.

DHL does engage in sports sponsorships. The company had a deal with the U.S. Olympic Committee that covered Athens and Turin, but perhaps troubling for a possible worldwide sponsorship, DHL chose not to renew.

DHL is the official logistics sponsor for Major League Baseball and is a worldwide sponsor for the Special Olympics for the 2007 summer games and the 2009 winter event.

However, DHL's Formula One sponsorship is considered the major set-piece in its global sports marketing program.

If DHL is interested in a worldwide Olympic sponsorship, the firm would be the third to take on the category. In addition to UPS, Fedex took a turn in earlier iterations of the shipping category for the Olympics.

DHL, which began in the U.S. in 1969, has steadily grown its profile in the past ten years with a series of acquisitions that includes the outright purchase of DHL in 2002 by Deutsche Post.

As a German firm, DHL is free to make shipments to Cuba and North Korea, something the U.S. companies cannot provide to an Olympic sponsorship. And for national Olympic committees A DHL promotion at a Major League Baseball game.around the world, the return of a worldwide sponsor for shipping would be welcomed for the cost savings it would bring.

DHL has headquarters in Bonn and London, the second location obviously ideal to exploit a sponsorship involving the London Olympics.

Any relationship with DHL would still have to wait until 2009 to take effect, as UPS is still in the midst of a Rings cycle in China. The Atlanta-based, ex-TOP member is a national sponsor for BOCOG and the Chinese Olympic Committee.

Post-Beijing, the IOC has eight worldwide sponsors so far for Vancouver and London. IOC marketing chairman Gerhard Heiberg says 11 or 12 will be on board by the time of the Vancouver Winter Games.

Written by

Ed Hula

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