On the Scene: Negotiations for New Olympic Sponsors, Finances Sound

(ATR) IOC Marketing Commission chair Gerhard Heiberg told colleagues at the IOC Session in Copenhagen that negotiations for top tier sponsors for the 2010 and 2012 Games have resumed after coming to a halt in the financial crisis.

"Things have improved in the last month," Heiberg said about the turnaround.

"Now we are negotiating again with partners for number 10, number 11 and maybe number 12 by the time we come to Vancouver," he said.

Heiberg says $900 million has been raised so far from the nine current TOP sponsors and that new deals could put the revenues from the 2010/2014 Games at $1 billion.

He said talks are underway with some sponsors for renewals to 2020 but that some also pushed for deals running through 2024, which the IOC has rebuffed for now.

"I feel that things are developing in the right direction," he said about the marketing program.

Heiberg admitted to problems in Beijing with sponsor services, vowing to improve the situation in Vancouver and London.

He says the choice of Rio de Janeiro for 2016 is being greeted enthusiastically by sponsors.

"They are happy, looking forward to Rio de Janeiro," says Heiberg.

"I think there is great excitement in working with Brazil, but the whole of South America," he said.

IOC Finances Sound

IOC Finance Commission chair Richard Carrion told his colleagues that the organization enjoyed a large increase in revenues, which increased the amounts distributed to the NOCs.

Looking at the balance sheet at the end of 2007 and 2008, "it's easy to see the impact of the Beijing final payments," he said.

Although everyone is affected by the global financial crisis, Carrion said, "The policies are sound, the IOC's financial position continues to be a very sound conservative one."

He said the IOC has policies in place that limit the fluctuations.

"Obviously, we are subject to currency fluctuations, changes in the value of the stock market and the financial markets around the world," he said, "but I think we limit this by the amounts we have in the different currencies."

Most IOC investments are focused around a fixed income, but the IOC also has interests in real estate, commodities and the stock market.

The main risk lies in the successful completion of future Olympic Games, though the IOC has some insurance to mitigate these risks as best it can, Carrion said.

"We remain very confident that we will have successful Games," he added. "We also continue to face a very fragile global economy and markets. These are risks that can never be eliminated. We try to monitor them and mitigate them as much as possible."

Written by Ed Hula and Karen Rosen