Stage Set for First LA Olympics Sponsor

(ATR) A deal struck between NBC and Los Angeles 2028 clears the way to sign the first sponsors for those Games, still nine years away.

NBC Universal, rights holder in the U.S. through the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics, has agreed to work with LA 2028 in the marketing of the Games. The partnership between the network and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties, the joint venture formed last year between the U.S. Olympic Committee and LA 2028, creates a one-stop shop for sponsors in the U.S. market.

LA 2028 is counting on raising $2.5 billion in domestic marketing revenue.

LA 2028 chair Casey Wasserman is credited with coming up with the idea to join forces with NBC. The NBC partnership follows formation last year of the joint venture required by the IOC to ensure coordinated marketing programs with the organizing committee and the USOC.

Olympic sponsorship expert Rob Prazmark of 21 Marketing says bringing NBC into the mix with the USOC/LA 2028 joint venture will make the sales process more efficient. He says instead of making a deal with the USOC for Team USA marketing rights and a separate one with NBC for advertising, both can now be handled together.

With marketing packages for Los Angeles costing into the hundreds of millions of dollars, Olympic sales executives will needto make just one pitch to the corporate decision makers, says Prazmark. The partnership covers three Olympics in the run up to 2028, cutting out the need to negotiate separate deals for those Games.

Prazmark notes that the coordinated effort will enable advertisers to protect their exclusivity, avoiding the conflict over competitors buying NBC airtime.

"It makes perfect sense to have everything under one number," says Prazmark. "It guarantees rates, something that’s important for an eight-year sponsorship," he says.

He says the NBC-LA deal likely clears the way for the first sponsorship to be signed in the coming months. There’s been talk it might be Nike. Whichever firm takes that step, the marketing rights won’t begin until 2021. But those rights will last for eight years, a stretch of time that will allow maximum exposure for sponsors.

Prazmark notes that a $400 million marketing deal breaks out to $50 million a year, a reasonable sum for these giant firms he says.

NBC will have skin in the game. The network will provide a tranche of early funding to Los Angeles to help the organizing committee in its early days.

While the USOC has a sponsorship roster of 20 companies, those deals end after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Reported by Ed Hula.

Reported by Ed Hula.