The International Olympic Committee (IOC) hopes that increased sponsorship value created partly by its planned new media channel will help drive income generated by its TOP worldwide sponsorship programme through the $2 billion (£1.2 billion/€1.5 billion) barrier by 2024.
TOP is set to contribute more than $1 billion (£618 million/€758 million) in cash and value-in-kind to the Movement for the first time only in the present quadrennium culminating with Rio 2016.
If realised, the projection would hence represent a marked acceleration in growth from the programme, which has tended to be overshadowed in recent times by spectacular progress in revenues derived both from broadcasting rights to the Games and from domestic sponsorship.
Interviewed at the Sportel Convention here, Timo Lumme, the IOC’s managing director television and marketing services, said the body was “talking about” $200 million (£124 million/€157 million) for the next TOP programme but one, running from 2021-2024.
Assuming that the number of TOP sponsors were kept at 11 or 12, as per usual, this would push the amount of income raised comfortably beyond $2 billion.
The new Olympic media channel is one of a number of key developments that will be put to IOC members for final approval at an Extraordinary Session here in December.
If approved, the channel, which is likely to be largely internet-based, would be expected to be up and running by 2015.
While associated costs seem likely to come down gradually over time, as ways of exploiting the new medium are developed, Lumme indicated that the Movement might well invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the initiative over the first 10 years.
The production of original content is firmly on the agenda.
There are 11 current TOP sponsors: Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Dow, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung and Visa.
All have now also committed to the next TOP programme culminating with the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Two Japanese companies – Panasonic, the electronics giant, and Bridgestone, the tyre company – have signed through until 2024.
The programme has grown enormously since it began by generating $96 million (£61 million/€72 million) for the IOC in the 1985-1988 quadrennium.
It was valued at $950 million (£588 million/€746 million) in 2009-2012, when the Movement generated just over $8 billion (£5 billion/€6 billion) all told in broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing revenue.
The Extraordinary Session will be the biggest moment yet for Thomas Bach’s year-old IOC Presidency.
This article first appeared in insidethegames.biz and has been reproduced with permission. The original article can be viewed by clicking here.