Artikel

De sponsoring van de Olympische Spelen: een doorlichting

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Abstract

The sponsoring of the Olympic Games audited - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded with the aim of ensuring the celebration of the Olympic Games. Its decision to ban all commercial publicity both on the stadiums and on the athletes’ outfit was completely in line with the idea that the games should avoid being associated with commercialism. This philosophy has given a certain value to the Olympic symbols. By way of illustration, the sponsor programme TOP, which stands for ’The Olympic Programme’, was devised by ISL, the exclusive marketing firm of the IOC. As this concept evolved from within the Olympic movement itself, it is tailored to the needs of the IOC. The TOP programme was created because the need was felt for the Games to remain independent towards the television industry. The royalties paid by the television industry used to be the largest income for the IOC. Although this is still the case, its share has dropped to 50 % of the total marketing revenue. The sponsoring contracts are very strict lest they should jeopardize the image of the Olympic movement to the outside world. The various Olympic symbols are jointly owned by the IOC and the National Olympic Committees. A lot of countries view the association which is made with these symbols very favourably. The Olympiad sponsor pays between 24 and 42 million dollars for every Olympiad. It should be pointed out, however, that these enormous amounts are not always paid in species, but partly in products as well. Once these amounts have been invested in Olympic sponsorship, it is up to the sponsor to make public the association between the sponsor and the Olympic symbols. Advertising such an association generally costs three times as much as the actual sponsoring. The expected return for the sponsoring companies depends on the publicity made around this Olympic ’partnership’. A firm’s decision to sponsor has to be part of its marketing strategy. General strategies are mostly linked with internal and external relations : e.g. launching new products and inviting customers to the games. Most sponsors are market leaders in their field and the revenues they create for the TOP programme are distributed by ISL. The main beneficiaries are the organising cities of the games and the National Olympic Committees, whereas the IOC receives only a small fraction of the revenues. The future of the TOP programme seems prosperous, but it will never be as spectacular as when the programme was first launched. The main goal of the IOC is still to secure its financial long-term objectives, so that they can keep organising the games without losing their independence.

How to Cite:

Rogge, C., (1995) “De sponsoring van de Olympische Spelen: een doorlichting”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 40(3), 290–315. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95208