Paris olympics enjoys boom in sponsorship deals

Securing $1.34bn would represent a 60% increase in sponsorship revenue compared to the Tokyo Olympic Games of 2020, 10 times the rate that media rights revenue has grown in the same period.

Ampere said a challenging broadcast TV environment has seen many rights owners struggle to drive the same double-digit broadcast rights growth that they might have experienced in previous years. As a result, media rights owners are turning their attention to sponsorship sales to support their financial objectives.

The USA, China, Japan, and the big five European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) account for over 80% of the combined media rights and sponsorship value, highlighting the importance of a small number of countries in funding the Olympics.

These eight countries account for 75% of the media rights value ($2.5bn) and 98% of the $1.34bn sponsorship income.

In 2020, the IOC generated nearly four times more revenue from the sale of media rights than sponsorship. But in 2024, Ampere Analysis expects income from the sale of media rights to have dropped to 2.5 times higher than sponsorship – the latter being boosted by large-value deals such as those struck with Airbnb, Alibaba, and Mengniu Dairy.

Two-thirds of the sponsorship income for the Paris Olympics is derived from companies headquartered in the US, France and Japan, but Chinese brands have also invested increasingly heavily. Chinese companies represent the third largest source of sponsorship income for the Paris Olympics.

There are parallels with the recent UEFA European Championship just held in Germany, which showcased China as the single biggest source of sponsorship for the football tournament, taking five of the 13 top-tier sponsor spots, up from three in 2020 and one in 2016.

Chloe Ng-Triquet, Sponsorship Researcher at Ampere Analysis said: “Although media rights is still a bigger contributor to income, sponsorship revenue from eight major markets (USA, China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and UK) is driving growth for the IOC. We are seeing more global entities leveraging major sporting events to support their brand-building objectives, with the aim of reaching consumers in new markets and strengthening their presence in existing territories. Historically, the Olympics has always successfully attracted global sponsorship investment, especially for sponsors looking to drive brand awareness in foreign markets. It is clear from the scale of investments this year that brands are hoping that the Paris event will provide the visibility and prestige that they can capitalize on.” IBC365