London Olympic Games: Sponsorship is underway, says London 2012 chief
London 2012 Olympics Revealed: London’s bid to raise more in sponsorship money than any previous Olympic Games remains firmly on track, according to Christopher Townsend, commercial director of the London 2012 Organising Committee.
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Olympic Games sponsorship is on the right track for 2012
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Efforts to obtain corporate funding have been buoyed by the UK’s medal success in Beijing, despite the decision by several major corporations to pull out of sponsorship.
Mr Townsend and his team are understood to have secured ï¿¡400m of the ï¿¡650m targeted in commercial sponsorship, which will come through national sponsors and a percentage of the total raised by the International Olympic Committee.
He rebuffed suggestions that funding at the IOC level was in jeopardy following the withdrawal by several of the 12 tier-one worldwide partners after Beijing.
Kodak, China’s Lenovo and Canadian Manulife will not be donating the minimum ï¿¡40m to retain their status as “worldwide partners” in 2012.
advertisementConsumer healthcare group Johnson & Johnson is also considering its position. However, Lenovo has already been replaced by Taiwanese electronics Acer, which is thought to be keen to penetrate the UK market.
“It is common that companies change their strategy and will fall away and be replaced,” he said.
Dismissing suggestions that the economic downturn was making it difficult to recruit sponsors, he said: “We started really early, back in July 2006, which meant by the time the economy turned we had already secured seven national tier one sponsors.
“If the recession deepens it could get tough but we are confident of securing two thirds of the target ï¿¡650m by March 2009.”
The rest is expected in time for the opening ceremony.
Domestically, London 2012 has secured the backing of seven tier-one national sponsors - Lloyds TSB, EDF, Adidas, British Airways, BT, BP, Nortel - with a further two sponsors targeted by 2010.
London 2012 Olympics Revealed: London’s bid to raise more in sponsorship money than any previous Olympic Games remains firmly on track, according to Christopher Townsend, commercial director of the London 2012 Organising Committee. Editing by Claire Edwards
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