New Partners Coming for British Olympic Association -- On the Scene

(ATR) The BOA’s chief executive tells Around the Rings two major sponsors will soon be announced and the organization is in much better financial health.

In an exclusive interview with ATR in London on Tuesday, Bill Sweeney said the BOA’s new partners will be named within the next six weeks.

The BOA’s targeted sponsorships include telecoms, grocery, confectionery and energy categories. A banking partner is also on the radar.

The signing of new sponsors, following deals with five top-tier partners in 2014, is part of two-pronged strategy to improve the BOA’s economic welfare after several years of financial struggles.

Sweeney, who has overhauled the BOA’s commercial strategy since joining the organization 15 months ago, said the aim was to drive revenue growth through partnerships and to get a firmer grip on costs.

"We are in pretty good shape," Sweeney said.

"We have put in place some rigorous cost controls. It’s very easy to see where our costs go with each project. With 10 events per quad ... what does it cost to go to Baku? What does it cost to go to Rio? What’s our budget around that?"

He pointed to the "massive undertaking" to deliver the London Olympics, praising organizers LOCOG for doing a fantastic job but saying there was "a bit of ... Olympic saturation post-London with sponsorship."

"People said, ‘Okay, we have done that. Now let’s move on to something else.' I expected 2014 to be a really, really tough year because we were close enough to London to still have a bit of a hangover from that saturation effect.

"It was a FIFA World Cup year so when you are talking to potential business and commercial partners, I thought they would be very much focused on football and the World Cup… and with Sochi in 2014. We have the Rugby World Cup on our doorstep in 2015.

"If you had told me at the beginning of 2014, this is what you will have, I would have bitten your hand off for it frankly," he added, referencing the deals signed.

Those included marketing agency Krow, Fitness First, clothing partner Simon Jersey and Deloitte, who came on board as the BOA’s management services provider. Three people from Deloitte work full-time for the BOA on its project planning and implementation for Rio 2016. Sofa manufacturer DFS was signed up two months ago.

They join the BOA’s existing partners – BP, Nissan and Adidas.

"We are by no means maxed out yet," he said of the BOA’s sponsorship drive.

"It’s not just a case about getting the money in," Sweeney explains. "We are in a position now where we can be a little bit more strategic in terms of saying we are really looking for partners where what we have as a brand matches where that company is going.

"When you have that kind of partnership the chances are you will activate it better. We are trying to find the right partners where our mutual strategies complement. What’s the limitation on that, 20 or 22 commercial partners probably," he added.

New Licensing, Digital Partners

Sweeney and the BOA’s new head of commercial and management team are setting their sights on opening up revenue streams previously unexploited by the BOA.

Through 2015, they are working on inking deals with a series of licensing and digital partners and expect to have agreements in place before the year’s end.

He calls these "obvious areas for growth."

"If you look at some other NOCs and the sports industry in general and licensing and merchandising, you have to believe there is some major upside for us there," he said.

"Digital is very important for us," he added.

"Our ability to keep Team GB top of mind outside of the Games-time event period is a key challenge for us. How you do that with digital, how you do that with unique content… behind-the-scenes access, fanbase loyalty programs and complement that with licensing and merchandising programs to support that.

"That’s something that hasn’t really been a major priority for us before. If you look at most sporting brands, that’s a big piece of their activity."

Sweeney references the way the U.S. Olympic Committee works with two of its partners, Nike and Ralph Lauren.

"It’s not difficult to see where we could extend into with Team GB," he said. "You have that whole Britishness piece about Team GB and that’s something we think we can celebrate and commercially leverage a lot more strongly."

Among his goals for 2015 are to introduce "a more aggressive e-commerce online strategy, more licensing partners tied into that, more online e-commerce revenues coming in, more Team GB merchandise going through traditional retail as well."

Sweeney won’t speak about revenue targets but said the BOA is on course to meet or exceed expectations this year.

"The key thing is to be profitable and a sustainable, financially autonomous independent business. We feel we are well on the way to that," he added.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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