$200 Million Sponsorship Off the Boil in London

(ATR) Around the Rings is told that a $200 million sponsorship for London appears to be lost over a refusal to change the schedule of events in 2012.

A marketing source familiar with the deal says that London organizers have tried to convince the IOC to go along with the terms sought by the potential sponsor.

A last-ditch round of meetings between London and Lausanne in the past month reached the boiling point, failing to resolve the issue.

"London tried to reason with the IOC but it’s no use anymore," says the U.K. -based marketing expert. He could not be identified due to the work his firm conducts for other sponsors.

"We thought this sponsorship would be among the most popular ever – besides lucrative. And it certainly would result in a schedule that was suitable for London and the U.K," says the source.

London organizers tried to convince their Swiss partners that the value of the sponsorship merited a schedule for 2012 with no sport events from 3pm to 4:30 pm each day of the Games.

"We told London from the outset thatthis plan could lead to disaster," snaps a Lausanne staffer knowledgeable with planning for 2012. He says the change requested by the sponsor would usurp the primacy of the IOC and Games organizers to control the sports schedule.

With just over two years to the Games, the impasse is likely to end talks to land a final Tier One sponsor. Said to be worth a staggering $200 million dollars, the deal would have been the largest-ever domestic sponsorship for an Olympics, nearly all cash.

Such a haul would likely guarantee a balanced operating budget and perhaps a surplus.

"Other than this issue we have such good relations with London," notes the Swiss source, frustrated with the failure to quell what he calls "a tempest in a tea pot".

Around the Rings has obtained a copy of one of the internal memos outlining issues at stake. Click here to see the document.

Written by April Fuel.