Olympic Briefs: New Board Members at USOC, Changes for Olympic Sponsors

McDonald's says Chicago bid could play a role in the sponsorship's future. (Getty Images)USOC Appoints two new Board Members

Ursula M. Burns, president of Xerox Corporation, and Lawrence F. Probst, III, chairman of the Board of Directors at Electronic Arts (EA), will become the new members of the USOC Board of Directors.

Their six-year terms will begin Oct. 8-12 at the U.S. Olympic Assembly in Orlando, Fla., where they will replace chairman Peter Ueberroth and Erroll Davis. During the meeting, the board will choose a new chairman.

Burns is responsible for Xerox's global research, development, engineering, marketing and manufacturing of Xerox technology, supplies and related services. She also oversees for the corporation global accounts, information management, corporate strategy, human resources and ethics, and marketing operations. She was named president in April 2007.

Probst was CEO of EA, one of the world's leading developers and publishers of interactive entertainment, from May 1991 until April 2007. Probst has been a Director of EA since January 1991 and was elected to the position of chairman of the board of directors in July of 1994.

McDonald's Renewal not Automatic

McDonald's decision on renewing its TOP sponsorship will take into account the selection of the 2016 Olympic host city, John Lewicki, McDonald's senior director of alliance marketing, said on a panel titled "Beijing and beyond: An assessment from the corporate stakeholders."

The fast food giant's sponsorship runs out after the 2012 Games in London.

Panasonic will take over Kodak's digital camera sponsorship from 2009 until 2016. (Getty Images)"The international market is very important to us," Lewicki said, "but some of the cities they are picking are not. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that if it's not Chicago, that we won't renew, but if it is Chicago, we probably will."

Panasonic Sponsorship to Include Digital Cameras

In the same panel, Terry Shorrock, Panasonic's director of shows, events and sponsorships, said the company will take over the digital camera category from Kodak in 2009 in a deal lasting to 2016.

"I think we'll see a lot more activation around the digital camera space," Shorrock said. "It's all about capturing memories for us."

Africans Want Cross Country Back in the Olympics

Long distance greats Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and Paul Tergat of Kenya are lobbying the IOC and IAAF to bring cross country running back to the Olympics. The event has not been on the program since the 1924 Paris Games.

Cross country is an integral part of the IAAF Haile Gebrselassie (right) and Kenenisa Bekele (center) want marathon added to the Winter Olympics. (Getty Images)winter program, but an earlier attempt to bring the event to the Winter Olympics failed. Currently, all Winter Olympic sports are held on snow or ice.

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies told the Associated Press, "Now the question is whether we will seek entry into the Summer Games for cross country."

With the program for the Summer Olympics already full, it was unclear what avenue the IAAF would pursue to get cross country into the Games.

Visa Cards got big Play in Beijing

Tourists in Beijing spent $10 million using Visa cards on Aug. 8, the opening day of the 2008 Olympics, according to a trade publication.

The biggest spenders were from the U.S., who accounted for 19 percent of the total, followed by Japan (13 percent), Hong Kong, South Korea and the U.K.

Visa, which has sponsored the Olympic Games for 22 years, installed more than 90,000 ATMs and signed up some 216,000 merchants throughout China to prepare for the expected influx of visitors. The company also partnered with the Beijing tourist office to launch the "Best Merchants in Beijing" program, which accepted international card payments in nine locations including the airport and the Great Wall.

Written by

Karen Rosen

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