Sponsor Spotlight -- Home Depot Ends Olympic Sponsorship; Phelps Endorses Mazda

Home Depot is discontinuing its U.S. Olympic Committee sponsorship which included an employment program for U.S. Olympic athletes. (Getty Images)Home Depot Ends Sponsorship of U.S. Olympic Committee

Home Depot has ended its 16-year sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee, bringing to a conclusion its employment program that provided full-time pay for part-time work for athletes at the company's stores.

The program will come to an end March 2.

The 86 athletes who are currently employed by Home Depot through the Olympic Jobs Opportunity Program will have the option of continuing with their part-time jobs with part-time pay, applying for a full-time position or discontinuing their employment at the company.

Home Depot spokeswoman Jean Niemi says the decision to end the sponsorship is not related to the downturn of the economy, though the struggling U.S. housing market has affected the company's sales.

"We feel the time has come to look at new ways to enhance our brand and provide exciting new programs that appeal to our customers and associates," Niemi said.

A total of 600 athletes, including 145 Olympic medalists, have taken part in the program since its inception in 1992, according to Niemi. The sponsorship deal with the USOC was worth $15-20 million for the last four years.

USOC Chief Communications Officer Darryl Seibel told Around the Rings that the organization still has plenty of sponsors lined up for the next four years.

"We have agreements in place with 16 official sponsors who have renewed for the 2009-2012 quadrennium and discussions are ongoing with other companies regarding possible sponsorship opportunities," Seibel said.

Phelps Signs Endorsement Deal with Mazda in China

Michael Phelps went to China last summer to win gold medals -- now he returns to sell cars.

The Olympic swimmer, Olympic swimming gold medalist Michael Phelps has signed a seven-figure deal with Mazda to endorse its new Mazda 6 in China. (Getty Images)who won eight gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, returns to the scene of his greatest triumph after signing a seven-figure deal with Mazda to endorse the automobile company’s new Mazda 6 car in Chinathrough print, television, billboards and personal appearances.

Phelps' Mazda endorsement is the largest single sponsorship deal for a western celebrity in China’s history, according to Chinese media and entertainment company Dynamic Marketing Group.

The advertising campaign will start sometime during the first half of 2009.

Mazda is the latest of a series of endorsement deals that Phelps has racked up since his memorable performance in Beijing, with Speedo, Visa and Rosetta Stone the other companies he has agreements with.

Top Canadian Olympic Sponsors Still Committed

Two of Canada’s top Olympic sponsors, Rona and Petro-Canada, say they are committed to continuing their support of Canadian athletes despite the current economic climate.

Mark Hindman, vice president of Olympic programs for Rona, a Canadian home renovation company and a top-tier sponsor of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, says his company is still committed its Growing With Our Athletes program, which provides financial support for 100 athletes.

Hindman says the program provides a positive image for Rona in the eyes of a majority of the Canadian public.

The same goes for Petro-Canada, another top-tier sponsor, which supports 50 athletes and offers matching grants to coaches through its Fueling Athlete and Coaching Excellence (FACE) program.

Petro-Canada Olympic and Community Programs Director Steven Keith says the company has spent around $6 million on FACE since it was started in 2006 and it is not planning to reduce its support before the program expires in 2012.

"We believe it has significant impact on the reputation and brand esteem we do enjoy as a company," Keith said.

Canadian Broadcast Consortium Defends 2010 Olympic TV Rights Investment

The CTV-Rogers Consortium is defending the $90 million rights fee it paid for Canadian broadcast rights for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver despite criticism from advertisers who doubt the large sum paid by the group will pay off in the midst of the current economic crisis.

Consortium President Keith Pelley says the combination of the Games being held on Canadian soil and the expected success of Canadian athletes makes the large amount paid for television rights worth it.

"We are set up for the perfect storm,” Pelley said. “The Games are in our own country, our athletes are winning on the world stage and are poised for success and we have the multiple platforms to tell their stories."

Eli Paper, media director for Toronto-based Television Advertising Services, Inc., says the Consortium will find it difficult to attract advertising revenue to make up for the large amount spent on rights fees.

"It's not happening at a great time for the folks at CTV and Rogers," Paper said.

"That could change in the next year, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that spending big dollars isn’t on any advertiser's mind right now."

Kodak Moves Marketing Focus From Olympics to Golf

Kodak begins to focus more of its marketing effort on golf as the photo company begins its sponsorship of the PGA Tour with the pro golf circuit's season-opening Mercedes Championship in Hawaii this weekend.

The Mercedes Championship is the first of 24 tournaments on the PGA Tour that will be part of the Kodak Challenge, for which one particular hole will be designated for each tournament. The winner with the lowest score accumulated on the 24 holes will claim $1 million dollars at the end of the season.

After spending its sport marketing efforts on the Olympics and NASCAR, a change of focus from individual consumers to businesses -- with business being conducted to a large degree on the golf course -- has resulted in the move to golf according to Kodak chief of marketing Jeff Hayzlett.

...Briefs

...TSN sportscaster Brian Williams and CTV newscaster Lloyd Robertson have been selected by Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium to lead its broadcast team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Williams and Robertson will lead a 140-member on-air team that will include 31 Canadian Olympians such as 2002 figure skating pairs gold medalists Jamie Sale and Brian Pelletier and 1988 women’s figure skating silver medalist Elizabeth Manley as well as speed skaters Catriona Le May Doan and Gaetan Boucher.

...The International Luge Federation has signed an agreement with Austrian energy company PEWO to become a title sponsor for FIL's natural track luge World Cup series. "We are very happy about the fact that we were able to win PEWO as title sponsor of the natural track luge World Cup series." FIL President Josef Fendt said. "At the same time, we would like to thank our faithful sponsors Trenker and Zauner for the good partnership."

Written by Greg Oshust.