Sponsor Spotlight: Lenovo, GSK talk TOP Sponsorship; BP suppporst athletes; Deaflympics partner

Lenovo Talk TOP Sponsorship

Around the Rings has learned that the IOC is in talks with Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo about returning as a TOP sponsor in a newly created category.

Lenovo signed a deal in 2004 to become the first Chinese company to join the IOC’s worldwide partner program. The agreement covered the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics and Beijing 2008 Games.

But it dropped the Olympic sponsorship after Beijing. In 2009, Taiwan-based Acer was named to take over the global sponsorship.

Acer departed the TOP sponsorship program last year. The IOC set the target of replacing the company with a new category incorporating tablets to reflect the boom in usage worldwide.

ATR understands that Lenovo is one of several companies interested in filling that category.

The Beijing-based company appears to fit the bill. In May, Lenovo reported that sales of smartphones and other mobile Internet devices soared 74 per cent to $736 million.

It has made no secret of its plans to heavily invest in the fast-growing tablet, smartphone and enterprise hardware areas, and an IOC partnership may help it further its global ambitions.

On Tuesday, ATR confirmed that GlaxoSmithKline was one of the companies in discussions with the IOC about joining the TOP sponsor program.

The IOC hopes to have its 11th and 12 top-tier sponsors for the Rio 2016 Olympics before the IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September.

IOC in TOP Sponsorship Talk with GSK

Around the Rings understands that GlaxoSmithKline is one of the companies in discussions with the IOC about joining the TOP sponsor program.

The IOC is seeking to secure its 11th and 12 top-tier sponsors for the Rio 2016 Olympics. It hopes to ink deals before the IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September.

One of the new TOP sponsors would replace computer manufacturer Acer in a new category incorporating the increasing use of tablets in the computer technology landscape.

The two new sponsorships for the 2013-2016 Olympic period would take the IOC's TOP sponsor revenues over $1 billion for the first time.

GlaxoSmithKline, the U.K.-based pharmaceutical company, was the official laboratory services provider for the London 2012 organizing committee.

Under the tier three deal, GSK offered facilities and equipment to enable Kings College London to operate a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited satellite laboratory at Games-time.

GSK employs more than 17,000 people in the U.K. with more than 5,000 people working on the research and development of new medicines.

A spokeswoman for GSK declined to talk about the company’s negotiations with the IOC, saying: "We are not in a position to comment on speculation."

BP Continues British Olympic Support

BP will continue its partnerships with the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations as a top-level sponsor.

The deal, announced on Monday, lasts through Rio 2016.

"BP is helping to ensure that British athletes have the resources and support they need to excel on the Olympic stage," British Olympic Association Chairman Sebastian Coe said in a statement.

British Paralympic Association CEO, Tim Hollingsworth said: "We now have a growing family of partners who understand the value of the Paralympic movement in the UK and its potential to challenge perceptions of disability."

In the lead up to London 2012, BP sponsored six Olympians and Paralympians.

London 2012 Paralympic gold medalist Richard Whitehead said: "What impressed me with BP is that the support and commitment was the same for all six athletes regardless of ability or disability."

Deaflympics Adds Partner

The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf announced GN Otometrics as an official partner for the Deaflympics.

GN Ottometrics will provide testing equipment to determine the level of hearing loss for all athletes.

"Fair play for all is an absolute cornerstone in the Deaflympics. To ensure fair play, it is vital that we are able to prove the eligibility of our athletes and that means demonstrating their deafness," said ICSD Chief Executive Mark Cooper.

"We are delighted to announce this partnership with GN Otometrics. With their products, we know we’ll have results we can rely on."

The 2013 Deaflympics will take place on July 26th-August 4th in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Written byMark Bisson, Nicole Bennett and Aaron Bauer

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