Budweiser, USOC Part Ways -- Sponsor Spotlight

(ATR) The United States Olympic Committee does not, for now, have a beer sponsor.

After 32 years as a sponsor, Anheuser Busch and the USOC have mutuallyparted ways. Anheuser-Busch’s last sponsorship agreement ran through the2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

A statement from Mitch Poll, USOC managing director of marketing, provided to Around the Ringssaidthe decision was taken after "the USOC evaluated sponsorship categoriesand Anheuser-Busch evaluated its sponsorship priorities".

"Though our partnership ended in December after many, many years, ourmutual admiration for each other and the work we’ve done in partnershipremains very strong," Poll said. "We mutually decided to move indifferent directions. We have nothing but appreciation for AB and wishthem the best."

Sponsor turnover has been high at the USOC in the last year. In additionto Anheuser-Busch, Hilton, Citi and TD Ameritrade departed as USOCsponsors. Meanwhile, the USOC has added Bridgestone, Comcast, Toyota,DSG, Alibaba, Hershey, among others as sponsors.

ATR understands that even with the sponsorship changes, revenues for the USOC have continued to rise.

Alibaba to Create Olympic Cloud

The International Olympic Committee and Alibaba Group are joining forces in a long-term partnership through 2028.

Alibaba, in becoming the 13th member of The Olympic Partner (TOP) worldwide sponsorship program, will become the official "Cloud Services" and "E-Commerce Platform Services" partner to the IOC, as well as a Founding Partner of the Olympic Channel.

IOC president Thomas Bach, Alibaba Group founder and executive chairman Jack Ma and Alibaba Group chief executive officer Daniel Zhang announced the deal at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

In a conference call on Thursday, Alibaba chief marketing officer Chris Tung labeled the partnership "historic and unprecedented" and says the global leader in e-commerce will help the IOC create "a new Olympic games for a digital era".

Expect Alibaba to begin delivering cloud services within the year, needed for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang,Around the Rings is told by Michael Payne, who brokered the deal for Alibaba with agency Shankai.

Payne, a former marketing director for the IOC says the sponsorship is an "unprecedented package of services for the digital needs of the Olympics".

Click here to read more about the IOC's newest TOP sponsorship.

Canadian Athletes Reap Benefits of New COC Partnership

Canadian Olympic Committee officials say SAS Canada’s sponsorship brings athletes one step closer to the podium in the next four Games.

"We are thrilled to work with SAS to help our athletes win more medals," COC CEO Chris Overholt said in a statement.

For the next eight years the software and services company will improve Canada’s athletes’ performances by "providing the technology and expertise to promote data-driven decisions," according to a release.

The COC would be the first National Olympic Committee to form a long-term partnership with an analytics company.

Through their partnership the COC will create an analytics advisory council using SAS’s visual and date modeling technology to identify talent among their athletes and increase coaches’ precision in decisions.

"Our work with the COC will bring Canada’s world-class Olympic athletes to a new level of training and performance potential by taking a data-driven approach leading up to, and throughout, future Olympic Games," SAS president Cameron Dow states.

Coca-Cola Awards Peace Grant

A Colombian summer camp that sought to foster peace and reconciliation in conflict areas is the grand prize winner of Olympic TOP sponsor Coca-Cola’s annual "Shaping a Better Future Grant Challenge".

The camp, known as "Bakongo Paz" was created by the Global Shapers Community, an organization of youthful leaders put together by the World Economic Forum. The goals of the camp are to help the Colombian youths impacted by conflict by building an environment of peace and teamwork.

Coca-Cola awarded Bakongo Paz and four other initiatives $10,000 to help accelerate their projects. Coca-Cola received more than 100 submissions for its annual grant challenge.

"The Coca-Cola system is committed to being a strong supporter of Colombian communities," said Coca-Cola Latin America president Alfredo Rivera. "The Global Shapers of Bogotá, Colombia remind us all of the importance of engaging young generations when seeking to create sustainable solutions to the world's most challenging issues."

Written by Aaron Bauer, Kevin Nutley and Courtney Colquitt.

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