Chinese Dairy Giant Joins Coca-Cola's Olympic Sponsorship

(ATR) A deal worth a reported $3 billion extends Coca-Cola, and brings dairy to the TOP Program.

Just minutes before the start of the IOC Session, Thomas Bach was flanked by James Quincey, CEO of the longest Olympic Sponsor Coca-Cola and Jeffrey Lu, CEO of Mengniu the newest member of the Olympics. Coca-Cola was in Lausanne to announce they’ve extended their IOC partnership until 2032, doing so with Chinese dairy giant Mengniu.

At a press conference announcing the deal, Bach said with the new agreement the IOC "can reach billions of people with our message of Olympic values and the Olympic Games".

Perhaps alluding to the complexity of two companies sharing one sponsorship and the value of the deal Bach added: "This partnership was not easy to establish."

"These two gentlemen never lost sight of the goal," Bach said of Quincey and Lu. "We have their accomplished mission and with this I think we experience today a new dimension in sports sponsorship and Olympic partnership."

London’s The Financial Times reported that the deal is worth more than $3 billion. IOC officials and Coca-Cola declined to say how much partnership cost.

Quincey would only describe the partnerships as "a substantial arrangement" it’s not about the sponsorship but it’s about the activation. The deal reportedly includes an increase in broadcaster advertising spending. Mengiu is not widely available outside of China but has global ambitions with a target of global expansion by 2025.

"Our joy to bring health and joy to the consumer is the same as our partners here through sports," Lu said.

Mengniu was a sponsor of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. "Last year proved Menginu is very good at using those partnerships," Lu said.

The state-owned parent company of Mengniu owns Coca-Cola’s bottling company in China.

Bach said the IOC is not "actively seeking" other joint partnerships. He cautioned: "If another such a unique occasion would arise we would, of course, look positively into it."

For general comments or questions,click here.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.