Heiberg Confident Olympic Top Sponsors Here to Stay

(ATR) The former chair of the IOC Marketing Commission says that the International Olympic Committee’s TOP Sponsor Program is as robust as ever.

Gerhard Heiberg, who led the marketing commission for 12 years and was a member of the IOC Executive Board from 2003-2011, expressed his opinion on the state of the IOC’s current relationships with its 13 TOP Olympic sponsors in an exclusive interview with Around the Rings.

"I’m a little positively surprised that this continues – I thought that at some stage interest would go down because with so many other attractions around the world that we may lose some of the sponsors," Heiberg tells ATR. "To my positive surprise, the TOP Program is very strong. There are still companies wanting to become members of the TOP Program.

"There is still great interest and we see increased amounts all the time – the figures increase from one year to another and it looks like this will continue," the Norwegian added. "I was chairman of the marketing commission for 12 years and I thought that after me maybe things would not be as good, but again to my positive surprise, things are developing in the right direction still."

The 77-year-old Norwegian, who was head of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee, made the comments following IOC president Thomas Bach making similar remarks about the state of the sponsors in his recent address at the PASO General Assembly in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

"The TOP program was never as successful as it is now. If you look at the growth rates we have there," Bach told members of PASO. "The contracts with the rights-holding partners have never been so successful as they are now.

"But what is even more important, is not the absolute figures and growth in the sponsorship or in the TV licenses," said the IOC president. "What is even more important is the confidence expressed in the Olympic Movement and in the Olympic Games by the long term contracts that these sponsors and rights-holders are interested to sign."

"Thomas Bach is right – we have never been stronger when it comes to sponsorship interest and interest from TV rights-holders," Heiberg said.

Heiberg concedes that there has been some backlash and serious concern from IOC sponsors over recent doping scandals and corruption allegations, predominantly pertaining to FIFA and the IAAF.

The former IOC executive board member said he is aware of murmurs that McDonald's is possibly on the fence in regards to renewing its agreement with the IOC because of unease related to FIFA and other scandal-hit properties.

"I am aware of this and I have talked to some of the companies to find out the reasons and I understand them," Heiberg advised. "We had the same at the end of the 1990’s with the scandal around Salt Lake City. At that time I took over as chairman of the marketing commission in 2001 and I had discussions with many of the same companies.

"They said you are not living up to the Olympic Charter and the expectations that we have, so we went through it. I can see some of this coming up again with FIFA and IAAF, but I still feel that communication with these companies is a good one.

"Some of the companies will disappear for natural reasons – you saw Kodak leaving for nothing to do with the Olympics. There will be ups and downs, but most of them will continue.

"For the ones leaving for one reason or another, there will be others to replace them.

"We look at this, but we are not too concerned because we feel the interest is still very strong. We think for the time being we are still on top of it."

Heiberg would not comment on the status of TOP Sponsor Visa, which has reportedly said to be reconsidering its IOC sponsorship because of the IOC’s new agreement with Alibaba. Visa International is the exclusive payment card and the official payment system for the Olympic Games and has claimed that the Alibaba Alipay System violates these terms.

"I have heard about that, but since I am no longer chairman of the marketing commission anymore, I don’t think I should go into the specifics," he said.

"I would leave that to Timo Lumme or Mr. [Tsunekazu] Takeda, who is the chairman now of the marketing commission."

However, Heiberg readily admitted that category exclusively can a difficult and gray area with evolving technologies and corporations constantly expanding and developing new products and services.

"We have been fighting that for a long time," Heiberg said. "Photography for instance – starting with Kodak and then Samsung coming in.

"This is a very difficult, sensitive area, no question about it.

"It will continue because we have fantastic progress in technology.

"You see this now with Visa and Alibaba, but we’ve had the same kind of challenges for years now and it will only continue."

Written by Brian Pinelli

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