Trump Manufacturing Council Disbands as Olympic Sponsors Leave -- Sponsors Spotlight

(ATR) Chief executive of Olympic TOP sponsor Dow, Andrew Liveris, maintained his support of United States President Donald Trump's American Manufacturing Council until its dissolution.

Liveris, the chair of AMC, was the only one of three TOP sponsor executives on the Council to remain following Trump's slow and controversial response to the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.

President Trump failed to explicitly condemn the white supremacists in his original statement following the death of a non-violent protester on Aug. 12. He then issued a statement identifying the alt-right neo-Nazis as the aggressors on Aug. 14, before backtracking on that statement in a heated press conference where he said both sides of the protests were wrong.

His failure to rebuke the actions of white supremacists led to 11 members of the American Manufacturing Council resigning, led by Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier.

Intel, the International Olympic Committee's newest TOP sponsor, was the first Olympic sponsor to leave the AMC with CEO Brian Krzanich saying his resignation served to "call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues".

"Politics and political agendas have sidelined the important mission of rebuilding America’s manufacturing base," Krzanich said in a statement.

Fellow Olympic sponsor General Electric and its chairman Jeff Immelt followed suit in resigning from the AMC on Aug. 16 prior to its disbandment later that day by President Trump.

Surfing Teams With Eleven Sports and Renews Title Sponsor

The International Surfing Association (ISA) secures a new TV deal and renews the title sponsor for its World Adaptive Surfing Championship.

Global broadcaster Eleven Sports will show multiple ISA World Championships highlights in Belgium, Luxembourg, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and the United States as part of a new agreement.

"We are delighted to partner with Eleven Sports to bring exposure and visibility to ISA events in new territories and regions of the world, ISA President Fernando Aguerre said in a statement.

"Following on from our landmark inclusion on to the Olympic Program for Tokyo 2020, our sport has continued to benefit from increased interest and attention from broadcast media and we’re very pleased to welcome Eleven Sports to the global surfing family."

The ISA’s premier events in 2017 are part of the deal, including the World Adaptive Surfing Championship in La Jolla, California from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.

The ISA also announced this week that Stance renewed its partnership as title sponsor for that event through 2018.

The 2017 edition will be the first held since the ISA was officially recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as the International Federation for the sport of Para Surfing (Adaptive Surfing). The ISA’s goal is to get Adaptive Surfing into the Paralympic Games.

Stance, an innovative, industry-leading lifestyle brand, joined the inaugural edition of the event in 2015 as a presenting sponsor before becoming the first title sponsor in 2016.

"We have watched Adaptive Surfing blossom before our eyes at the last two editions of the event," said John Wilson, president and co-founder of Stance.

"We are looking forward to contributing to this incredible community in a positive way and being part of the sport’s journey towards Paralympic inclusion."

Written by Kevin Nutley and Gerard Farek

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