Sponsors Will Get Visibility Lift in Paris Olympics, Study Says

The Super Bowl is not only competitive for the teams on the field but the brands that buy commercial spots and sponsorships for the big game. Yet even that single-day branding Shangri-La pales in comparison to the 18 days and nights of the Summer Olympics.

On Wednesday, SponsorUnited published its 2024 Olympics Partnerships Preview, an analysis of the brands on full display during the Paris Games. The study broke down how leading brands such as Visa, Delta and Proctor & Gamble are using the Summer Games to boost consumer engagement. It also investigated the role that individual athletes and their massive social media followings can play for challenger brands looking for similar engagement without the huge price tags commanded by the IOC.

The Olympics are a kaleidoscope of branding commitments between athletes and companies that are part of The Olympic Partner Programme (TOP), which grants those brands exclusive global marketing rights to the Games and teams.

One of those TOP sponsors is Airbnb, which the study says aims to gain favor with politicians and government agencies (on local and global levels) to show how it can support cities for major events, especially compared to traditional hotels. The vacation rental company had a 40% increase in active listings in the Paris region and even offered an overnight stay in the Musée d’Orsay for a unique look at Friday’s Opening Ceremony.

Airbnb doesn’t have a large presence in sports marketing, and certainly not much of one within the French sports community. However, Bob Lynch, the CEO of SponsorUnited, believes the Games are an entryway to build long-term relationships beyond the IOC. “You have to think about the ecosystem that rolls up to the Olympics is all the individual, regionalized trials and events,” Lynch said. “Even just within the platform of the Olympics and its federations, I think there are opportunities to then start to extend that, versus this being a one-off moment for them to align.”

Overall, marketers in Paris should expect a significant uptick in exposure if NBCUniversal makes good on its promise of improved content offerings on Peacock, the streaming platform Comcast has poured billions of dollars into over the last few years. “In Tokyo, frankly, we didn’t do a very good job for our customers (with Peacock),” said Mark Lazarus, the chairman of the NBCUniversal Media Group, in a recent conference call about the COVID-delayed 2021 Summer Games. “We didn’t exactly deliver what we said we were going to deliver, and we have learned a lot from that. This time everything will be available on Peacock, including some bonus shows or specialty shows.”

Although the Asia Pacific region has long been viewed as one ripe for significant growth for global brands, Lynch said marketers had to assess how visible their messages would be in Tokyo or Beijing when that city held both the 2008 Summer and 2022 Winter Games. “There’s the question of if (an event) is going to be picked up on the East Coast live, versus if this is pre-recorded.”

It should also help that the world is not in the throes of a pandemic, though COVID-19 hasn’t gone away. The pandemic may have delayed the Tokyo Games for a year, but Japanese sponsors remained committed.

SponsorUnited’s study stated that 86% of the sponsorships during the Tokyo Games were predominantly local, with a quarter of them coming from the tech industry.

In contrast, two-thirds of Paris sponsors will come from multinational firms, with the finance and apparel industries taking starring roles.

Notably, one-third of the TOP partnerships will be up for renewal after Paris, providing opportunities for companies to jump on board for upcoming Games in Europe and the U.S.

Milan, the French Alps and Salt Lake City will host the next three Winter Games, while Paris will pass the Olympic torch to Los Angeles in two-plus weeks for the 2028 Summer Games.

But Lynch doesn’t foresee American-based companies using LA28 to box out other brands, including some of the challengers that have endorsement deals with Olympic athletes.

That’s because ways to reach fans, viewers and consumers keep evolving. “There’s never been more options and opportunities to enter into a relationship with the Olympics in some way, shape or form,” he said.

He also notes that the modern athletes have social media followings that are on par with the broadcast and cable television reach of yesteryear. “The athletes in four years are the 16-year-olds who are savvy on content, grew up around NIL, and in many cases, are already doing endorsements. As brands look at this space, the barrier to enter now is so much easier, and in four years, will be so much easier than it was in the past to have a relationship and do things that are really compelling.”