Olympic body revamps to win sponsorship

The British Olympic Association (BOA) is trying to establish its profile as a “high street” brand in order to raise a further 2m sponsorship money from brand owners ahead of next year’s games in Atlanta.

The BOA has a new corporate logo, which will be officially unveiled at the launch of a nationwide public appeal in September. It has also recruited International Management Group to exploit licensing opportunities for the first time.

The BOA has set a 13m target to provide the support for a British team of more than 500 – 7m from sponsorship, 3m from the public appeal, 2m from licensing agreements and a further 1m from corporate donors.

Its present list of international sponsors includes Coca-Cola, Kodak and Visa. In the UK the BOA has recruited British Sugar, Burger King and Royal Mail. It has raised 5m but estimates that a further 2m is needed.

“I would like more sponsors from the grocery trade,” says BOA appeals secretary George Nicholson. “It’s getting harder to raise money from sponsorship. Sponsors demand a lot for their money, but we are offering exclusive rights in product categories.”