Coca-Cola's £20m Games money at risk from other sponsor deals

Coca-Cola in fight over £20million Olympic sponsorship deal
12 April 2012

Coca-Cola is at war with London Olympics chiefs over proposals for a £20million sponsorship deal with a major British supermarket chain.

The 2012 organising committee, Locog, has been in talks with Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer as it bids to sign up an official Games supermarket.

But soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has complained to the International Olympic Committee that such a deal would damage its own promotional campaigns in the run-up to the Games.

If a compromise is not found, Locog could see the potential £20million deal collapse in a setback towards raising the final £150million of its £700million in sponsorship for the 2012 Games.

Coca Cola has been an Olympic sponsor since 1928 and pays around £20million a year for global marketing rights.

The Atlanta-based company rigorously defends its marketing rights with the Olympic rings carried on its full range of bottled products, including carbonated drinks, mineral water and fruit juices.

Coca-Cola does not want its brands to have to compete for shoppers' attention alongside supermarkets' own labels also bearing the distinctive Olympic rings and 2012 logo.

The company fears any diminished impact of the brand would hit sales at a time when they would be expected to rise in the run-up to the Games.

The IOC allows each host Olympic nation to sell rights limited to the domestic market. Among these domestic sponsors for London are adidas, British Airways and Lloyds TSB, and Locog wants to add a supermarket to the list.

A senior IOC source said: "Locog stands to get a new sponsor in the retail category which would be worth a lot of money to them. But there are concerns from Coca-Cola that there may be a violation of its rights. It's something the IOC is trying to work through."

Coca-Cola declined to comment.

A Locog spokeswoman said: "We have had a lot interest from the retail sector in partnering London 2012 and are talking to more than one company. Retailing sponsorships are complex due to the wide range of products retailers carry.

"We need to make sure any deals we do in this sector do not impinge on any rights already purchased by the TOP [global] and domestic sponsors, so we are working through these complexities."

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