Mcdonald’s ends ties with Olympics after 41 years
Mcdonald’s has abruptly ended its 41-year sponsorship of the Olympics, calling time on one of the oldest partnerships in sport.
The fast-food giant pulled out of its estimated £40-million-a-year deal with the International Olympic Committee more than three years early, citing a “focus on different priorities”.
It made no reference to the IOC’S handling of the Russian doping scandal nor the likely simultaneous award of the next two summer Games forced upon it by a lack of interest from potential hosts.
Mcdonald’s, which also sponsors the World Cup, became an Olympic sponsor in 1976 and was one of 13 leading brands on the IOC’S “The Olympic Partner” programme.
At Games time, its restaurants were a familiar sight on various Olympic parks and villages, in defiance of unease about the link between fast food and obesity.
The IOC announced that it had “no immediate plans to appoint a direct replacement in the retail food operations sponsorship category”. It also said the termination of the Mcdonald’s contract had been “mutually agreed”, and that the financial terms were “confidential”.
The company had signed a new eight-year deal in 2012, taking it up to Tokyo 2020, which is likely to have included penalty clauses for an early departure.
Silvia Lagnado, global chief marketing officer of Mcdonald’s, said: “As part of our global growth plan, we are reconsidering all aspects of our business and have made this decision in cooperation with the IOC to focus on different priorities.
“We have been proud to support the Olympic movement, and we thank our customers and staff, the spectators, athletes and officials, as well as the IOC and local Olympic Games organising committees, for all of their support over the years.”
Timo Lumme, the managing director of IOC television and marketing services, said: “The IOC’S sponsorship strategy is aimed at delivering long-term partnerships that help the Olympic movement achieve the objectives set out in Olympic Agenda 2020, our strategic road map for the future. This strategy is exemplified by the recent announcement of long-term, ground-breaking agreements with new and existing global partners.
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, we understand that Mcdonald’s is looking to focus on different business priorities. For these reasons, we have mutually agreed with Mcdonald’s to part ways.”
Only Coca-cola (since 1928) and Omega (since 1932) have a longer association with the Olympics than Mcdonald’s.
Technology giant Intel is poised to join them, with an announcement planned on Wednesday.
The IOC said that, although the Mcdonald’s partnership was ending immediately, it would retain marketing rights for next year’s Winter Olympics in host nation South Korea only.