Alibaba Olympics deal helps boost China’s global credentials
Business to be one of the Games’ lead sponsors through 2028
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND In a further sign of China attempting to burnish its globalist credentials, e-commerce giant Alibaba said Thursday it signed on as one of the lead sponsors of the Olympics through 2028.
The announcement at the World Economic Forum was made during a news conference with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, Alibaba founder Jack Ma and company CEO Daniel Zhang.
While no figure was released and Zhang said the aim of the deal was not to be “just another sponsor but a partner” with the IOC, some estimates suggest the arrangement could be worth as much $600 million.
Ma said it was a “historical” day for Alibaba and that the initiative forms part of his ambition to steer the massive Chinese online shopping channel toward partnerships and deals that focus, through sports, on “happiness and health.”
“More people need to get involved with sports, and the Olympic spirit is about working together,” Ma said. “This is a long-term commitment from us.”
The company will become part of The Olympic Partner (TOP) program, as well as the Game’s official “Cloud Services” and “ECommerce Platform Services” partner, and one of the founding partners of the Olympic Channel. In this capacity, it will help sell official Olympic merchandise worldwide. The new digital television service hopes to pull in younger fans who have not been as eager as previous generations to embrace the television model of the Games.
“This is a new, game-changing immersive experience that we want to create together through digital technology,” said Alibaba Chief Marketing Officer Chris Tung.
Alibaba is one of China’s most high-profile businesses, and Ma is a charismatic and maverick billionaire businessmen who has bridged a period of extraordinary change for China’s global ambitions. He has a rags-to-riches story and founded the consumer-to-consumer and business-to-business online platform firm with a $60,000 loan from friends.
The announcement comes as Alibaba extends its e-commerce reach to global markets and at a time when the next three Olympic Games will be held in Asia: the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Korea; the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo; and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. It also comes as President Xi Jinping became this week the first Chinese leader to visit the annual gathering for business leaders and the international elite in the Swiss ski town of Davos.
In a forceful and enigmatic speech laced with Chinese proverbs, Xi used a speech Tuesday to point out the wealth-creating merits of globalization and to push back against talk of protectionism that featured heavily in the campaign of President Donald Trump and in Britain’s deci- sion to vote to leave the European Union.
“The world needs a new leadership, which is about working together. We don’t necessarily need one specific leader to teach us what to do,” Ma said in a panel discussion Wednesday, of the Chinese leader’s speech. “I feel proud what of Xi said. I want the world to share in all the prosperity.”
Over the past few decades, China has rapidly developed into an economic super-power and international trade has boomed.
With the deal, Alibaba becomes the International Olympic Committee’s main e-commerce platform. It will also help customize the Olympic Channel for a Chinese audience.
Bach said the deal reflected the IOC’s efforts to help motivate people to play more sports and “get the couch potatoes off the couch.”
He said the concept of globalization existed in sports, especially in the Olympics, years before it existed in business.
The International Olympic Committee is embracing the digital revolution, said IOC director of marketing Timo Lumme. “We need strong digital partners and there is no stronger partner in this than Alibaba.”
Olympic sponsorship comes in multiple tiers, with the Olympics Partners (TOP) program the highest.
Alibaba joins such global brands as Coca-Cola, McDonald, Samsung, Panasonic and General Electric. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, TOP sponsorships were estimated to cost as much as $200 million, according to Forbes.
The next three Olympic Games will be held in Asia.