Next Games will have more product placement, commercial opportunities-IOC

PARIS : From selfies with Samsung phones on the podium to Louis Vuitton cases at the opening ceremony, the Paris Olympics have widened the scope for sponsors' product placement like never before, and this trend will continue in future Games, the International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday.

The IOC saw revenues of $2.295 billion from its top sponsors for the period 2017-2021, the second biggest source of income for the Olympic movement, with broadcasters paying $4.544 billion over the same period.

No advertising is displayed in any of the competition venues where the Olympic rings are the only visible logos to audiences around the world.

But sponsors and broadcasters in Paris are enjoying more commercial opportunities for product placement or for using influencers and celebrity commentators, such as U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg, to tap into a younger audiences and markets.

The IOC said it was embracing that change and was facilitating it.

"The Games are unique to other major international sporting events for not having field-of-play advertising," Anne-Sophie Voumard, the IOC's Managing Director of Television and Marketing Services, told a press conference.

"We are trying to work with our partners to have a smooth organic integration and ways for us to be promoting their products."

From its amateur beginnings to the gradual commercialisation of the Games after 1980, the Olympics have long been a multi-billion dollar event.

But under current president Thomas Bach, who took over in 2013, the total number of top sponsors, who sign multi-Games deals directly with the IOC and not the host cities, has increased to 15 from a limit of 11 once set by his predecessor Jacques Rogge.

Rogge had argued during his presidency that more sponsors