Olympic Sponsoring: Development Of The Financial Relations Between Industry And Olympic Movement

Introduction
The purpose of this study was to present the development of the relations between the industry and the Olympic Movement (O.M.).

Methods
The bibliographical research was mainly based on the official reports of the Summer Olympic Games (O.G.), and the relevant reports of the Olympic Marketing Committee.

Results
The history of the relations between the industry and the O.M. can be divided into six phases: 1) The advertising on site (1896-1927) in which the enterprises exploited the interest of the mob in the O.G. for advertising purposes. 2) The use of the emblem (1928-1947) which the marketing of the Olympic Rings started and the first form of merchandising took shape. 3) The international marketing (1948-1975) which first took place by the baker Helms in 1948 who bought the right to advertise without any language limitation whatsoever for $10,000 from the USOC (United States Olympic Committee). In 1952 the first international sales program started in eleven countries and the marketing activities increased in the following years 4) The phase of commercialization (1976-1984): in 1976 there was a large number of sponsors (628) but in Baden-Baden the Olympic admission rule was introduced and marketing finally entered the O.M. In 1982 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) founded the "New source of financing Commission" to exploit all new sources and at last in 1983 H. Dassler sold the concept of "The Olympic Program" (TOP) to the IOC via the ISL (International Sports & Leisure) agency. 5) The protection of the emblems (1985-1996): In Seoul O.G. in 1988 was introduced the international sponsoring on a worldwide scale. From that period top sponsors have had exclusive rights to use the Olympic Rings on their products in their respective product category in all NOC (National Olympic Committee) territories for the duration of the O.G. Also, the decrease at the number of enterprises which was advertised with the O.M. increased the "worth" of sponsoring and "advertise" in general and as a result the recognition of these enterprises. 6) Control by the IOC (1997-...): The agency ISL was replaced by the IOC owned agency "Meridian" for Top marketing. Also, IOC tried to sign long-term contract with the sponsors.

Discussion
The relationship between private industry and the O.M. has existed since the first modern O.G. that were held in Athens in 1986. In the beginning the interaction was very poor. Today, however, the dependency of the O.M. on the key sponsors cannot be overlooked. The problem that came up is that this dependency may lead to "over-commercialization". The IOC has taken measures to fight this imminent threat.

References
[1] OCOG Summer Oficial Reports (1896-2000)
[2] IOC, Marketing Matters (1994). IOC Centennial, 100 years of Olympic Marketing, Summer, Issue 5, pp. 1-10
[3] Preuss H. (2000). Economics of the Olympic Games: Hosting the Games 1972-2000, Sydney, Walla Walla Press
[4] Preuss H. (2002). Economic Dimension of the Olympic Games, Centre d’Estudis Olimpics i de L’esport-International Chair in Olimpism
[5] Preuss H. (1998). Global and Cultural Critique: Problematizing the Olympic Games: Fourth International Symposium for Olympic Research,October, pp. 197-218

NOTA: O texto com a iconografia está no anexo.

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