Visa will back Olympic Games until 2020

Length of contract: 8 years
Annualised value: US$25 million
Overall value: US$200 million

28 October 2009 | Posted in Sponsorship, Olympics, | By Michael Long

Visa will be a top-tier sponsor of the International Olympic Committee for the next six Olympic Games after signing a new agreement to back the IOC until 2020.

The company, which joins Coca-Cola and Omega as sponsors who have signed up for the period, is expected to provide some US$200 million in cash and services over the length of the contract. 'The IOC has said it wants to raise about $1 billion from top sponsors for the 2010 and 2012 Games,' noted Reuters in a report, 'up from $866 million in the prior two Games.'

Following the 2012 Games, Visa will back the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi and the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games, as well as the 2018 Olympic Winter Games and the 2020 Olympic Summer Games, the location of which are currently unknown.

Acer, Atos Origin, GE, McDonald's, Panasonic and Samsung are also currently serving as top tier IOC sponsors.

Visa has served as the exclusive payment services sponsor for the Games since 1986, during which time it has seen off a number of ambush marketing campaigns from its rivals.