by Michael Sanibel

Created on: July 08, 2008   Last Updated: August 19, 2008

Olympic-related Investments.

The Olympics are a world stage for both the athletes and the companies that provide financial support to the International Olympic Committee. Over the years, the Olympics have become more and more commercialized as the cost of hosting the Games has escalated. Montreal only paid off the last chunk of its debt in 2006, the 30th anniversary of the Games of the XXI Olympiad.

Since that time, corporate sponsorship of the events has been on the rise, with some of the world's largest companies contributing significantly in exchange for some of the best worldwide marketing opportunities available. For the Beijing Games, a tiered approach is in place that recognizes the level of financial support provided. Starting at the top, the categories are: Worldwide Olympic Partners, Beijing 2008 Partners, Sponsors, Exclusive Suppliers, and Suppliers.

In that first category are large U.S.-based companies such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Visa, Kodak, and Johnson & Johnson. They are multinational conglomerates that already have a significant presence in the Far East. In the second tier are such companies as Bank of China, Adidas, China Mobile, Volkswagen, and Sinopec. In the third tier you will find United Parcel Service, Tsingtao, Haier, Budweiser, and SOHU.com. While these are not the complete lists, they are representative of the types of companies that are heavily involved in this year's Games.

While it is difficult to predict which of these companies will benefit the most from the exposure they will receive, it is even harder to predict how long any benefit from that exposure will last. If history is any guide, however, the benefits must be somewhat enduring or many of the same companies wouldn't come back every two to four years to secure sponsorship rights.

One company that seems to get terrific exposure is Omega which has been providing timekeeping and data compilation services to the Olympics since they were held in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1932. For every sport that is timed, the Omega logo will appear prominently at 37 different venues, on 70 public scoreboards, and 322 sport-specific scoreboards. These statistics, from the Omega website (www.omegawatches.com), amplify the commitment by Omega to its very visible presence at the major events.

For the seventh consecutive time, McDonald's has been designated as the Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games. Four McDonalds' Olympic restaurants have been constructed in Beijing to serve

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