IOC set to announce new global sponsor

LONDON (AP):

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is ready to announce a new global sponsorship deal next week with the world's largest consumer products company.

A news conference is planned for Wednesday in London, where IOC president Jacques Rogge will unveil a multimillion-dollar agreement with American-based giant Procter & Gamble Co.

The IOC and the company wouldn't name P&G as the new sponsor, but two people familiar with the deal confirmed it to The Associated Press. They did so on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made yet.

P&G will become the 11th global sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics, matching the number from the previous cycle that covered the 2006 Turin Winter Games and 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The deal could be for multiple years and cover other future games.

Second in two weeks

It will be the second Olympic sponsorship announcement in two weeks. Dow Chemical was confirmed as a global sponsor July 16 in a deal through 2020.

Financial terms aren't announced, but each IOC sponsorship deal usually sells for up to $100 million for four years.

The IOC said this year it had secured close to $900 million in sponsorship revenue for the current four-year cycle, and was hoping to break the $1 billion mark.

Other global sponsors for the London Games are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, GE, McDonald's, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung and Visa. Atos Origin, Panasonic and Samsung are signed up through 2016. Coca-Cola, Omega and Visa are signed up through 2020.

IOC sponsors have exclusive worldwide marketing rights to the Olympics.

P&G's global brands include Pampers, Gillette shavers and Pantene shampoo.

P&G executives said previously they were very pleased with their sponsorship of the US Olympic team for this year's Vancouver Winter Games and were interested in expanding their Olympic ties.

Asked about the IOC sponsorship, P&G spokesman Paul Fox in Cincinnati said the company wouldn't comment on "speculation".

IOC marketing commission chairman Gerhard Heiberg confirmed that a new sponsor would be announced, but declined to confirm the name of the company.

"We're very happy that we will have No. 11," he said. "It's very good news. It shows the effects of the financial crisis is less and less and companies want to be associated with the Olympics."