SMB.

Despite the financial pressures due to the credit crunch, Coca-Cola is committed to sponsoring major football events such as the World Cup and European Championship.

Dominique Reiniche, the president of Coca-Cola's European operations, say they would continue to invest in sports notably soccer, at the top end and grassroots level.

"We don't see ourselves as sponsors, but as partners. Olympics, World Cup, UEFA European Championships will continue," she said.

Coca-Cola has already agreed to extend through to 2020 its membership of the International Olympic Committee's worldwide TOP programme, involving major corporations, which is the IOC's most lucrative sponsorship programme.

Reiniche added that Coca-Cola will also continue its investment at the local level in sport in a bid to reduce the problem of obesity, which IOC president Jacques said last month would also be his priority if he is elected for a second term.

Watch the 2006 FIFA World Cup Coke Commercial and Coca-Cola "Yao and LeBron" Olympic commercial

National Basketball Association and Harlem Globetrotters agreedd strategic partnership that will give fans worldwide access to high-quality basketball entertainment.
They will work together to plan and promote the Globetrotters' international slate of games and events. The partnership will début in February during the All Star Game 2009, the NBA's global showcase.
This past off season the NBA hosted more than 135 international events in 93 cities in 25 countries.

A new study from Commercial Alert, a public-interest group, has highly criticised the marketing and adverting of junk foods, sodas, fast-foods chains and alcoholic beverages at the Olympic games. They study says that IOC policies must be re-examined.
‘The Commercial Games’ report states that such products conflict with the stated purpose of the Olympics, which they say is to "celebrate healthful living." Promoting such products in the widely watched Olympics, the study says, is "unhealthful," and particularly inappropriate "for an event with enormous appeal to children."
The study also criticises the IOC for what the groups believe is its lack of concern that some companies with marketing ties to the Games rely on so-called "sweatshops" that offer substandard wages and working conditions to produce goods. It specifically cited Nike and Adidas as companies that haven't taken effective steps to eliminate sweatshop conditions within their supply chains. In addition, study also criticises the IOC for awarding "monopolies" to sponsors such as Visa and Coke that limit spectator choices at the Games themselves. Only non-alcoholic beverages marketed by Coca-Cola are available at the Olympics, and Visa is the only credit card accepted there.

According to Forbes, nine of the 10 most lucrative are indoor basketball/hockey venues that seat between 18,000 and 21,000 with at leats 89 luxury suits. Football and baseball stadiums, are too big to compete on a per-seat basis.
The Los Angeles Stapples Center it´s the #1, with more than 140 events a year thanks to LA Lakers, LA Clippers, NHL´s Kings, WNBA´s Sparks and de AFL´s Avengers.
The arena draws $5.8 million annually in naming rights from Staples. It adds up to approximately $216 million in annual sports revenue, or $10,200 per seat.
Take a look at the Top 10 in pictures.
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The greatest Olympic athlete so far, Michael Phelps is lifting up sponsors brands.
Phelps, who already receives an estimated $5 million annually in endorsement deals - more than 10 times what most of the high-profile athletes in his sport make - is likely to see his net worth increase by tens of millions of dollars.
According to Joyce Julius & Associates, Phelps’ air time on US network NBC has been worth $3.6 million for Speedo alone. Also senior vice president for marketing and sales for Speedo, Stu Isaac, said: "Truly, we've been able to leverage his popularity with all of our accounts because he has transcended swimming. It's helping Speedo become cooler and addressing a younger market outside just that core competitive swimmer."
Speedo offered a $ 1 million bounty if Phelps, only 19 at the time, could equal Mark Spitz´s record of seven gold medals, but the offer still stands for Beijing 08.
Phelps other sponsors include Visa, AT&T, Kellogg's, Hilton and Omega watches.
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During this Olympic game, Nike allowed swimmers to wear the Speedo LZR Racer suit, but at leats three non-Speedo athletes have covered up Speedo´s logo.
Eric Wright of Joyce Julius & Associates said that "Usuallly they were throwing a piece of black tape over the logo". A replay of NBC´s broadcast of the 4x100 meter relay, Speedo´s logo can´t be seen on the suits worn by Nike-sponsored athletes Cullen Jones or Jason Lezak.
According to Wright, Speedo has lost 30 seconds of exposure in both the men's and women's competitions from the cover ups. "Which comes to $750,000 of value if you're comparing it to ad buys," he said.

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Lenovo, fourth largest PC manufacturer and the Olympic sponsor, has said that it´s marketing campaing will boost brand abroad.
Lenovo is the only Chinese company among the International Olympic Committee's 12 top-tier sponsors. The firm acquired IBM Corp's PC unit in 2005 and is hoping its link to the Games will help its efforts to become a global brand name.
Lenovo is planning Olympics-related television advertising campaigns in the United States, Australia and India and will be running Internet advertisements in Europe, according to Alice Li, the company's vice president for Olympic marketing.

Chelsea intend to became the world´s biggest club brand and to do so is teaming up with the world´s leading entertainment company, The Walt Disney Co.
Chelsea is committed to assisting and promoting all levels of soccer in the United States and youth soccer is a massive part of that. Disney is at the forefront of that movement in the US.on various levels.
Under the terms of the four-year agreement, Chelsea becomes the Official Professional Soccer Club of Disney’s Wide World of Sports and presenting sponsor of the Disney Soccer Showcase Series. As a result, Chelsea will be associated with the top youth soccer event destination, Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, and the number one youth soccer event in the United States, Disney’s Soccer Showcase.
The announcement is the first stage in a possible broader partnership between the two companies. Further talks are planned to see how Chelsea can work with the various entertainment and media brands within Disney.
Read the full article here
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