Support from the business community is crucial to the staging of the Games and the operations of every organisation within the Olympic Movement, including funding, technical services, and products.
The Olympic Partners (TOP) programme is the highest level of Olympic sponsorship, granting category-exclusive marketing rights to the Summer, Winter and Youth Olympic Games to a select group of global partners.
The programme – which was created by the IOC in 1985 – attracts some of the best-known multinational companies in the world. Through their support, Olympic partners provide the foundation for the staging of the Olympic Games and help athletes from over 200 nations participate on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
Local Sponsorship Programmes
Marketing Programmes of the Organising Committees
Under the direction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Organising Committees (OCOGs) manage their own complementary commercial programmes to support the staging of the Games. Contracts are negotiated directly by the OCOG and are generally limited to the four-year Games period.
OCOG marketing programmes incorporate:
- Olympic Games sponsorship and suppliership programmes (non-competing product categories to the TOP Partners)
- Olympic Games ticketing programmes
- Olympic Games licensing programmes
Marketing programmes of the National Olympic Committees
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) manage local sponsorship programmes in non-competing categories to the TOP TOP Partners that also support sports development activities and the respective Olympic teams. These sponsorship programmes grant Olympic marketing rights within the NOC country or territory only.
Olympic marketing programmes managed by the NOCs include:
- National Olympic sponsorship and suppliership programmes that operate within the home country of the NOC
- National Olympic licensing programmes.
