Johnson & Johnson drops out of sponsorship
The International Olympic Committee can’t put a Band-Aid on this financial cut: Johnson & Johnson passed on the chance to renew its lucrative global sponsorship deal.
The IOC confirmed Monday that the health care conglomerate would not renew its top-level sponsorship worth up to $100 million as first reported by Sports Business Journal.
“Our sponsorship of the International Olympic Committee concludes at the end of 2008 and will not be renewed,” Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman Lorie Gawreluk e-mailed.
China, with more than 1 billion residents and a burgeoning consumer marketplace, was a major draw for most sponsors. The next two games are in Canada and the United Kingdom — mature economies that combined have about a tenth of the population of China.
For the Beijing Games, Johnson & Johnson manufactured its signature adhesive bandages with Olympic mascots on them and set up a pavilion for fans to come see terra-cotta warriors from the time of emperor Qin Shi Huang — though overzealous security on the Olympic Green kept many away.
Read the rest of the article here.
Worldwide Olympic sponsors are allowed to use the copyrighted Olympic name & logos in their advertising anywhere in the world. But it comes with a pretty high price. The Beijing games had 12 Worldwide sponsors, including Visa, McDonalds, and Coke. The IOC already has agreements with 9 companies to be worldwide sponsors for the Vancouver games, including Panasonic and Samsung. TV rights, mostly from NBC, will provide approximately another $2.5 billion.
Inside the Vancouver Olympics
Countdown clock located in downtown Vancouver
I was just contacted by a friend of mine, who just so happens to live in Vancouver, and he just so happens to be in the middle of the application process to become a volunteer at the Olympics. And if that wasn’t cool enough, he offered to be an inside contact man for me! As he goes through the interview process and hopefully getts selected to work at the Games, he is going to give me step by step updates so I can report them back to you! We should be able to get lots of good inside information from him, with pictures!
Here is what he’s told me so far about how the application process works:
The first step I did was register here. That was about four months ago. Two weeks ago they contacted me and did a short phone interview and two days ago I was emailed to register for the orientation meeting. It’ll be six hours where I’ll undergo a face to face interview that lasts an hour to find out where they will place me and then they go over all the stuff. That’s on the 27th (of November).
I’m pretty sure volunteers get a lot of cool stuff including uniforms so I’ll send pics of all the loot I get.
Sounds to me like our guy is a shoo-in. I’m excited for him, and look forward to getting another update from him.
Update on Ticket Sales
Winter Olympics: ticket demand outstrips Vancouver supply
Demand for tickets to the 2010 winter Games was so high among Canadians that there will be lotteries for 120 of 170 events, the Vancouver Organizing Committee said. When the dust settled after the initial ticket-request period ended Nov. 7, Vanoc discovered that Canadians had submitted more than $345 million in wish lists, far outstripping even the high demand experienced during the 2002 Salt Lake Games. Vanoc officials said they received four-and-a-half times the requests put in for the 2002 Games. On the last day, Canadians put in requests totalling $135 million. The highest demand for tickets was for hockey, figure skating and the opening and closing ceremonies. All of those, as well as short-track speed skating, will go to a lottery.
Read the rest of the article here.
Ticket sales seem to be the hottest topic with the Vancouver Olympics right now. I just found this recent update, so I thought I should share it with you too.
Round Two of Ticket Sales
Lotteries expected as Olympic ticket deadline approaches
Time is nearly up for Canadians to get their orders in for the first round of ticket sales for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
The deadline for residents of Canada to place their orders is midnight PT on Friday.
Caley Denton, vice-president of ticketing with the Vancouver Organizing Committee, said demand is already exceeding official sales targets and there’s no doubt they’ll need to hold a lottery for medal round hockey events.
Denton is also expecting demand will exceed supply in many other high-profile events, including figure skating and the opening and closing ceremonies. Officials have not been specific about which event tickets beyond hockey will be distributed by lottery.
You can read the rest of the article here.
The first round of ticketing ends tonight at midnight (PST). People are allowed to make multiple ticket requests, so if they don’t get their first request, they are not completely left out in the cold. After the deadline has passed, a computerized lottery will start picking who gets what seat. Lotteries will definitely be held for the Gold Medal Hockey event, and probably for other hockey events, figure skating, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
Tickets can be purchased at Vancouver 2010 ticketing information.
Will President Obama help bring the Olympics to Chicago?
Tokyo fears Obama strengthens Chicago Olympic bid
Japanese Olympic officials fear the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president could make his home city of Chicago the favorite to host the 2016 Olympic Games and harm Tokyo’s bid.
Tokyo, Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro are the four cities in the running to host the 2016 Games.
Read the rest of the article here.
I’m not much of an Obama fan (or any other politician for that matter…), but I am a fan of anything that will help bring the Olympics to Chicago. Chicago has always been my favorite big city, and if the Olympics are held there, then I might actually try to get some tickets for a few of the events.
Biathlon Women Get Naked to Raise Money
Bold Beautiful Biathlon
Canada’s female biathletes took off their clothes to be photographed for a calendar to raise both money for their sport and admiration for an athletic woman’s body.
Zina Kocher of Red Deer, Alta., Calgary’s Sandra Keith, Rosanna Crawford of Canmore, Alta., Megan Imrie of Falcon Lake, Man., and Megan Tandy of Prince George, B.C., launched their 14-month calendar Wednesday by roller-skiing through downtown Calgary wearing shorts, tank tops and race bibs and their rifles strapped to their backs.
You can read the rest of the article here.
So what do you think of this? Should female athletes resort to getting naked to raise money and awareness for their sport? I haven’t seen the calendar or heard any of the “naked details”, so I am not sure just how graphic the photos are. That would make a big difference in my opinion of it. If it’s just “Rated R” poses, then it’s not as big of a deal. But if it’s out-right pornographic then I really think there are better ways of raising money. And is it really bringing attention, and most of all respect, to your sport?
The calendars are on sale at www.boldbeautifulbiathlon.com.
Olympic Spirit Train Protest ends peacefully
Protesters block rail line in hopes of halting CP Rail Olympic Spirit Train
(The Canadian Press circulated the following on October 12.)
VAUGHAN, Ontario — Protesters briefly barricaded a railway line north of Toronto Sunday evening and threatened to stop CP Rail’s Olympic Spirit Train, but police quickly persuaded them to end their protest after about an hour.
“They listened to reasoning and they’re dispersing,” said Sgt. Mike Sterchele of York Region Police, the police department responsible for this suburban region north of Toronto.
“We always like to negotiate these things to a peaceful end.”
Nobody was arrested.
The group issued a news release earlier Sunday vowing to block the train’s route to bring attention to what it called unresolved issues with aboriginals, the poor and the environment related to the staging of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Read the rest of the article here.
The Olympics are supposed to be about the sports and not about politics. But wherever there is a large audience and lots of press, there are going to be political protesters. The Beijing Olympics had the Tibet protesters, and Vancouver is going to have the First Nations. I’m sure every Olympics has had it. I think if I had something to protest, I might use the Olympics to do it too… Let’s just hope all of the First Nations protests end as peacefully as this one.
Too Little, Too Late for Lund
Drug that got Lund banned from Turin will be legal
The drug that got American skeleton racer Zach Lund barred from the Turin Olympics hours before the opening ceremony is being removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list. Lund tested positive for finasteride, an ingredient in a popular hair-restoration pill that also was believed to be capable of masking steroid usage. It was prohibited in 2005, but after further study showed athletes gain no tangible advantage from the drug, it will be removed from WADA’s banned list on Jan. 1.
Lund served a one-year suspension and could not race in Turin, where he would have been a gold-medal favorite.
“When it happened, I said they would make this legal in a year or two, because that’s what WADA does,” Lund said in Lake Placid, where he’s training for the upcoming World Cup season. “They put stuff on the banned list without any scientific proof saying why. They’re not held accountable. It’s not like I’m getting a ‘Sorry we took the Olympics away from you. Sorry we almost ruined your career.’”
Read the rest of the article here.
Yeah, this would stink for Lund. But I find it hard to believe that he didn’t know that the drug was considered to be a masking agent. He also should have known that the stuff he was using to battle his baldness contained the banned substance. If I was an Olympian, I would obsess about what I was putting in (and on) my body and I would make sure that nothing would keep me from participating. You would think that Lund would have had a trainer who would have made it part of his job to keep track of things like that.
Winter Olympians begin on-ice training
Lake Placid sliding track opens for winter season
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — With temperatures around freezing, the bobsled-skeleton-luge track in Lake Placid opened for the season Monday morning, allowing more than 100 American sliders to officially begin on-ice training.
The Lake Placid track was the first in the world to open in preparation for the 2008-09 season.
“It always feels good to get back on the ice,” said 2002 Olympic luger Ashley Walden. “We’ve all put a lot of hard work in this summer, so we’re ready to get back into sliding after the long break.”
When skeleton racers - the ones who slide headfirst down the track on thin sleds, at speeds of around 80 mph - arrived to begin training around 9:30 a.m., a thin layer of snow greeted them at the start deck.
“It’s nice to be on the track this early, because it gives us an advantage over other nations,” said 2007 women’s skeleton champion Noelle Pikus-Pace, who became a mother for the first time earlier this year and skipped the last racing season.
Read the rest of the article here.
It always amazes me the hard work and determination and level of commitment that it requires to be an Olympic-caliber athlete. Maybe in this case, the early bobsled gets the gold??
Olympic Ski Jumpers sue Vancouver organizers
Canadian female ski jumper joins lawsuit
A 17-year-old female ski jumper has become the first active Canadian athlete to join a lawsuit over the sport’s exclusion from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Zoya Lynch is among 10 female athletes — most from the United States and Europe — suing Vancouver Olympic organizers because female ski jumping isn’t on the lineup for the 2010 Games.
Read the rest of the article here.
The IOC votes events in and out of the Olympics. I’m not sure why they would sue the Vancouver organizers instead of the IOC. The are suing because Men’s Ski Jumping is included and Women’s Ski Jumping is not. They say it violates their equality rights. Leave a comment and tell me what you think.
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Let the Games Begin!
- Opening Ceremony:
in 1 year, 2 months, 22 days, 18 hours, 27 minutes