The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has selected Bell Canada as its Premier National Partner for the 2010 Games. It’s the first major partnership awarded by VANOC.
The partnership continues through 2012, securing for Bell the Canadian Olympic Team sponsorship rights to Turin 2006, Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and the 2012 Games. Bell will make a $90 million (Can.) cash contribution towards the acquisition of these rights.
The deal, worth $200 million, is as follows: $90 million in cash, $60 million in equipment for the Games, and $50 million for Games-related marketing.
Vancouver Organizing Committee CEO John Furlong said the Bell bid was substantially stronger than the one put forward by western Canadian telecommunications company Telus Corporation, a major partner in Vancouver’s bid for the 2010 Games since 1996. Telus issued a statement thanking VANOC for the “integrity and openness of its evaluation process in selecting the official telecommunication sponsor of the 2010 Games”.
Furlong called the deal extraordinary, noting the organizing committee originally expected to receive between $30 and $40 million from its major communications sponsor.
In its bid for the 2010 Games Vancouver organizers said they would raise at least $160 million from a group of about 10 premier sponsors from industries such as automotive, airline and oil, gas and petroleum. The Toronto Star reports that the organizers are within $10 million of that goal – which will be readjusted in coming months to account for inflation in the committee’s final business plan – with the Bell deal alone.
