The Province of B.C. and Telus Corp., Vancouver bid’s premier sponsor, have each contributed $3 million towards funding Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic bid. The province has marked the majority of its money for the bid’s Legacies Now program, which was created to provide promising young B.C. athletes with world-class programs and services.
The Canadian Tourism Commission has given $2.5 million to the bid and B.C. Lottery Corp. has announced it has given the bid $1.5 million, while the Insurance Corp. of B.C. has not released its figures.
Twelve organizations are in the “community contributors” category. They include B.C. Hydro, B.C. Pavilion Corp., BC Gas, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Tourism B.C., Tourism Vancouver, Vancouver International Airport and Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment. All companies in this category must donate between $150,000 and $1.5 million.
Also, sixteen companies are in the “friends” category, which involves donations of less than $150,000.
The Bid Corp. has reached 70 per cent – somewhere between $16-million and $17-million of its $23-million fund-raising goal. About two-thirds of funding for the bid comes from the corporate sector with the remainder from government.
According to a Bid Corp. study, a Vancouver-Whistler Olympics could generate between $1.2-billion to $1.5-billion in revenues from sponsorships, TV revenues, merchandise and tickets sales, which would cover the Games’ operating costs.
Meanwhile, the B.C. government has announced $5 million towards a fund that will support artistic and cultural activities promoting the Olympics. The fund will increase to $20 million over four years.
