The IOC’s 2016 Olympic Marketing Fact File reveals that revenue from The Olympic Partners (TOP), sponsors and supporters of the Games reached nearly $2.79 billion in 2009-12. There are 12 worldwide TOP partners—all in Rio, save Toyota whose deal starts with Tokyo 2020—plus seven official sponsors and 11 supporters for this year’s Games in Rio:
“They are very important in ensuring successful Games,” insists Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s executive director. “ Many are active in sustainability and legacy.”
“The added generation capacity we are bringing to the grid will provide long-term benefits.” Christopher Katsuleres, Director of Olympic and Sports Marketing, GE
GE has been a worldwide TOP since 2005, providing infrastructure solutions at every Games from the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics through Tokyo in 2020. For Rio 2016, GE has been collaborating with the city’s Organizing Committee on all kinds of sustainability projects, from power generation and distribution to water and sewage treatment, and from lighting to transportation management.
“We started working with Rio in 2010,” recalls Christopher Katsuleres, GE’s director of Olympic and sport marketing. “ It is a long lead time, but most organizing committees are doing this for the first time. GE provides perspective about best practice. Their success is our success. Rio will be our second-biggest Games. We are looking at 125 projects that cross the breadth of GE, with eight business units actively engaged.”
Katsuleres insists GE’s interest in the country goes far beyond what it is doing in Rio: “We see Brazil as a key long-term market for GE. We are committed to the partnership and have a huge number of projects we want to deliver,” he says
