Going for the Green

Olympic sponsors look for big payoffs from their million-dollar promotions

Companies ranging from McDonald's to Motorola are preparing for next month's Summer Games with all the drive and determination of the athletes. In the first Olympics to be paid for largely by businesses, these firms have staked huge amounts of cash and pride on what they hope will be an uplifting 16 days of sports. Company officials, though, can get butterflies when they think about the uncertainty of their investments. The pullout of athletes from the Soviet Union and 13 other countries could hurt TV ratings and dampen press coverage of the Games. The unprecedented clutter of Olympic-oriented promotion could inspire public indifference and confusion. Or, in the worst case, some disaster or embarrassing incident might occur at the Games that would cast a shadow over the sponsors' brand names. Admits William Scott, chief Olympic planner for the Southland Corp., owner of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores: "There are a lot of things scary about it."

Corporate America has bet money on sporting events before, but the Los Angeles Olympics will be the biggest sponsorship deal in history. To help operate and supply the Games and train U.S. athletes, scores of firms have donated upwards of $180 million to the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. The companies will spend an additional $500 million on advertising and promotion to trumpet their participation in the hope of boosting prestige and profits. Most sponsors claim to be confident of being paid back amply in public good will and employee morale. Says Xerox Spokesman Sandy Lanzarotta: "If there is anything in the world positive to be associated with, it is the Olympics." Adds Brian Porter, manager of Olympic marketing for Anheuser-Busch, an $11 million sponsor: "We feel the Games are the ultimate in amateur sports. We would be embarrassed not to be involved."

The financial stakes are highest for the 32 sponsors of the Games, who each paid the Los Angeles committee from $4 million to $13 million in cash, goods and services. Though such notable firms as Johnson & Johnson scorned that particular deal as too costly, the committee easily filled its roster. Sometimes it did so by playing on corporate rivalry. Says Peter Ueberroth, president of the Los Angeles committee: "The way you approach McDonald's, for instance, is to go in there and drop the name Burger King or Wendy's."

The notoriously hard-bargaining committee managed to extract truckloads of money and merchandise. M & M/Mars donated $5 million and sweetened the deal with 500,000 Snickers bars and 500,000 bags of M & Ms candies. Levi Strauss will put clothes on all 700 U.S. athletes and coaches plus some 40,000 staffers at the Games, from Ueberroth down to the parking-lot attendants. IBM has lent 200 of its Personal Computers and 190 word processors, among other gear.