If you're a small business you can have the privilege of paying £10,000 a year to support Olympic and Paralympic athletes in the run-up to 2012. The news comes in the wake of government decisions to cut future funding for sport.
The British Olympic Authority (BOA) is trying to raise £25 million for training and equipment for British athletes wanting to compete in 2012. It says the sponsorship deal offers SMEs the chance to 'share in the excitement' of the coming games and gives them a 'catalogue of benefits'.
Their blurb lists these as 'opportunities for staff engagement as they join athletes on their inspiring journey, access to hospitality events at prestigious venues including the House of Lords and tickets to major sporting events across the UK'. And SMEs can network at seminars in their own region. (Incidentally, the BOA defines an SME as 'a company with fewer than 500 employees and an annual turnover of less than £50m at the time of purchase'.)
This may be one way for SMEs to get their name noticed in the marketing hubbub of the Olympics. Many companies are already concerned about draconian rules to combat the use of 2012-related words by non-official advertisers. (And we have all seen the kerfuffle over ambush marketing at the recent World Cup.)
So the sponsorship gets your name associated officially with the Olympics. But this deal costs £9,900 plus VAT per year for two years. If you're a smallish company, would that 20,000 quid be better used elsewhere?
And should private enterprise be funding sports/athletes that are representing the country? London 2012 has been trumpeting the legacy of the Olympic facilities for example, but the government is scrapping free swimming for the under-16s and those over 60.
If you're interested visit
www.team-2012.com/sme
