The past four decades have been a golden age for the International Olympic Committee, the Lausanne-based body that controls the Olympic Games. Income from the sale of media rights and from The Olympic Partners (TOP) worldwide sponsorship programme has put billions of dollars at the IOC’s disposal over each four-year summer games cycle.
But a mix of impending contract expiries, and profound change in media and advertising markets, suggests the next few years could be significantly more challenging for the IOC. Hence, it is especially important that Paris 2024 delivers a spectacular show.
Revenue growth has been impressive since TOP was first implemented over the Olympic cycle culminating in the 1988 Seoul Games. Broadcasting rights for that cycle yielded $727.5mn. For the cycle culminating in the Covid-impacted Tokyo Olympics, the total was $4.54bn, a more than six-fold rise. With TOP, the advance was even greater: from $96mn generated by the inaugural programme to just under $2.3bn for the most recent completed cycle.