Olympics Banking on LA 2028 to Transform Struggling Sponsorship Model

The International Olympic Committee is looking to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to revolutionize its outdated sponsorship approach as major corporate partners pull out. The current 41-year-old marketing system will end with Milano Cortina, with officials hoping LA’s privately-funded model will secure the Games’ financial future.

MILAN – With the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics wrapping up this weekend, Olympic officials are already setting their sights on Los Angeles 2028, hoping the privately-funded Games will rescue a struggling sponsorship system that has powered the Olympics for more than four decades.

The current Winter Games mark the final chapter for a 41-year-old marketing approach that International Olympic Committee leaders acknowledge desperately requires an overhaul, even though it has generated billions for the Olympic movement.

“Few companies can invest hundreds of millions of dollars and consider it worthwhile just to be able to say ‘my company supports the Olympics’ and use the Olympic Five Rings logo,” IOC member Morinari Watanabe told Reuters during the 2026 Games.

“We need to calmly analyse what our customers, or sponsors, want from the Olympics and conduct strategic marketing activities based on that,” said Watanabe, who serves as World Gymnastics president. “Marketing is about getting people who aren’t interested in sports interested in them. This will increase the value of the Olympics and ultimately increase marketing revenue.”

Olympic leadership views the Los Angeles Games as the debut for a revamped marketing framework designed to protect the organization’s financial stability, similar to how the groundbreaking 1984 Games in the same city transformed Olympic economics.

The IOC plans to expand commercial opportunities for sponsors by opening previously restricted areas within the Games. Athletes’ training zones, scoreboards, and venue naming rights represent new territories where officials believe they can provide enhanced visibility while integrating partners more naturally into Olympic events.

LA28 organizers aim to generate $2.5 billion through domestic sponsorship deals and have already secured partnerships with major California technology companies including Google and Uber.

How LA28 sponsors utilize their partnerships will be closely monitored by the IOC and sports marketing professionals worldwide.

“Just as LA84 transformed the model for the Olympic Games, the upcoming LA28 Games will do the same,” Brian McCullough, Associate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Michigan, told Reuters.

“LA28 will not only bring together the best athletes, but also showcase the best sport business has to offer through its event operations, fan experience, and sponsor activations surrounding the Games. This model will serve as a strong foundation for the IOC to build on.”

The Olympic Partners sponsorship program has been highly successful for the IOC since its creation following the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Those Games faced serious financial concerns until chief organizer Peter Ueberroth developed a marketing strategy that, combined with controlled operational expenses, transformed the event from potential financial disaster into a template for commercially viable Olympics.

LA84 featured dozens of commercial sponsors contributing services and funding, record-setting television rights agreements, and concluded with nearly $250 million in surplus – equivalent to approximately $780 million in today’s currency.

The IOC remained haunted by the catastrophic financial failure of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, which created debts requiring nearly three decades for the city to resolve and deterred potential future host cities.

Olympic officials adopted Ueberroth’s exclusive product category concept and began capitalizing on commercial opportunities from multinational corporations seeking Olympic association by launching the TOP Programme in 1985.

“Coming out of LA (in 1984) you entered the golden age of bidding (for the Olympics) and buried the ghosts of Montreal,” said former IOC marketing chief Michael Payne, author of “Fast Tracks and Dark Deals,” examining Olympic business practices.

TOP programme revenues grew from $96 million during the 1985-1988 period to $3.04 billion for 2021-24. It represents the IOC’s second-largest income source behind broadcasting rights, which generated $4.706 billion during the same timeframe.

Warning signs for the TOP programme emerged when Japanese corporate giants Toyota, Bridgestone and Panasonic withdrew following the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The IOC did secure Chinese company TCL in 2025 to replace Panasonic – an Olympic sponsor for 37 years – in the audiovisual equipment and home appliances category.

However, financial documents approved during the IOC session in Milan reveal the TOP programme generated $560 million for 2025, representing the lowest annual revenue since the organization recorded $532 million in 2020 after COVID-19 postponed the Tokyo Olympics.

Additional financial setbacks have affected the IOC recently, including the collapse of a 12-year agreement with Saudi Arabia for Olympic Esports Games after just 14 months.

“The marketing world is now changing rapidly and the TOP programme has to evolve in how it engages with the business community, and it is not about sticking logos on the side of the pitch,” Payne said. “LA may be a catalyst on developing the in-venue fan experience. It will be showcased fully in LA.”

IOC President Kirsty Coventry initiated a comprehensive examination of all Olympic elements after her election last year, including host city selection processes, sports programming, and crucially, marketing operations.

Review findings will be presented during the IOC session in June.

“There needs to be an evolution where the packages the IOC offers become more flexible,” Leah Gillooly, Associate Professor of Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University, told Reuters. “LA28 would be a good opportunity for the IOC because of the unique setup. It provides a test for opportunities to test innovative (marketing) aspects. You will not get resistance in the U.S. market.”