By Karolos Grohmann
BERLIN (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee must overhaul its Olympic marketing strategy to deliver higher value for sponsors, said IOC presidential candidate Morinari Watanabe on Wednesday.
Watanabe, a longtime businessman who has headed the international gymnastics federation (FIG) since 2017 and is one of seven candidates running for the top Olympics job, also said the IOC should review its decision-making process.
He is up against World Athletics chief and former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe, Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister and former swimmer, Juan Antonio Samaranch, son of the late former IOC president, and international cycling chief David Lappartient.
Also in the running to succeed outgoing president Thomas Bach are Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan and Olympic newcomer Johan Eliasch. Elections are set for March.
An experienced sports administrator who was also a board member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Watanabe told Reuters in an interview there was a need to overhaul the Olympic marketing plan following the departure of three Japanese top sponsors after this summer’s Paris 2024 Olympics.
Toyota, Bridgestone and Panasonic, a top IOC sponsor since 1987, ended their Olympic sponsorship a few months ago.
“Many Japanese companies want to sponsor Olympic Games because Olympic Games mean great value for the company. They want to support but of course they need value,” Watanabe said.
“So far the balance is not good. A lot of money is paid but (the company is) not getting the benefits. This is a problem.
“…If I was a company president, (I would say) ‘please support football because there we have advertising’.”
The IOC, which does not allow sponsors to advertise in the fields of play during the Olympics, collected revenues of $2.295 billion from its top sponsors for the period 2017-2021, the second-biggest source of income for the Olympic movement, with broadcasters paying $4.544 billion over the same period.
“We must change the marketing system. This current marketing system ‘use the five rings and give me 200 million or 300 million’ cannot continue,” Watanabe said.
The 65-year-old said the IOC’s decision-making process that, under Bach, has seen more powers directed to the president and the Executive Board and away from ordinary members and the annual session, also needed to be reviewed.
“Many people want to be involved in IOC decisions because we are a sports family. But the (IOC) executive board is too strong,” Watanabe said.
“Many things are decided only by board members or the president. This is not so good.”
“IOC must respect international federations and National Olympic Committees. Now the IOC is very strong. NOCs and IFs must be more together because now it is a bit like (being) instructed,” he added.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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