General Motors Ending U.S. Olympic Team Sponsorship After Beijing Games
07/08/2007 |
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General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. automaker, plans to end its sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic team after next year's summer games in Beijing.
The company has informed the U.S. Olympic Committee that it won't be renewing a ``multimillion dollar'' sponsorship agreement, GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney said in an interview today. The Detroit-based automaker has sponsored the team in some way since 1984, she said.
``There have been significant changes in the media landscape,'' Carney said. ``There are other ways to reach the audience that views the Olympics without continuing an official relationship with the USOC.''
GM last week posted a second-quarter profit that was twice analysts' estimates, in part because of reduced costs in North America. The company, outsold globally by Toyota Motor Corp. in the first six months of 2007, is trying to raise sales in China and other international markets to offset declines in North America.
Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Olympic committee, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
GM's decision was reported earlier today on the SportsBusiness Journal Web site. GM signed its current $1 billion contract in July 1997, which included $700 million in actual payments to USOC and broadcast-rights holder NBC television, a General Electric Co. unit, the Journal said.
Shares of GM rose 41 cents to $32.45 at 8:11 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have risen 5.6 percent this year.
(Source: Bloomberg.com)
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