At the height of the marketing and advertising cycle of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, where we are this week, with the opening rite of the Tokyo Olympics just a few days away, it would possibly seem that each and every one of the athletes on Team USA is in the u. s. The U. S. has a famous sponsor for the Olympics.
For example, Visa, sponsor of the Games, has committed to its greatest Olympic and Paralympic team of all time, with 102 athletes in 28 sports, surfer Carissa Moore, soccer ahead Megan Rapinoe, gymnast Simone Biles, swimmer Katie Ledecky, Paralympic cyclist Oksana Masters, sprinter Noah Lyles and more.
Sprinter Allyson Felix and wrestler Jordan Burroughs, among others, gave the impression in Bridgestone’s television commercials of the company’s crusade at the Tokyo Olympics.
Polo Ralph Lauren, who designed the uniform for the U. S. team’s opening rite parade, athletes from sports debuting at the Olympics, such as skateboarding (Heimana Reynolds and Jordyn Barratt) and karate (Sakura Kokumai).
Barratt is also sponsored through Toyota, his official Olympic spouse, as well as Masters, swimmer Simone Manuel and gymnast Laurie Hernandez, who will participate in the Games as a commentator and not as a competitor.
Over the next two weeks, the audience will notice countless other campaigns with athletes from the U. S. national team. But what many don’t realize is that the vast majority of American Olympic and Paralympic athletes, those known as Biles, Felix or Ledecky, have no representation. , and some have no sponsors or followers at all.
“Only the 10 most sensitive, maybe 15% of our athletes are represented through an agent,” said Zaileen Janmohamed, senior vice president of Olympic and Paralympic Properties Development and Innovation of usa. USA(USOPP), which manages the marketing and sales rights of the 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028 U. S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams. U. S. And the 2028 Los Angeles Games and works with the U. S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. U. S. (USOPC). member of a circle of relatives or do it themselves”.
According to Janmohamed, about 60% of Team USA athletes are in the U. S. U. S. They earn less than $25,000 a year, which isn’t just not enough to help them full-time in their sport, with expenses like travel, educational apparatus, and education fees; it is not enough to put food on the table.
In November 2019, six months after joining USOPP to take on what was then a new role in progression and innovation, Janmohamed met with two senior USOPC executives at the USOPC offices. The 3 were making a slate in various spaces, the problems facing the athletes of the USOPC. ; global events; the wishes and expectations of the partners and began to realize that there is a deficient link between the wishes of the athletes and the wishes of the partners.
Specifically, Janmohamed was interested in finding a way to get U. S. national team athletes without agents and without significant non-public agreements versus logos, overcoming the hurdle of not knowing how to provide a logo or manage contracts and finances.
An application makes sense; Janmohamed was founded in Silicon Valley, but has no experience in technology. Logos.
The USOPP has asked Opendorse to create a closed formula that is only open to Olympic and Paralympic athletes and sponsors. Construction began in August 2020 and until April, the Athlete Marketing Platform (AMP) is operational.
AMP launches at a key moment in the search for school athletes to take credit for their names, photographs and similarities; On June 30, the NCAA followed an interim policy that suspended regulations prohibiting such opportunities. The transitority policy will remain in effect until federal laws or new NCAA regulations are passed. At the 2016 Summer Games, more than 80% of the U. S. national team was 80 percent of the U. S. national team. Usa competed in school competitions prior to the Olympics; in the United States, the NCAA’s path to the Olympics is important.
IOC Rule 40 necessarily prohibits athletes from running with outdoor sponsors of official Olympic Games associations Athletes who perhaps had only a few sponsorship opportunities on the table needed a way to temporarily and successfully link up with Olympic-friendly brands.
“AMP has replaced the game into two tactics for us,” said Katie Bynum, Usopc’s Director of Strategy and Growth. “First, it allows us to temporarily activate campaigns with many athletes on Team USA. U. S. At the same time, and second, it provides knowledge to ensure that we diversify and balance opportunities for athletes. This year, we’ve already brought in more athletes from Team USA. UU. al marketing of what we’ve done in the past, thanks to amp component, and that’s vital because the diversity, breadth and intensity of our athletes is who we are.
Athletes are AMP right now. From the beginning of the introduction of the platform, a logo introduced a massive crusade, sending a be offer to each and every one of the athletes on the platform, who accepted 300 athletes participated in a one-day social media crusade and can only receive a payment. in 3 days.
“Typically, brands spend a media spend on Facebook; now, instead, they can pay in cash directly to athletes for athletes to use their voice and succeed in their fans,” Janmohamed said. “We talked to Opendorse when we finished this crusade, and it’s the biggest crusade they’ve ever seen go through their system. And we may do it a thousand times more.
“Before AMP existed, I had to find an opportunity for individual sponsorship,” the Team USA rugby player said. U. S. Naya Tapper. ” I ended up locating an agent, but even with an agent, as a rugby player in the United States, where it’s not the most popular game, it’s incredibly difficult to get a monetary refund with logo associations. But now, with AMP, everything is much less complicated and accessible. AMP offers a way to collect and publicize my game and sponsor.
When Tapper first joined the national rugby team in 2016 after starting college play at UNC-Chapel Hill, he had room and board but survived on a salary below minimum wage. He took on a temporary assignment for two years, which is like the body, with a full day of education and then having to paint six hours a day, he said.
Although Tapper eventually earned bonuses for his wins and tours, and the money sometimes increased, it’s still not much, and several of his teammates still have jobs for now.
“The pay hole between all athletes in the United States is extraordinary, and we know that in rugby there is a lack of awareness of our game and this is reflected in the way we are paid,” Tapper said. “We hope that winning and receiving medals can have a positive effect on our exposure and compensation. “
How much has AMP increased Tapper’s revenue?”I’ve earned more cash in the last two months than in the last two years, and we’re not even at the Olympics yet,” he said.
In their AMP profiles, athletes can hint at the types of campaigns they are open to, such as meetings and greetings, social media posts, and autograph signings. Possibly they would withdraw from certain types of donations for non-public reasons (e. g. , those with alcohol or tobacco companies) or for pre-existing exclusive gifts (e. g. , shoe and clothing sponsors).
Toyota will use AMP for the first time next month for its U. S. Paralympic initiative, according to Dedra DeLilli, director of the Toyota Motor North America Group – sponsorship, integration and activation. $5 million in sponsorship opportunities for athletes named to the U. S. Paralympic Team. U. S. For the Tokyo and Beijing Games.
The resolution came a year after the USOPC, formerly USOC, announced a replacement for the official call to be more inclusive of the Paralympic movement. In September 2018, the leadership of new executive director Sarah Hirshland, the organization announced parity awards for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. medalists, expanding the operation’s gold awards for American Paralympics by up to 400%.
This type of USOPC and sponsors like Toyota is “a big step forward in raising awareness of the Paralympic Movement and our athletes,” but there’s still a long way to go, the American Paralympic volleyball player said. Katie Holloway, who won 3 medals. in sitting volleyball.
Prior to AMP, sponsorships and approvals were rare for Holloway, who was born with fibular hemimelia in his right leg and whose affected component was amputated at the age of 20 months.
“I don’t have an agent and I relied on my own investigation, due diligence and non-public relations to navigate the space,” Holloway said. “In general, sponsorships and sponsors were only held for a small organization of athletes that knew the best-known sports better. With AMP, now the landscape has replaced to be fairer and more transparent for athletes. It is still early and remains to be seen, however, having the design and skill to bring us all to market is a step in the right direction. “
“AMP will allow us to execute and manage nearly three hundred athlete agreements turnkey, particularly by accelerating and standardizing a procedure that in the past would have required significant marketing resources,” toyota’s DeLilli said. “As a result, we will be able to temporarily move beyond the development phase of the partnership and focus more on new storytelling opportunities with Paralympic athletes in the U. S. U. S. , helping to further elevate the Paralympic movement. “
Authenticity, for brands and athletes, is a key precept that both parties seek in partnerships. AMP streamlines the procedure of identifying the best ambassador athlete for brands, while ensuring that the market is varied and fair.
As conversations and awareness about social and racial justice, fitness care and income stream inequality began globally in 2020, athletes made it clear that the brands they paint with will have to align with their values.
In April, Simone Biles left her sponsor Nike for her spouse with the Athleta women’s clothing logo. “They constitute everything I stand for,” he said. In 2019, Allyson Felix, who had criticized former sponsor Nike’s maternity policy, also signed with Athleta Last year, Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Chloe Kim left her longtime sponsor, Burton, to marry Roxy, a logo that would allow her, among other things, to pursue her love of fashion by designing a line of warm clothing.
USOPP and USOPC recognize that their athletes are motivated through their values only in their non-public lives, but also in their pro lives. Organizations, especially with the 2028 Los Angeles Games on the horizon, also perceive their own duty to drive the Olympics forward. and Paralympic Movement in the United States in a slower direction.
When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reaffirmed Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits athletes from demonstrating in the box or on the podium, the USOPC announced that it would sanction athletes on occasions at the Olympic Games who comply with the rules established by the USOPC. and The Team USA Council on Racial and Social Justice.
Actions that would be legal through the USOPC but prohibited by Rule 50 come dressed in clothing or mask with Black Lives Matter and Trans Lives Matter messages and raising your fist or kneeling on the start line or on the podium.
If athletes interact in protests prohibited by Rule 50 at the Games, the Charter grants any express direction as to impact; Athletes will be evaluated through their National Olympic Committee (CON), in combination with their game’s International Federation and IOC.
“My team’s role, for example, is AMP, but I’m also thinking about how you look at the Olympics in a new way, how you think about inclusion, volunteering in the community,” Janmohamed said. things that we think about not only to organize wonderful Games, but also to communicate with the other people of Los Angeles and communicate with the other people of this country. We want to replace in this country, and we’re going to use LA28 to get to this place. »
Tokyo organizers, the Japanese government and the IOC have come under scrutiny for their handling of the Games. The Tokyo Summer Olympics are already the most expensive of all time, having exceeded their bidding budget from $7. 3 billion to $15. 4 billion, according to organizers. even with higher external estimates.
In a Japanese national poll in May, 83% of respondents opposed holding the Olympics, as Japan declared a state of emergency due to the accumulation of Covid-19 cases.
When the time comes for Los Angeles to host the Games, there will be considerations about moving homeless citizens, militarizing the police force, and raising taxes for California citizens if the Games exceed budget. to deal with those and many other problems.
“I think our enthusiasts see that we have a duty as protectors of the motion to make adjustments and we agree with that,” Janmohamed said. “I hope what you see is that this transformation is an example with the USOPC and the so-called change, our position on Rule 50, intellectual aptitude first and AMP. “
The political and monetary landscape of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is vast and complicated, but at the heart of the Olympic and Paralympic Games are the athletes who paint and sacrifice themselves all their lives to pursue their dream of competing at this level.
When it comes to defending the USOPC and USOPP on behalf of American athletes, protecting their values is as vital as getting those of their sponsors. The truth is that more visual and more lucrative sponsorships lead to larger platforms, through which athletes can protect. its ideals and values.
“AMP is a step forward in developing opportunities for all athletes, just Paralympians, at all levels, and gives me hope for the sport in the long run,” Holloway said.
I’ve been writing about action sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games for over a decade, having the Summer and Winter X Games, the Summer and Winter Olympics and
I have been writing about action sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games for over a decade, having dominated the X Games summer and winter, the Olympic and Paralympic Summer and Winter Games, the Dew Tour, the World Championships, etc. each and every angle, however, my favorite articles to write about are the profiles of the athletes that make those sports so fascinating. I’m from New Hampshire, where I cut my teeth as a snowboarder (and cut my knees and elbows. . . many ), and now I live in Chicago, a town that has a gold medal in my center despite its lack of elevation. Follow me on Twitter @MichelleBruton.