Olympics in numbers

A sporting event that draws in thousands of international athletes to compete in a country whose population tops one billion is, undoubtedly, a marketing goldmine. Add to that over 5,000 hours of television, radio and online coverage broadcast to 220 countries and the Olympics become big business indeed.

It's no wonder, then, that international companies have jumped at the opportunity to be part of the Olympic Partner Program, forking out approximately $866 (zł.1,883) million in financial support so far.

The reward? The opportunity to put their logos in front of billions of consumers eager to spend on new gadgets, consumer goods and luxury items.

Coca-Cola, Lenovo, McDonald's and Samsung have laid out as much as $100 (zł.217) million each to be top sponsors. Other sponsors include Atos Origin, Visa, Johnson & Johnson, Omega, Manulife, Panasonic, General Electric and Kodak, who will be sponsoring the Olympics for the last time.

Volkswagen, Adidas and Air China have each paid around $50 (zł.108) million for the right to link their product with the Games in advertising.

There are plenty of other companies which aren't sponsors of the Olympics themselves, but are still clearly present at the games. Nike, for example, has endorsement deals with a number of athletes and has outfitted many Chinese team members.

But it's not just multinationals that want a part of the action - many Chinese companies have also sought Olympic tie-ins. "This is the first Olympics where so many strong domestic companies are competing for mind share," Greg Paull, principal for China at marketing firm R3, told Business Week.

Sponsorships are valuable business agreements, but they don't generate the most revenues; broadcast rights bring in 50 percent of income. Sponsorship comes in second at 40 percent, while ticketing follows, with eight percent, and licensing and other sources bring in around two percent.

Here are a few more facts and figures about the Olympics. There are:

28 sports,
302 events,
302 gold medals,
10,708 athletes,
5,600 accredited print press and photographers,
12,000 broadcast staff.

$729 was the most expensive ticket for the opening ceremony.

$438 is what a closing ceremony ticket will set you back.

$7 was the least expensive ticket: archery.

14 the number of medals expected Poland to get, based on PricewaterhouseCoopers' research.

Sources:International Olympic Committee, Beijing 2008 official website, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Photo: Taken by Xinhua