McDonald’s is renewing its Olympic sponsorship through the 2012 Games.
The International Olympic Committee said Thursday that the fast food giant signed a new long-term deal as one of the Olympics’ global corporate sponsors.
It’s the first time McDonald’s has renewed its sponsorship for four consecutive Games.
The contract covers the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy; the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver; and the 2012 Summer Olympics, whose host city will be selected next year.
The agreement, which also covers sponsorship of national Olympic committees and their teams, means McDonald’s will be classified as the “official restaurant” for those Games.
The IOC’s global sponsorship program, known as TOP, generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for the Olympic movement. A single four-year TOP sponsorship sells for $65 million or more, according to Olympic marketing officials.
Other global Olympic sponsors include Coca-Cola, Atos Origin (formerly Schlumberger), General Electric, John Hancock, Kodak, Panasonic, Samsung, Swatch and Visa.
McDonald’s has been involved with the Olympics since 1968. This summer’s Olympics in Athens will mark the company’s fourth Games as a TOP sponsor.
“McDonald’s is a longtime valued friend and partner of the IOC and the Olympic movement,” IOC president Jacques Rogge said. “This continued commitment to the Olympic ideals plays a key role in the success of the Olympic Games themselves.”