IOC, Coca-Cola extend their sponsorship agreement

ATLANTA, Georgia (Agencies): The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Coca-Cola company have recently renewed their sponsorship agreement, sealing a partnership that is to extend through to the Nagano and Sydney Olympic Games.

Coca-cola board chairman and chief executive officer Roberto C. Goizueta and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch signed the agreement on Wednesday.

"For nearly seventy years, Coca-cola has provided support which has enabled millions of Olympic athletes and fans around the world to share in something very special," Goizueta said.

Goizueta also expressed the hope that, with the renewed partnership, Coca-cola would help new generations of athletes and fans and draw them even closer to the specialness of the Olympic experience.

President Samaranch, on the other hand, said that support of the Olympic movement by long-time partners such as Coca-cola helps the Olympic Games to exist and allows aspiring Olympic athletes to train and compete.

Coca-cola has provided the longest continues sponsor support for the Olympic Games and Olympic athletes, dating back to the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. Through various international and national Olympic sponsorship programs, the company currently supports Olympic teams and aspiring Olympic athletes in more than 195 countries.

A year in the making, the agreement grants Coca-cola enhanced worldwide marketing rights for both the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The agreement covers exclusive rights for non- alcoholic beverages.

The agreement provides for the use of the Olympic symbols and mascots in advertising and promotional activities and for the sponsorship of the Organizing Committees for the 1998 and 2000 Olympic Games, as well as the vast majority of the National Olympic Committees throughout the world. The company also has exclusive rights for the sale of non-alcoholic beverages at Olympic venues.

Additionally, Coca-cola will have the exclusive right to execute some Olympic programs that have become closely tied to the company's consumer marketing effort over the years. These include the International Olympic Torch Relay, Olympic Pin Trading and the Olympic Day Run.

Top IV, the exclusive worldwide IOC sponsorship program, covers the period of 1997 to 2000. Top (The Olympic Partners) Program was established in 1985 and has been reappointed for each Olympiad since. Coca-cola was an original TOP sponsor and is among 10 companies currently in the program.