“Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter” – Motto of the Olympic Games
The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad are approaching, with opening ceremonies scheduled for July 26, 2024. Paris will become only the second city to host the Summer Games three times (having previously hosted in 1900 and 1924). The other is London, which welcomed athletes in 1908, 1948, and 2012. Los Angeles, which hosted in 1932 and 1984, is scheduled to host a third time in 2028.
The formidable athletes of these games are sure to embody the classic Olympic aspirations – to go “faster, higher, stronger – together.” These noble and inspirational ideals, however, are undeniably intertwined with more pragmatic fiscal matters. Bluntly, large sums of money are required to put on this showcase of athleticism, heart, and ambition, and much of it is raised through corporate sponsorships.
Corporate money has become an increasingly large part of the Games in the last half century. As University of Liverpool law professor Amandine Garde and strategy consultant Neville Rigby wrote in their study on food marketing at the Olympics, “From having a comparatively low level of sponsorship half a century ago, the Games have become highly commercialized, reflecting the marked trends in recent decades that have transformed sports sector deals which account for a significant proportion of the global sponsorship market.”
For Comcast (CMCSA 1.93% ), whose NBC network has the U.S. broadcast rights to the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, the Paris Olympics are already a success. The company noted on April 11 that it had already sold $1.2 billion in advertising, on track to achieve a new sales record in its Olympic history. This represents a significant increase from the last summer Olympics in Tokyo, which took place in 2021. (NBC has signed an agreement to broadcast the Games in the U.S. all the way through 2032.)
One possible reason for this added excitement is that Paris will mark yet another milestone in our return to a non-pandemic world: these will be the first Games without any COVID-related restrictions for live attendance of the events since the pandemic emerged in early 2020. The Tokyo games, originally scheduled for 2020, were delayed until summer 2021 due to the global outbreak, and even when held, allowed no live spectators. Most events at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing were also closed to live spectators. For the U.S. audience, the Paris games also have the advantage of a more convenient time zone for live viewing of events.
So amidst the commercial excitement of corporate Olympic sponsors, we thought it would be interesting to see if such sponsorship has any observable correlation with stock performance. Our examination involves stock performance of those companies that participate in the highest level of sponsorship – the Olympic Partners (TOP) program. TOP sponsors are also known as worldwide sponsors.
What is Fundstrat Direct?
Fundstrat Direct is a market-leading, independent research boutique. We are experts in U.S. macro market strategy research and have leveraged those fundamental market insights to become leading pioneers of digital assets and blockchain research.
Tom Lee's View
Proprietary roadmap and tools to navigate and outperform the equity market.
Macro and Technical Strategy
Our approach helps investors identify inflection points and changes in equity leadership.
Deep Research
Our pioneering research provides an understanding of fundamental valuations and risks, and critical benchmarking tools.
Videos
Our macro and crypto videos give subscribers a quick and easy-to-understand audiovisual updates on our latest research and views.
US Policy Analysis
Our 40-year D.C. veteran strategist cuts through the rhetoric to give investors the insight they need.
