The USOC stood by BP in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that killed 11 workers and cost the company billions of dollars last year, and the renewal will boost the financial coffers of the most influential National Olympic Committee in the world. The USOC has signed up 15 of its 30 sponsors until 2016 and beyond, including Kellogg’s, Nike and General Electric.
Fifteen of the USOC’s deals are due to expire next year, including partnerships with McDonald's, Hilton and AT&T. Last year, sponsors accounted for more than US$71 million of the Committee’s $250 million turnover. The USOC recruited BP as a sponsor of the 2010 and 2012 US Olympic and Paralympic teams as well as the 2011 US Pan American team in February 2010, just two months before the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
“It's a tragedy that will stay with us,” Crystal Ashby, BP America's executive vice-president for government and public affairs, told The Associated Press. “The Olympic team and its quest for excellence and belief in getting up each day and doing the right thing and striving for success, it's very much like what we do in the Gulf. We keep the commitments we've made in the Gulf. And we're committed to the success of the US athletes and their programs.”
Lisa Baird, the USOC’s marketing chief, told The Associated Press: “They've been very sensitive in working with us to make sure that through the representation of the athletes and the brand that we're all achieving what we want. We're lucky to have them for that reason.” BP also has a top-tier sponsorship deal with the London 2012 Olympic Games.
