Why Olympic Sponsorship Isn’t Just for Billion-Dollar Brands
For many marketers, Olympic sponsorship feels like an exclusive club reserved for global giants with massive budgets. Headlines about nine-figure deals from brands like Coca-Cola, Visa, or Samsung reinforce the idea that Olympic marketing is financially out of reach for most companies. As the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games approach, however, brands of all sizes are starting to rethink that assumption.
The reality is that Olympic marketing operates through a structured ecosystem with multiple tiers of access. While some partnerships require major investment, others offer creative and strategic entry points for brands with far smaller budgets. In this article, Hollywood Branded shares how brands of different sizes can enter the Olympic sponsorship ladder ahead of LA 2028.
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Understanding the Olympic Sponsorship Ecosystem
The Olympic Games are one of the largest marketing platforms in the world, drawing billions of viewers across television, streaming, and social media. To manage that enormous commercial value, the Olympic ecosystem is built around a tiered sponsorship model that protects exclusivity while enabling brands to participate at different levels. Each tier offers unique rights, levels of exposure, and strategic advantages depending on a company’s goals and resources.
At the top of the ladder are global partnerships that span multiple Olympic Games cycles and grant worldwide category exclusivity. Beneath that level are domestic organizing committee partnerships specific to a single Games, such as LA28. Further down the ladder are sport-specific sponsorships, athlete partnerships, and experiential activations that allow brands to participate without becoming official Olympic sponsors. Together, these layers form a sophisticated ecosystem that gives marketers multiple ways to tap into Olympic excitement.
Understanding this structure is essential because many brands mistakenly assume there is only one path into Olympic marketing. In reality, brands can approach the Games from several angles depending on their objectives.
Photo Credit: Olympic Speakers
Breaking Down the LA 2028 Sponsorship Tiers
At the very top of the Olympic sponsorship structure sits the IOC Worldwide Olympic Partner (TOP) Program. This tier represents the highest level of Olympic sponsorship and provides brands with global marketing rights across multiple Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Current TOP partners include global brands such as Coca-Cola, Samsung, Visa, Deloitte, AB InBev (Michelob Ultra), and Allianz. Some of these relationships date back decades, Coca-Cola’s Olympic partnership will reach its 100-year milestone during the 2028 Games.
The next major level is the LA28 Founding Partner tier, which focuses specifically on the Los Angeles Games.
Current LA28 Founding Partners include Google, Comcast, Delta Air Lines, Honda, Starbucks, T-Mobile, and Intuit.
Photo Credit: LA28
New Opportunities: Venue Naming Rights and Mid-Tier Partnerships
Below the founding partnership level, LA28 has been building additional sponsorship tiers that offer meaningful Olympic association without the nine-figure price tag. These include supporting sponsors and official partners, which often provide brands with category rights tied to specific services or infrastructure for the Games.
Another major development for LA28 is the introduction of Olympic venue naming rights, something that had never been permitted in previous Games due to strict “clean venue” policies.
This means venues such as Crypto.com Arena, SoFi Stadium, Intuit Dome, and the Peacock Theater will retain their branded names while hosting Olympic competitions.
Accessible Entry Points: NGB Sponsorships and Athlete Partnerships
One of the most overlooked opportunities in Olympic marketing lies within National Governing Body (NGB) sponsorships. The United States has 47 NGBs that oversee specific Olympic and Paralympic sports, including USA Swimming, USA Track & Field, USA Gymnastics, and USA Hockey.
For brands that want to connect with a particular sport and its athletes, NGB sponsorships can be an extremely effective entry point.
Another powerful entry point is individual athlete partnerships, which are negotiated directly with athletes and their management teams.
These collaborations allow brands to connect directly with athlete audiences while tapping into the excitement surrounding Olympic competition.
Photo Credit: The Seattle Times
Olympic-Adjacent Marketing Strategies
Not every brand needs an official Olympic partnership to benefit from the energy surrounding the Games. Many companies activate through Olympic-adjacent marketing strategies, which allow them to participate in the cultural moment without paying for official sponsorship rights.
These strategies often include experiential events, pop-up activations, influencer collaborations, and athlete appearances scheduled outside of the Olympic blackout period.
Los Angeles presents an especially compelling environment for this type of activation. The 2028 Games will be spread across venues throughout the city, from downtown Los Angeles to Inglewood, Long Beach, and Pasadena.
Photo Credit: Alt Terrain
Eager To Learn More?
Explore more insights from Hollywood Branded on sports marketing and brand partnerships:
- The Smart Brand’s Guide to LA 2028
- Winning Strategies: How Sports Brands Leverage Partnerships for Marketing Success
- How Brands Are Leveraging the Paris Olympics for Global Reach
- Shohei Ohtani: The Athlete Every Global Brand Wants
- The Intersection of Sports and Pop Culture: How Athletes Are Shaping Trends
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