The International Olympic Committee on Monday picked a little-known European computer company, Sema Group, to take over the technology sponsorship from IBM for the 2002 Winter Games and beyond.
Sema Group will head a consortium of technology companies that will provide about $500 million in cash and contributions of goods and services, according to IOC Marketing Director Michael Payne.Payne said the IOC and organizing committees for four upcoming Olympics -- including the 2002 Winter Games -- will put up a total of around $200 million towards the installation and maintenance of the new computer system.
Frank Joklik, chief executive officer of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, declined to say what the financial impact would be on the 2002 Winter Games. But he said the money needed is already in the budget.
"It's an extremely important thing for us," Joklik said of the selection of a main technology sponsor. The 2002 Winter Games will be the first Olympics serviced by the new company.
IBM announced in August that it was ending a 38-year relationship with the IOC after the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, citing the ever-increasing cost of providing technology to Olympic organizers.
The computer giant has been pushing for organizers to start paying for computer equipment and services, an expenditure that could have broken SLOC's budget.
Reportedly, IBM wanted to contribute about $400 million and charge the IOC nearly $600 million. IBM also wanted control of the Olympic Internet sites, something the IOC wasn't about to give up.
It's not clear whether the IOC will sell a separate sponsorship for the Web sites. The site IBM created for the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, was viewed by a record number of people worldwide.
That success helped offset the criticism IBM received during the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, where the results system and background information provided to journalists was often either nonexistent or just plain wrong.
The IOC is expected to name two other technology sponsors by the end of the year, including a hardware supplier anticipated to be either Compaq Computer Corp. or Sun Microsystems Inc.
While the hardware sponsor will provide equipment to SLOC, the other technology sponsor yet to be named won't be on board until the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece.
That sponsor, likely to be the Swiss-based Swatch Group, will provide venue results systems. Salt Lake organizers have already signed Swatch's rival, Seiko, to do the job in 2002.
Industry analysts suggested Sema Group's sponsorship will help boost the British and French company's name recognition, especially in the U.S. market, where it is weak.
Sema Group had been a subcontractor on previous Olympic Games, but its main activity has been installing and integrating information technology systems for a variety of clients, including defense agencies in France and Germany.