ATLANTA (Bloomberg) — United Parcel Service Inc. will decide within a week whether to extend its worldwide sponsorship of the Olympic Games for $65 million, a company spokeswoman said.
Unable to reach a decision on the contract during a recent meeting, UPS's 14-member management board will decide whether the sponsorship package is cost effective, said Rosemary Windsor, vice president of UPS's Olympic program.
UPS is one of 11 companies that are members of the IOC's top-paying sponsorship category called TOP — The Olympic Program — and paid about $55 million for the four-year contract that ended with this year's Games. The price increased $10 million for the next four-year cycle. UPS and International Business Machines Corp. were the only TOP members that haven't renewed, and Anglo-French company Sema Plc has already replaced IBM.
Michael Payne, the IOC's marketing director, said negotiations are proceeding with UPS.
"If UPS decides not to proceed with its agreement, there are other companies that have already expressed an interest in becoming a member of the TOP program," Payne said.