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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1983)
Texas A&M Battalion February 10, 1983/Page 1B lympics Corpora tions pay big bucks to sponsor athletes United Press International ['hen the world’s athletes Ich into the Los Angeles Col- jeum on July 28, 1984, eight will have passed between S. appearances in the Sum ner Olympics— a period high- ■1 ghitd by one of the darkest PC Briers in American sport. i/N., Bfiut despite the upheaval JlUlf Bight about by the 1980 These i°W of the Moscow Games j. p'’ndthe bitterness it created in l VJlO le athletic community, the Bnpic movement in the Un- • ■ States not only has made a k recovery, but has Irished. IVhen things llourish, there is Uteri money involved. And in ■ case, lots of money is in- Olved. ■he 1984 Summer Olympics ■ give corporations a chance jtBhelp American athletes, ■vertise their products and re- \ Be a tax break all at the same and a wave of financial Ipport has arrived just when it ■ needed most. ■-The operating budget of heLhiited States Olympic Com- litue for the four years be- Bn Moscow and Los Angeles —r$77 million. Of that, an unpre- gtented 40 percent is coming tom corporate entities. K- Millions of dollars are eing doled out to various sports governing bodies” bv Borattons and are being paid ■alaries to athletes hired by ompanies so the young men ml women can work part time, fl train full time and can ND (fford to carry on their dream of Bn pic part ici pat io n. iDOINB The sale of commemora- ivecoins for the 1984 Olympics ■peeled to bring $200 million ntothe USOC treasury, a once |-a-lifetime windfall that will be t Ktl to set up a foundation de igned to help meet the needs of imprican amateur sport for jears to come. |— For the first and probably tst time the Summer Games are Hected to turn a profit. And Ruse the USOC is a partner 'ith the Los Angeles Organiz- Committee, a business jrangement previously un- eard Olympic annuls, lore money will be forthcom- The USOC will receive 40 T ble percent of the Los Angeles pro fits. A variety of causes have com bined to bring about the deluge of financial support. One school of thought inside the Olympic movement says that the publicity given the plight of When it comes to money, however, it is seldom a case of simply turning on a tap and watching the cash flow out. the athlete during the boycott controversy of 1980 caused va rious corporations to realize that help was needed. But most of all there seems to be the hard-core business fact that the 1984 Games, since they will be conducted on U.S. soil, will give businesses a chance to pul their name before the American public on a huge scale. “I’m not going to sit here and say all companies are putting money out there out of the goodness of their heart,” said Bill Scott, a marketing director for the Dallas-based Southland Corp, which financed construc tion of the Olympic cycling sta dium in Los Angeles and which is also chief sponsor of the American cycling team. “Companies are taking advantage of the situation as a commercial benefit. “Our attitude is that this is something that fits into our program of community rela tions. But at the same time we are trying to benefit the athlete. “There are a lot of people coming onto the bandwagon. You can see other companies looking at what can be done from a marketing standpoint and figuring out which is a vi able way for them to go. “But the 1984 games are the catalyst. If there were no Olym pics in the United States in 1984, personally I don’t think you would see the involvement you are seeing.” MISA EN ESPANOL Lugar: St. Mary’s Church Fecha: Sabado, Febrero 12 Hora: 7 p.m. La asociacion de estudiantes Catolicos invita cordial- mente a todos los interesados. IESE ,0 G FEBRUARY 11,12,13 llTH REGISTRATION: FRIDAY THE AT 6 PM. IN ROOM 201 MSC PREREGISTRATION: ANY TIME BEFORE FEB. I|TH IN ROOM 216 MSC RECREATION CUBICLE Memorial Student Center y Texas A&M University And the involvement is im mense. In addition to Southland’s financing the Olympic velad- rome, the McDonald’s hambur ger people have underwritten the building of the Olympic swimming pool and the Atlantic Richfield Co. has paid for an overhaul of the track at the Col iseum and construction of six Olympic quality practice tracks around Los Angeles. Clothing companies are sup plying athletes with millions of dollars worth of uniforms, shoes and other wearing apparel. The Miller Brewing Co., has guranteed to pick up the cost for feeding and housing each athlete at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., during the four years leading up to Los Angeles. In the peak summer months, as many as l, 100 athletes are at the center, where their food and housing costs about $15.50 a day. In all, 27 major corporate sponsors are involved with the USOC. When it comes to money, however, it is seldom a case of simply turning on a tap and watching the cash flow out. Somebody usually has to prime the pump and the various sports organizations in the country, realizing the excellent oppor tunity the 1984 Games provide, have been doing just that. T think this began with the passage of the Amateur Sports Act in 1978,” said Ray Essick, head of United States Swim ming, Inc., the governing body for that sport. “When that was passed, the governing bodies became inde pendent (instead of being in- coporated into the Amateur Athletic Unionj. As a result of that, the various sports became aware of the needs of indepen dent marketing. There are a lot of people out on the streets (fund raising). “You have three separate areas of marketing. You have the Los Angeles Organizing Committee marketing the Games, you have the Olympic Committee selling the Olympic teams and all the governing bodies selling their national teams. “We, ourselves, have a mar keting firm in New York we use. But we have tried to be conser vative in our approach. McDo nald’s has been involved in swimming for years. Now they sponsor more than 200 meets a year for us. They became in volved in the building of the Olympic swimming stadium. It is a beautiful relationship.” The opportunity to draw cor porate money into the Olympic programs has created a rare chance for some sports to emerge from the shadows. Women’s field hockey, for in stance, was included in the Olympics for the first time in 1980 and the American team then was ranked third in the world. They missed the chance for a medal that year because of the boycott, but now — with the Games being held in this coun try and the United States team having a chance for major suc cess — women’s field hockey has become a marketable item. Those associated with the sport have sought out sponsors, found them, and now stand ready to make some noise on the international level. If the women’s field hockey team can win a medal, the attending pub licity can only help the collegiate programs around the country which, in turn, should keep the American team strong interna tionally. The financial windfall, whether it comes through mo tives of profit or because of a n sincere effort to help, eventually trickles down to the athlete. It is manifested in uniforms, shoes, training facilities and the morale-boosting realization that a lot of people are putting money in the place of talk. 1st 83 Spring General Meeting Thursday, February 10 8 p.m. Texas A&M Society of Fellows BELIEVE IT OR NOT PIZZA COUPON Off Any 16 " or 20" j one item or more pizza FREE DELIVERY PIZZA COUPON $ 2 Off Any Size Supreme Combo. Pizza one coupon per pizza expires 3/15/83 PIZZA COUPON $ 1 Off Any 12" one coupon per pizza 1—77 FREE DELIVERY expires 3/15/83 ' Favorite Cornlm. Pizza FREE DELIVERY one coupon per pizza expires 3/15/83 PIZZA COUPON $ 3 Off Any 20" Favorite Combo. 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