Black Beauty: A Recovering Quadruped

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Bank is ready to strike £80 million sponsor deal for London Games
03.01.07


The 2012 Games are in dire need of sponsorship

Lloyds TSB is poised to become the first sponsor of the London Olympics, signing an £80 million deal to back the 2012 Games.

Insiders said negotiations were close to being finalised after Barclays, which had been favourite to sign as a top-tier Olympic partner, pulled out of the bidding last month.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games invited tenders from banks and insurance firms last October and Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Bank of America and Citigroup all threw their hats in the ring.

The deal will give the bank exclusive rights to use of the Olympic rings in its advertising and to run campaigns associated with high-profile Olympic figures such as London 2012 chairman Lord Coe.

The sponsorship agreement is set to pave the way for a number of similar deals in the automobile, telecommunications and utilities sectors in coming months. Organisers need to raise £750 million in sponsorship to help meet the £2 billion budget required to run the Games, excluding the building of venues and infrastructure.

Neither Lloyds TSB nor the 2012 organising committee would comment.
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