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Exclusive: BMW to be unveiled today as London 2012 Tier One sponsor
By Duncan Mackay
November 18 - Jacques Rogge may be able to attend his last Olympic Games as International Olympic Committee President in a Rolls-Royce after London 2012 sealed its latest multi-million pound sponsorship deal.
Insidethegames has learned that London 2012 will today unveil the German carmaker BMW as its top-tier automotive partner.
The deal, thought to be worth at least £30 million, mainly in value-in-kind, will carry Games organisers closer to their £650 million domestic sponsorship target.
BMW, which was founded in 1916, also produces Minis, leaving the way open to the mounting of Italian Job-style marketing stunts in the run-up to the London Games in just under three years' time.
The announcement, due to be officially made at a hotel in London at 10am, will come as a relief to the organising committee, LOCOG, which has been faced with unearthing an automotive partner at a time when car markets are in deep depression around the industrialised world.
London 2012's lack of an automotive supplier was highlighted in September, when the Sochi Winter Olympics announced rival German manufacturer Volkswagen as its vehicle provider even though its Games do not take place until 2014.
Volkswagen also sponsored the Beijing 2008 Olympics where they provided organisiers with around 6,000 vehicles.
It also provided vehicles on some legs of the controversial international Torch Relay.
The deal with BMW will bring to seven the number of domestic Tier One London 2012 sponsors, the others being Adidas, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds.
London 2012 also has six domestic Tier Two sponsors and 11 Tier Three suppliers.
This is the second major investment that BMW, who made a profit of €324 million (£286 million) in 2008 and who employ more than 100,000 people across the world, have made in the Olympics this year.
The carmaker is also providing €3-5 million (£2.6-£4.4 million) of support for Munich’s bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2018.
Earlier this year, BMW announced that they were pulling out of Formula One.
The company, which took over Sauber in 2005, cited "current developments in motorsport" as the reason for their decision.
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