BEIJING (AP) — The International Olympic Committee has found a sponsor in China to replace long-term commercial partner Panasonic from Japan.
TCL was signed to an eight-year, four-Olympics deal through 2032 in the sponsor category of home audiovisual equipment and appliances, the IOC said on Thursday. The value in cash and operational services was not detailed.
Panasonic’s four-decade partnership ended after the Paris Summer Games last year. It had been a founding member of the global Olympic partner program, known as TOP, in 1985.
Japanese firms Toyota and Bridgestone also left the Olympic program last year by not renewing, three years after the Tokyo Olympics was held one year later than scheduled and in a strict lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They made up one-fifth of a slate of 15 TOP sponsors who paid a total of more than $2 billion in cash and services to the IOC in the last four-year Olympic cycle.
The IOC said its deal with TCL was formalized at the Olympic venue in Beijing that was known as the Water Cube at the 2008 Summer Games and the Ice Cube at the 2022 Winter Games.
TCL will support the IOC exploring using AI and also supply equipment ranging from “digital displays at the Olympic and Paralympic Games to household appliances in the Olympic Village,” the Olympic body said.
“At the Olympic and Paralympic Games, TCL will enable new visual and lifestyle experiences by providing a range of intelligent innovations, including smart displays, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, door locks, audio systems, projectors and TCL RayNeo smart glasses,” the IOC said in a statement.
The TCL deal covers the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032, plus Winter Games next year in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo and 2030 in the French Alps.
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