Tokyo Olympics: All 68 domestic sponsors agree to extend contracts

According to reports in Japanese newspaper Nikkei, organizers of the Tokyo Olympic Games stated on Thursday that a basic agreement had been reached with all the 68 domestic sponsors of the Games to extend their contracts for an extra year due to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced postponement. The Olympic Games were scheduled to take place in July, 2020 but due to the pandemic situation was postponed to July, 2021 making it the first edition of the Games to be postponed.

The whopping amount of 68 domestic sponsors is also the highest ever for an edition with the previous highest being twice as lower. The key sponsorship duties are done by Dentsu Inc. which is a Japanese advertising company and the official marketing agent of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Top 15 sponsors to contribute USD 10 million each

Although financial details or the exact terms of the contract extension were not revealed, contracts were said to be in the stage of ‘finalization. The newspaper Nikkei which is also one of the domestic sponsors reported earlier that the top 15 sponsors of the event called the ‘Gold Partners’ would contribute 1 billion yen each which amounts to USD 10 million. Some of the major sponsors include Canon, Fujitsu, Mizuho Financial Group. Nikkei, Asahi, Mainichi, Yomiuri, ANA and Japan Airlines.

Earlier this month, the organizers had also estimated the cost of the postponement of the games saying it amounted to USD 2.8 billion which meant the overall cost reached more than USD 15 billion. However, a government audit stated the cost might as well reach USD 25 billion by the time the Games conclude.

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