Truemors
The dust hasn't even settled on Beijing yet; the official handover hasn't even taken place, and already some of the top four sponsors are pulling out of London 2012.
The failure of these global companies – including Kodak, which has backed the Olympics since they were revived in 1896 – to extend their sponsorship is a serious blow for London as it seeks finance for 2012.
Manulife, the Canadian financial services company, is among those ending its sponsorship, along with the Chinese computer group Lenovo. Johnson & Johnson is also expected to announce shortly that it is cutting its Olympic spending.
The International Olympic Committee has 12 "worldwide partners" in different businesses and most continue from one set of Games to the next.
These top sponsors pay up to £50m each, with organisers of London's 2012 Games receiving a large part of that money. London is also separately recruiting national sponsors, including Lloyds TSB, BT, and British Airways. It had hoped to secure all its sponsors before the Beijing Games close today, but is only about halfway to its £650m target. Some marketing experts say it is asking too much, especially with a recession looming.
Up until last week, the London 2012 website showed 12 sponsors' logos, and then four of them were quickly removed, with no real explanation given.
It is such a bad time for sponsors to be pulling out because now is right in the middle of the crucial building time for all the venues, and that money is desperately needed.
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