PyeongChang 2018 set to sign first domestic sponsor

PyeongChang 2018 will sign its first domestic sponsorship deal for the winter Olympic Games in the first quarter of this year, according to organising committee president Kim Jin-sun.

Having being elected to host the 2018 Games in July 2011, PyeongChang has yet to secure any local sponsorship – a fact that was said to be of concern for Olympic officials. However, Kim said final negotiations are currently taking place with sponsors in the apparel and telecommunications sectors.

“Local sponsorship sales are very important for a successful delivery of PyeongChang 2018 and that is why we are making an all-out effort to make that happen,” he said, according to the Reuters news agency. “Last year we selected two preferred bidders in the category of telecommunications and apparel and we are now in the final stages of negotiations with these preferred bidders.”

Korean organisers have also started negotiations for sponsors in the categories of automobiles, banking, energy, construction and airlines. Having initially set a domestic sponsorship target of $600m (€444m), PyeongChang 2018 is expected to revise that figure upwards, although it is unlikely to match the estimated $1bn in domestic sponsorship that Sochi 2014 has secured for its ongoing winter Games.

“We will be able to speed up sponsorship,” Kim, the former governor of Gangwon province, added. “We will engage our sponsorship sales in full swing. That is why I do not foresee any big problem.”