The Olympics new events are opening up an entire new opportunity for both athletes and brands in the world of sponsorships. The 2024 Summer Olympics, taking place in Paris, are taking an approach to increase their viewership to a broader audience through various new sports and sponsorships.
Over the past two summer Olympics, new sports such as the BMX freestyle, marked a groundbreaking moment for the Olympic Games. Introducing a new event made a large impact on BMX athletes as they began to see increased funding as they had an opportunity to compete globally. In turn this opportunity provided them with more than just athletic opportunity, but sponsorship opportunity as well.
After seeing how successful BMX freestyle was to the Olympics, new events were added to the 2020 Olympics such as skateboarding. In 2024, we will see even more new sports such as rock climbing, surfing, breakdancing, and three on three basketball, in addition to the return of skateboarding and BMX freestyle. The new sports bring an opportunity to many different athletes, but also enhance the fan experience with new entertaining events. IOC Sports Director, Kit McConnel stated that, “We had a very clear vision about the games being more youth, more urban, more women.” The Olympics have done just that by putting an emphasis on appealing to younger audiences through their events and promotional sponsorships.
The addition of these sports has had major impacts on a lot of different athletes. Brazilian teen Rayssa Leal, a silver medalist in skateboarding, saw her Instagram account go from less than 1 million followers to over 9 million within just a month of the Tokyo Olympics, according to Gulf News. Other skateboarders that participated in the Olympics also saw their followings drastically increase because of the opportunity they were given to compete in the Olympic Games.
With the Olympics providing a huge opportunity for athlete recognition and social media explosion, sponsors are recognizing the huge potential that these athletes have and what the new sports bring when it comes to marketing opportunities. With the new sports primarily appealing to the younger audience, according to the Sports Business Journal, there is a huge opportunity for sponsors to invest in these new Olympic athletes as a way to promote their brands to a younger audience.
The new games have opened up an incredible amount of opportunity for athletes and sponsors. With an appeal to a younger demographic all over the entire world, these athletes are an extremely valuable asset for brands to use to promote their products. With the Olympic Games constantly looking to improve their viewership and create fresh ideas, we are seeing what the future could look like for new sports and in turn the incredible possibilities and opportunities that it opens up for both athletes and their brand partnerships.