Hopefully over the summer, you watch or caught clips of the many athletes at the Olympics. Some of the settings were amazing and highlighted the best of Paris and France. Ideally you were exposed to many different athletic competitions, even though you likely had your favorites and maybe someone who you were cheering for won a gold medal or a medal or a personal best. The competition is one aspect of the Olympics. There are 2 other aspects – city building or spending on infrastructure and product placement or advertising.

In an article by Shelia Dang and Mimosa Spencer of Reuters, part of the cost to hold the Olympics is paid by sponsors and they have exclusive rights to marketing their products and services. In Paris, a new level was brought forth and expect the 2028 Olympics in LA to surpass it.

Most of the people who sat in the stands had a cellphone and the Paris Olympics made the most of it. Winning athletes in Paris received their medals on Louis Vuitton trays before being handed a Samsung flip phone to take a victory selfie. None of that happened by chance.

18 months ago, Samsung began talks with the IOC or International Olympic Committee to plot the product placement drive. The boundary-pushing of wares by high-profile sponsors LVMH and Samsung is illustrative of how sponsors are seeking new commercial opportunities from an event that has strict rules around advertising inside competition venues.

Samsung said the strategy was driving awareness of the new Galaxy Z Flip6 globally. Samsung has not provided details on sales.

At LVMH, online searches grew 43% in the US during the first week of the games according to digital analysis provider Captify. LVMH owns a number of brands including Dior, Louis Vuitton.

Organizers of the Olympics in LA will be embracing the trend of Paris and more as LA is head of entertainment in the US. The games will cost $6.9 billion which will privately funded through a combination of sponsorship, ticket revenue, broadcast and merchandise revenues. The sponsorship total is $2 billion and LA officials say they are at about $1 billion.

Henry Poole, VP of marketing solutions at Excel Sports Management says LA’s reputation as a city that oozes celebrity glamour, wealth and ostentation was a tantalizing prospect for sponsorships.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, most events have sponsorships and if you like the event and the sponsorship you may be glad the companies gave money. As an investor you want tangible feedback that sponsorships actually help sales which helps makes profits to pay dividends.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.