The suspense was maintained for a long time. He still is. To a question of FrancsJeux, Tony Estanguet explained again on Wednesday June 7 at a press conference, on the last day of the IOC Coordination Commission's visit, that the partnership contract with LVMH had not yet been signed. “ You have to be careful.”, added the president of the COJO Paris 2024.
Without a doubt. But according to our information, the luxury group of Frenchman Bernard Arnault will become the next premium partner of the organizing committee. The sixth and, according to Tony Estanguet's comments this week, the last on the list.
The president of the COJO announced at the end of last year a signing for the first weeks of 2023. But things dragged on. The reason lies in the very particular nature of the partnership contract signed by LVMH with Paris 2024. It bears no resemblance to the more traditional agreements concluded with the five other premium partners (BPCE, Carrefour, EDF, Orange and Sanofi).
LVMH will become a first-tier partner, a purely national status which will limit its use of the Olympic rings to French territory. But according to a source with good knowledge of the matter, additional sponsorship agreements have been concluded with several national Olympic committees abroad. They concern certain markets that are particularly interesting for the French group and its luxury brands, mainly in Asia. Japan and South Korea, in particular. But not China.
LVMH would therefore become a domestic partner of these national Olympic committees. A boon for these bodies, which will thus be able to inherit an additional sponsor, and not the least. Revenues from these various marketing agreements would be shared with the IOC.
The assembly is not common. But it seems likely to satisfy everyone, without threatening the balance patiently put in place by the IOC for its commercial strategy.
For the Paris 2024 COJO, the arrival of the LVMH group makes it possible to complete the marketing program with a new premium partner, presented as more than necessary in the penultimate report from the Court of Auditors. A prestigious sponsor who, in the words of Tony Estanguet, “ would bring a different dimension to the project"
For the French group, the agreement reached after months of discussion with the COJO and the IOC allows it to get a foothold in the Olympic movement. But without joining the global TOP program, where the watchmaker Omega is already in the market and blocking the entry of competing brands (Hublot, Tag Heuer, Zenith, Bulgari and Dior are part of the French group).
Finally, the IOC also appears to be a winner in the matter. The setup constructed to let LVMH in illustrates better than many speeches its desire to support the OCOG as closely as possible in preparing for the Games, and to behave with it as a solid ally.
