[lbo-talk] Anheuser-Busch to sponsor Beijing Olympics

[uvj at vsnl.com]

The Economic Times

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Anheuser-Busch to sponsor Beijing '08 Olympics

AFP

BEIJING: Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest brewer, has
signed up as a sponsor for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the US-based company
said Tuesday in Beijing.

The agreement marks the first time Anheuser-Busch, the
maker of Budweiser, has sponsored a summer Olympics outside the United
States, according to a statement from the company.

"People who like sports are beer drinkers, and people who
are beer drinkers like sports," Patrick Stokes, chief executive of
Anheuser-Busch, told a briefing in the Chinese capital. The company, which
declined to reveal how much it would spend on sponsoring the 2008 Games,
said the deal would allow it to use the Beijing Olympic logo for promotional
purposes in 30 countries and regions, including China.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games said the
agreement did not exclude future sponsorship deals with local brewers.
"We're clear that there are some very famous beer brands in Beijing as well
as in China as a whole," said Yuan Bin, a marketing executive with the
Beijing committee.

"Some of them have already expressed their intention to
become involved in sponsoring the Beijing Olympic Games," she said. As China
prepares for the Olympics four years from now, companies inside and outside
the country are competing fiercely to sponsor the world's most watched
sports event. China's largest computer firm, Legend Group, said earlier this
year its Lenovo PC brand had won a bid to become the exclusive computing
technology equipment and service provider for the 2008 Games.

No financial details were given for that deal either, but
Chinese media reports estimated Legend's sponsorship to be worth between $65
to 80 million.

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