Olympic Sponsors!

Social Media is the leading cause to why the 2012 London Olympic is protecting it's sponsors. Sponsorship is a huge business, which has already raised up to $957 million! 

When sponsorships meet  social standards, fans can be punished (according to the ticket purchase) for taking photos or videos and uploading them to a social media site. As well as the athletes, they are not allowed to comment on another competitors performance or promote a brand using social media. 

With social media making it easier for unofficial brands to attain success from international events, it stands to question, "Are sponsorships even worth it anymore?" The Journal of Managing and Marketing Research found that sponsor-event fit and brand equity are the most important factors when measuring the long-term financial success of brand sponsors. This is true when it comes to high-profile events like the Olympics, which has been considered the 'holy grail' for brands. These events usually have a “halo effect” in which, brand sponsors feed off of good-vibes. 

Three ways social media is harming brand sponsors is that a brand can not control what someone says about a brand through social media, nearly a billion people use Facebook, 140 million on Twitter, and 18 percent of the world owning smartphones , the IOC’s (International Olympic Committee) efforts may be too late.  IOC social media chief, Alex Huot warns that mechanisms are the case of online copyright infringement, but he acknowledges the impossibility of monitoring every tweet and webpage.

My own opinion on this topic is that, I believe that sponsors should be kept. I think it's something every athlete strives for. On a more personal note, I recently started bmx, this is a very underrated sport. Truly one I believe is harder than any sport I've ever played. But to stay with a sport and become good enough that you (the athlete) gets sponsored is, I'm sure a tremendous feeling of joy. You worked so hard to accomplish something great and a brand recognized that. So I strongly believe brands should stick around for athletes.