Eurosport nets $10m Samsung Olympics coverage deal

LONDON - Samsung Electronics is to sponsor Eurosport's Olympic Games coverage up to and during the competition, to be held in Athens next year, in a deal believed to be worth more than $10m (£6.2m).

The pan-European sport channel's pre-Olympic coverage kicks off next month with the Athletics World Championships in Paris, which forms the first element of Samsung's package.

The deal gives the electronics brand advertising, sponsorship, bespoke programming and PR across Eurosport's, web, mobile and TV properties over the next year to raise the profile of its status as an official worldwide Olympic partner.

The Eurosport deal includes all coverage of the games and related programming, including a reality TV show called 'M2A - Mission to Athens', a weekly programme that will follow eight top athletes from different territories in their quest for Olympic glory.

The Olympic programming will end with the 'Sports Star Awards', a ceremony celebrating the event's heroes, from the medal winners to the organising committee and the federations. Samsung will be involved as the presenting sponsor.

Eurosport chief executive Angelo Codignoni said: "I am very pleased to have a worldwide Olympic partner of the standard of Samsung Electronics supporting our pioneering programming plans and our drive to keep the Olympic spirit alive between Olympiads on this multiyear media partnership.

"Bringing an official broadcaster and official sponsor together a full year before the games is a unique case of cooperative partnership and a further tribute to the IOC," he added.

The deal was brokered directly between the channel and the company. Their last deal was to promote Samsung's involvement with Hollywood blockbluster 'The Matrix Reloaded'.

Eurosport is also in talks with other companies about sponsorship of coverage of forthcoming key events, such as Euro 2004 in Portugal.

The channel recently strengthened its sales team with the promotion of Georgina Sherman and Christian Kimberley-Bowen to the posts of group heads.

Kimberley-Bowen will report to business development director Michael Lams and US sales director Tim McCann. He will focus on new business development and the US market.

Sherman will work with pan-European agencies in the London market and will report to international sales manager Mark Alexander.

"Promoting Georgina and Christian strengthens our London team at a key time and it is great to be able to promote talented people from within Eurosport," sales director Liz Jones said.

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