With three years to go, preparations for the Olympics are on time and on budget, according to the latest London 2012 Games Quarterly Economic Report.
However, in terms of sponsorship, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is ahead of its targets and has been for some time.
Chris Townsend, the London 2012 commercial director, and his team delivered the Games' first partner, Lloyds TSB, in March 2007. Adidas, BP, EDF Energy, BT and British Airways have followed suit. Their support, and that of secondary and tertiary partners, accounts for £530m of a £650m target.
‘They have done an excellent job, but they have been sideswiped by the economic situation,' says Pippa Collett of Sponsorship Consulting.
Despite this challenge, Townsend and director of commercial negotiations Charlie Wijeratna remain ‘100% confident' of reaching their goal.
While LOCOG has fewer tier-one partners than initially expected - the state of the automotive market all but putting paid to the possibility of a car sponsor - the value of the individual deals to date has been far greater.
London 2012 prefers the term ‘partner' to ‘sponsor' and it relies on these companies for support for the duration of their deals. Despite being some of the highest-profile victims of the economic downturn, LOCOG's partners continue to integrate their Olympic association into wider marketing.
Townsend says some partners plan to launch their Olympics-related marketing campaigns only in 2010, but is confident that those already active will continue to exploit their association. ‘We've seen our partners, such as EDF and Lloyds, invest significant funds and they've not been reduced', he adds.
James Eadie, Olympic marketing director at Coca-Cola, offers further reassurance. ‘While we recognise these are difficult times, we see no reason to take our foot off the pedal,' he says. ‘We have seen recessions before and know that it is important to maintain a dialogue with our customers, and be well-prepared to embrace the upturn.'
The focus has now turned to lower-tier partners whose input, both financially and through value-in-kind, is as fundamental to a successful Olympics as the tier-one and International Olympic Committee partners.
However, collating the commercial programme for the 2012 Games is a complicated task. Wijeratna compares it to piecing together a tricky jigsaw puzzle because of the category exclusivity negotiated by each partner.
Nonetheless, deals are continuing steadily to fall into place, with Ticket-master the latest to be announced. Meanwhile, Hornby, which agreed a deal last week, is to create official toys and will soon announce its online retail plans. LOCOG is now exploring retail partners from sectors such as stationery, pharmacies, home retail, soft-furnishings, and clothing.
With the main Olympic site taking shape, the organisers have decided to publish press ads that recognise their sponsors. ‘We wanted to say thank-you to the partners and acknowledge their belief in us,' says Townsend.
There will inevitably be media scares about cost and readiness over the next three years - it is not possible to host a global sporting event without some bumps along the way. However, it is wrong to compare the Olympics to the troubled Millennium Dome or to assume, as former Dome boss PY Gerbeau did last week, that the Olympic stadium will go over-budget like Wembley. Despite turbulent times the Games are on track and whatever the economic climate three years from now, the London Olympics will begin on 27 July 2012.