Support from the business community is crucial to the staging of the Games and the operations of every organisation within the Olympic Movement, including funding, technical services, and products.
The Olympic Partners (TOP) programme is the highest level of Olympic sponsorship, granting category-exclusive marketing rights to the Summer, Winter and Youth Olympic Games to a select group of global partners.
The programme – which was created by the IOC in 1985 – attracts some of the best-known multinational companies in the world. Through their support, Olympic partners provide the foundation for the staging of the Olympic Games and help athletes from over 200 nations participate on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
The Olympic Partner Programme
Founded in 1985
Highest level of olympic partnerships
Commercial programmes of the Organising Committees
Under the direction of the IOC, the Organising Committees (OCOGs) manage their own complementary commercial programmes to support the staging of the Games, including local sponsorship and supplier programmes (in categories that do not compete with those of the global TOP Partners), ticketing programmes and licensing programmes.
Commercial programmes of the National Olympic Committees
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) manage local sponsorship programmes which are in categories that do not compete with those of the TOP Partners and which grant Olympic marketing rights within the NOC country or territory only. NOCs may also manage local supplier and licensing programmes.
