So, at the risk of being redundant, I asked a friend who is in this business how this works, just to confirm in my own mind. This guy used to run sportswear for one of the big shoe companies. He's played this game.
The opening and closing uniforms get a lot of visibility. The opening ceremony ones, more so, as the athletes tend to wear those jackets, the whole time they are there. In our case {skiing} if and when they are off the hill. So on TV, you see the Americans, generally the biggest delegation, for more time, then you see all sorts of interviews and photo ops through the games. The viewership for the closing ceremonies is also huge. And IF the big names actually show up, there can be a lot of air time for the USA.
BTW, the exposure and numbers are even bigger, I'm told, in the summer games.
RL/Polo bids on the contract. They pay a "hefty sum" for the deal. They design the uniforms. USOC approves the designs. They manufacture a gazillion of them for the athletes, dignitaries, etc.
Obviously they want logos and as much signage as they can. There are Olympic regulations, etc.
So what does this cost? RL probably pays about what a good time slotted 30 second ad costs in the Super Bowl. Maybe a touch more. And how much value might it deliver to RL/Polo? Depends. My friend says that it might work out to be 3 times what a Super Bowl ad delivers.
I guess the costs and money has been pretty strong. Then of course each sport, and in the case of skiing, each discipline, has their own uniform deals. LL Bean is big with USA Nordic, Spyder for Alpine, NorthFace for freestyle, etc.
Main point is that the USOC is not buying uniforms. They are selling ad space. And they want nice product to be delivered.
The opening and closing uniforms get a lot of visibility. The opening ceremony ones, more so, as the athletes tend to wear those jackets, the whole time they are there. In our case {skiing} if and when they are off the hill. So on TV, you see the Americans, generally the biggest delegation, for more time, then you see all sorts of interviews and photo ops through the games. The viewership for the closing ceremonies is also huge. And IF the big names actually show up, there can be a lot of air time for the USA.
BTW, the exposure and numbers are even bigger, I'm told, in the summer games.
RL/Polo bids on the contract. They pay a "hefty sum" for the deal. They design the uniforms. USOC approves the designs. They manufacture a gazillion of them for the athletes, dignitaries, etc.
Obviously they want logos and as much signage as they can. There are Olympic regulations, etc.
So what does this cost? RL probably pays about what a good time slotted 30 second ad costs in the Super Bowl. Maybe a touch more. And how much value might it deliver to RL/Polo? Depends. My friend says that it might work out to be 3 times what a Super Bowl ad delivers.
I guess the costs and money has been pretty strong. Then of course each sport, and in the case of skiing, each discipline, has their own uniform deals. LL Bean is big with USA Nordic, Spyder for Alpine, NorthFace for freestyle, etc.
Main point is that the USOC is not buying uniforms. They are selling ad space. And they want nice product to be delivered.
Last edited:
