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Olympic Politics, Intrigue and Sports Marketing History Recounted in IOC Insider's New Book
Michael Payne details the Olympic Partner program's role in securing billions for hosts and athletes while navigating political pressures from the Cold War to recent conflicts.
- Michael Payne, the former IOC marketing director, recounts more than four decades of Olympic deals, noting about $3 billion in the Paris 2024 cycle from sponsorships.
- Payne says sponsorship rescued the Games after a near-collapse, crediting Juan Antonio Samaranch and Horst Dassler as visionaries who steered the Olympics back to financial health through the TOP program.
- Payne details negotiations and sponsor clashes that shaped TOP's rules, including Jack Ma signing with then-IOC president Thomas Bach at Davos in 2017 and enforcing commercial-free 'clean venues' by shutting a lit golden arches sign and clashing with McDonald's.
- Amid the 2026 Winter Olympics, the memoir arrives as Ukraine dominates the spotlight, and Payne says the Ukraine case will likely delay lifting the Russian Olympic Committee suspension.
- Payne urges the IOC to 'take stock and recalibrate' its marketing as sponsors press for relaxed rules, stressing sponsorship funds support Olympic hosts, national Olympic committees and athlete scholarships.
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Olympic Politics: Intrigue and Debates from 'Fast Tracks and Dark Deals' | Sports-Games
Olympic Politics: Intrigue and Debates from 'Fast Tracks and Dark Deals' Michael Payne's book, 'Fast Tracks and Dark Deals', offers an insider's perspective on the political intricacies and financial strategies that have shaped the Olympic Games over the past four decades. As the former marketing director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Payne recounts his experiences with Cold War politics, sponsorship struggles, and the challenges…
·India
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Associated Press News+10 Reposted by 10 other sources
Olympic politics, intrigue and sports marketing history recounted in IOC insider's new book
Political pressure on Olympic officials, like in the case of the Ukraine skeleton racer’s memorial helmet at the Milan Cortina Games, is nothing new, according to a long-time IOC insider.
·United States
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Total News Sources12
Leaning Left5Leaning Right1Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution46% Left, 45% Center
Bias Distribution
- 46% of the sources lean Left, 45% of the sources are Center
46% Left
L 46%
C 45%
Factuality
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