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The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are set to be the most watched in its history, with a record 160 broadcasters signing up to cover the event. That will be welcome news for sponsors, but for organizers it marks a whole new step forward for the para movement.
The previous Paralympic Summer games, held in Tokyo four years ago, were sold to 154 countries and territories, when 19 sports were included. They reached around 4.1 billion people, according to the Paris 2024 organizing committee. This year, the games will feature 22 sports and 4,400 Paralympic athletes.
Despite that, it’s expected that most of the attention and brand activation will still focus on the Olympics held just a few weeks in advance.
Charged with the development of the Paralympic movement is a nonprofit organization and global governing body, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, the IPC oversees the successful delivery of the Games while supporting over 200 members to develop para sport and advocate for social inclusion.
Following a 2018 ruling, all Olympic sponsors must now support both games. This decision will bring stability to the Paralympics with both events taking place in the same city, explained Craig Spence, the IPC’s chief brand and communications officer. This mandate will carry on past California 2028 until at least 2032, when the Games will be held in Brisbane, Australia.
“Knowing that we’ve got the support of all the top partners in terms of activating their rights around the Paralympics also helps amplify the coverage of the Games and the Paralympics to whole new audiences around the world,” he added.
Brands that fail to use their Paralympic sponsorship rights to the full are missing a massive trick.
Louise Johnson, CEO, Fuse
Compared to the International Olympic Committee’s workforce of thousands, Spence noted that the IPC employs just 140 people with an average annual turnover of $22 million (20 million Euros.) The communications and brands team is 25 people strong, made up of various nationalities and working alongside internal broadcast and partnership teams, which all combine to maximize coverage of the Games and the work of their partners around the world.
Partnership commitments
This year, brand partners are divided into four categories: Worldwide, Premium, Official Partners and Official Supporters. Across those are some of the most recognizable companies in the world including P&G, Airbnb, LVMH, Alibaba, Bridgestone, Visa, Panasonic and Toyota.
