BP aims to win more than plaudits from £50m Olympic sponsorship

Deal with oil major brings 2012 promoters closer to goal of raising £600m from British business BP became the latest British corporation to become a headline sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics yesterday, in a multi-year deal estimated to be worth in excess of £50m. The oil major joins an illustrious list: Lloyds TSB, EDF Energy, Adidas, British Airways and BT are already signed up to contribute both money and services to put together and run the event. So far Adidas is the biggest contributor, with a total effort worth some £100m that the company says will help to leave a legacy of better public access to sports facilities. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games needs to raise £2bn, on top of the £9.3bn from taxpayers. Around £600m will come from domestic corporations, the rest from merchandising and ticketing,... [read full story]