奥运顶级赞助计划为何选中阿里？

奥运顶级赞助计划为何选中阿里？

“TOP”赞助商是国际奥委会全球最高级别的合作，对入选企业实行严格准入规则，每期名额仅10家左右，且每类产品和服务在全球范围内只能有一个合作伙伴。成立仅17年的阿里巴巴是奥运会TOP赞助商最年轻的面孔。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

coffer金库；资金['kɒfə]

Pyeongchang韩国平昌

disclose公开；揭露[dɪs'kləʊz]

negotiation谈判；转让；顺利的通过[nɪgəʊʃɪ'eɪʃ(ə)n]

secured有担保的[sɪ'kjʊr]

ease减轻，缓和；使安心[iːz]

implement执行；实现，使生效['ɪmplɪm(ə)nt]

Alibaba to sponsor next 6 Olympic Games（591 words）

By Murad Ahmed in London

Alibaba has signed a deal to sponsor the next six Olympic Games,in a move expected to deliver at least $600m into the coffers of the body that runs the world’s biggest sporting event.

The Chinese ecommerce group founded by Jack Ma joins an elite corporate list that includes McDonald’s,Coca-Cola and Visa as part of the“worldwide sponsorship programme”for the International Olympic Committee,the governing body of the games,until 2028.

Under the terms of the deal announced on Thursday,Alibaba will also provide technology services to the games organisers,and will establish the Olympic Channel,a new digital television service intended to promote the games to younger sports fans. Alibaba said it would help tailor the channel for Chinese audiences.

Mr Ma said Alibaba would use its technology to help“evolve the Olympic Games for the digital era”.

The top tier of Olympic sponsors has previously been dominated by western groups and has only once before included a Chinese company — PC maker Lenovo during the 2008 Beijing games.

But the IOC has been seeking to build ties with Asian sponsors to help promote its events worldwide. Asian cities — Pyeongchang in South Korea,Tokyo and Beijing — will host the next three Olympic Games: one summer and two winter events.

Financial details of Alibaba’s agreement were not disclosed,but analysis of revenues from previous sponsorship deals suggests the company will have paid hundreds of millions of dollars for the marketing rights.

One person briefed on the negotiations said the IOC had secured new deals with recent sponsors such as Bridgestone and Panasonic worth at least $200m over a four-year Olympic cycle,with the Alibaba deal likely to be in excess of the sums paid by those groups.

According to forecasts from the IOC,its top 12 sponsors provided revenues of a little more than $1bn for the 2014 winter games in Sochi and last year’s summer games in Rio de Janeiro.

Overall revenues from broadcasting rights and other commercial deals,netted the organisation $5.6bn over the same period.

Over the past two years,Chinese groups have invested billions in sports companies,European football clubs and media rights agencies,a spending spree sparked by the call of President Xi Jinping to transform China into a“great sports nation”.

Last year,Wanda Group,controlled by China’s richest man,Wang Jianlin,signed a sponsorship deal with Fifa,world football’s governing body,covering the next four World Cups. Alibaba has increasingly looked to expand into sport and already part-owns a Chinese football club.

Industry executives said Alibaba has been actively looking at large sporting deals,and previously held sponsorship talks with Fifa and FC Barcelona,the Spanish football club,as it sought new ways to market its brand around the world.

The deal with Alibaba may help ease the pressure on Thomas Bach,IOC president,who has been under fire for his handling of revelations of Russian state-sponsored doping before the Rio games. Mr Bach declined to enforce a blanket ban on Russian athletes,a move called for by the World Anti-Doping Agency and some western bodies.

Mr Bach,elected to an eight-year term as president in 2013,has attempted to implement a series of reforms intended to make hosting the games more affordable for future bid cities. But that has not prevented cities,including Oslo,Rome and Boston,from pulling out of contention for hosting future games,citing the prohibitive cost.

The IOC splits the proceeds from broadcasting and commercial deals with host cities to soften the financial blow of staging the event.