Toyota set to end massive Olympic sponsorship deal

TOKYO

Vehicle manufacturer Toyota is set to end its massive sponsorship deal with the International Olympic Committee after this year's Paris Olympics, according to reports in Japan.

Toyota has a contract through the 2024 Paris Games, which was reported to be valued at $835 million when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through Paris.

It has been widely reported to be the IOC's largest sponsorship deal.

Citing “sources close to the matter,” Japanese news agency Kyodo said Toyota was unhappy the way sponsorship money was used by the IOC. The news agency, quoting the sources, said the money was "not used effectively to support athletes and promote sports.”

Toyota pulled its Olympic advertising in Japan during the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021. It said it was responding to strong public sentiment in the country against staging the Olympics and the IOC's push to hold them.

Toyota is supplying 3,000 fuel-cell vehicles for the Paris Games to show off its green technology.

The IOC generates 91 percent of its income from selling broadcast rights (61 percent) and sponsorships (30 percent).

The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. The IOC's 15 so-called TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. 

In addition to Toyota, the TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, and Visa.

Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.