The Olympics: Licensing Gold

Sports and licensing are a marketing match made in heaven. It seems every week we see new licensing deals in the sporting space. It might be The National Hockey League (NHL) and New Era Cap, announcing a multiyear agreement for NHL headwear and apparel or a deal leaning into the ever-growing Pickleball craze.

But for many fans, the Olympics, happening now in Paris, represent the ultimate in sports. And because fans love to rep their favorite sports, it follows naturally that the Olympics brings forth an impressive number of licensing deals. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) even devotes an entire page on its website to licensing. It’s big business. Statista reports total revenue from licensing to the Organization Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) at the Olympic Winter Games in 2018 amounted to $79 million.

License Global also embraces Olympic fever. After securing 63 medals at the 2020 Tokyo summer games, Team GB, the Olympic team for Great Britain and Northern Ireland presented the opening day keynote at Brand Licensing Europe in November 2021. British Olympic gold medalists, Tom Daley and Charlotte Worthington, talked about their journeys to the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Looney Tunes Olympics

For the Paris Olympics, going on through Aug. 11, the excitement and the licensing deals started early. In October 2021, the IOC announced the launch of a unified online Olympic shop developed in collaboration with Fanatics. Soon after, Mappin & Webb, a British luxury jeweler, announced a collaboration with Team GB.

Related:Warner Bros. Drops Looney Tunes Team USA Apparel

Once 2024 arrived, the deals really got rolling. Team GB signed a collectibles licensing deal with Topps in March. In June, Warner Bros. dropped Looney Tunes Team USA apparel. Not even pets were left on the sidelines as PetSmart, the pet retailer for Team USA, released a collection of Team USA dog toys and apparel. Just before the games started, Anti Social Social Club (ASSC) announced the drop of its summer 2024 major collection, which included ASSC’s Paris 2024 Olympics capsule.

The deals continued to roll in even after the Olympics started as Samsung announced it had chosen Bare Tree Media to design the official Team France mobile theme for the Summer Olympics.

For those still looking to score an Olympic licensing deal in the future, the 2026 Winter games will be held in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo Feb. 6-22, 2026.