Source: www.nytimes.com By RICHARD SANDOMIR
General Electric extended its global Olympic sponsorship on Wednesday through 2020, matching the decision three weeks ago by NBC Universal to acquire the rights to the four Olympics from 2014 to 2020 for $4.38 billion. G.E., which sold majority control of NBC Universal to Comcast, has sponsored the Olympics since 2008, adding an estimated $200 million sweetener to the $2 billion it paid for NBC to carry the 2008, ’10 and ’12 Games.
G.E.’s decision to continue as a sponsor was not a surprise.
Although G.E. now owns 49 percent of NBC Universal in a joint venture with Comcast, it still recognized the benefits of continuing the sponsorship, which lets it sell industrial products like energy generation systems to build and manage products in Olympic host cities. As of 2008, G.E. said that it had secured $700 million in contracts for 400 Olympic projects in and around Beijing for the 2008 Summer Games.
Jeff Immelt, the chairman and chief executive officer of G.E., said in a statement: “We are committed to working with the IOC and the local Organizing Committees to deliver world-class infrastructure solutions and a sustainable legacy to future generations.”