Citigroup signed a sponsorship deal Thursday with the U.S. Olympic Committee, a move the banking group's CEO believes is an effective way to say thanks for customers' support during the financial crisis.
Monetary details of the agreement were not disclosed, but the banking category has long been one of the most lucrative in the USOC cache, traditionally worth $10 to $15 million for four years. This deal, which includes ad buys on NBC's telecasts at the London Games, goes through 2012.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit said the company is excited to get in line with the Olympics but also said the sponsorship is ''about just saying thanks to the American people who have supported us through everything that has happened the last few years.''
Citi received about $45 billion in government bailout money to help it survive during the credit crisis that hit in 2007 and 2008. The company has paid back the money and has reported profits for the last four quarters.
''We have turned the corner, no question about it,'' Pandit said. ''Having an opportunity to sponsor a key event that's important to the U.S., we think it's an important part of what we need to be doing, what we should be doing and it's what we are doing.''
The financial crisis also hit the USOC, which lost a handful of multimillion-dollar sponsors, including longtime partner Bank of America.
The USOC has been steadily rebuilding its sponsorship clientele.
The Citi arrangement is the second that brought NBC to the table, folding in advertising on the Olympic network's broadcasts with the basic USOC sponsorship deal. In the past, companies would negotiate with the USOC, then decide whether they wanted ad time for the Olympics and head to NBC to work a separate deal. USOC CEO Scott Blackmun thought streamlining that process would make the deals more attractive.
