McDonald’s and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that they had mutually agreed to end their partnership.
The decision comes nearly a year after McDonald’s celebrated its 40th anniversary as a global sponsor for the Olympic Games at the Rio De Janeiro games.
“As part of our global growth plan, we are reconsidering all aspects of our business and have made this decision in cooperation with the IOC to focus on different priorities,” said McDonald’s global chief marketing officer, Silvia Lagnado, in a statement. “We have been proud to support the Olympic Movement, and we thank our customers and staff, the spectators, athletes, and officials, as well as the IOC and local Olympics Games organizing committees, for all of their support over the years.”
According to a joint release, the partnership’s termination is immediately in effect, although McDonald’s will still sponsor the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, next year, but with domestic marketing rights in Korea only.
The IOC announced that it did not plan to replace McDonald’s sponsorship with another food brand.
“The IOC’s sponsorship strategy is aimed at delivering long-term partnerships that help the Olympic Movement achieve the objectives set out in Olympic Agenda 2020, our strategic roadmap for the future,” said Timo Lumme, managing director of IOC Television and Marketing Services, in a statement. “This strategy is exemplified by the recent announcement of long-term, ground-breaking agreements with new and existing global partners. In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, we understand that McDonald’s is looking to focus on different business priorities. For these reasons, we have mutually agreed with McDonald’s to part ways.”
