Officials familiar with deal say IOC set to announce multimillion-dollar sponsor deal with Dow

AP sources: IOC to announce deal with Dow

The International Olympic Committee is ready to announce a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical, according to international and U.S. Olympic officials familiar with the negotiations.

The announcement is set for Friday in New York, with IOC president Jacques Rogge and U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun among those expected to attend. Three people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press about the pending announcement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made.

The deal with Dow, details of which were first reported by AP last month, will bring the IOC up to 10 companies in its top-tier sponsorship program for the 2012 Olympics. The IOC also has been negotiating with Procter & Gamble and BMW, as it tries to match or exceed the 11 sponsors it had in the last four-year cycle.

The IOC’s global sponsorships usually cover at least four years and sell for up to $100 million.

The IOC already has secured close to $900 million in sponsorship revenue for the current four-year cycle, but hopes to break the $1 billion mark.

The deal is expected to help solve some of the problems the USOC and IOC are having on their long-standing dispute over revenue splits.

The sides are trying to reach an agreement on how much the USOC should pay toward the administrative costs of putting on the Olympics.

Adding a new sponsor puts more money into the pot and makes it easier for the USOC to compromise on the games-cost issue.

The administrative-costs issue is part of a bigger agreement between the parties to begin negotiations in 2013 on a new revenue-sharing formula to go into effect in 2020.

The USOC gets a 20-percent share of global sponsorship revenue and a 12.75-percent share of U.S. broadcast rights deals. Many international officials think it’s too big a portion.