(BFM Bourse) – The Paris 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games will begin in less than 500 days. The athletes will of course be honored during these 19 days of competition, as will the companies for which participation in the Olympic Games represents a tremendous exposure.
In 2024, Paris will host the Olympic Games for the third time in its history after the 1900 and 1924 editions. Like the 10,500 athletes participating in this XXXIII Olympiad, several French companies fought to win their ticket and thus take part in this planetary event. The discreet company Abeo is one of them.
Originally from Rioz in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, the group has made a name for itself in the supply of sports equipment, thanks to the many acquisitions of world-renowned companies it has made over the past twenty years. In 2000, the group acquired Gymnova, the specialist in sports gymnastics equipment. And it is this well-known brand of gymnastics practitioners that was selected last week by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee.
Gymnova is a flagship brand of the Olympic Games. The brand had supplied the equipment for all gymnastics disciplines at the London Olympics in 2012 and then, four years later, at the Rio Olympics in 2016, associated with its other brand Spieth Gymnastics. The latter provided the equipment for the gymnastics events for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
“A factor of image notoriety”
For Abeo, the Olympic Games are a tremendous lever of notoriety. “The Olympic Games remain the most prestigious global competition. It is a factor of image notoriety for our brands. The organizers of the Olympic Games select the safest brands, those which will guarantee the best level of sporting practice and security of the event. For us, participating in these games is an honor and a source of pride. Also, and we must not hide it, the Games are a great communication medium”, confided its CEO Olivier Esteves to the antenna of BFMBusiness.
On the other hand, the content of the contract between Abeo and the Paris 2024 Olympic Committee remains confidential. But this investment is not in vain for the French ETI, as Olivier Esteves reminded us: “If we signed this contract, it is because we believe that the exchanges of services it contains will be beneficial to the development of Abeo and of its Gymnova brand”.
In addition to Gymnova, several other Abeo brands will be present at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Schelde Sports has already been selected to supply the baskets for 3×3 basketball, a sport which made its Olympic debut at edition of the Tokyo 2020 Games and which has been selected for this new edition. Schelde Sport will also equip the 5×5 basketball events, the traditional form of this sport.
EP (formerly Entre-prises) will provide equipment for the three climbing disciplines (bouldering, speed and difficulty). This climbing wall manufacturer was already present at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when climbing became an Olympic sport for the first time. Abeo will be present beyond purely sports equipment. Its subsidiary Navic will equip the changing rooms of the future Olympic Aquatic Center based in Saint-Denis. Since 1956, Abeo has participated in the Olympic Games 15 times through its multiple brands. Soon sixteen with the next Olympiad…
Successful bets?
Sporting events are an opportunity for several brands to gain notoriety. Lyon-based GL Events, which has experience of these major sporting events, will also be present at the 2024 Summer Games. The world leader in events and its subsidiary GL Events Equestrian Sport will ensure the delivery of event and sporting operations for the equestrian and para-equestrian events of Paris 2024 which will take place in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles.
“GL events Equestrian Sport is delighted with this prestigious selection to support Paris 2024 in the organization of the equestrian and para-equestrian events of Paris 2024. […] GL events will mobilize its know-how and expertise to guarantee an optimal welcome and flawless performance with, at the heart of its concerns, the safety and well-being of the public, riders and their mounts throughout. events”, underlined Sylvie Robert, general manager of the event group in a press release.
Lyon society is not at its first Olympiad. It had already been selected for the design, supply, delivery and installation of temporary infrastructure at all the sites of the Rio Olympics and Paralympics in Brazil in 2016.
Other well-identified companies from the general public will be lined up on the starting sheet for these Games organized in France. Like Danone, which will be the partner of the Paris 2024 Olympics. As part of this partnership, the French agrifood giant will distribute a wide choice of fresh dairy products of plant origin (Hipro, Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Danone …) to all the populations present on the sites of the Paris 2024 Games: athletes, volunteers, spectators, guests, media.
For its part, Fnac Darty announced at the start of 2023 the signing of a partnership with the Organizing Committee as an official supporter. The European leader in the distribution of cultural goods will supply the Olympic Village with small and large household appliances, including certain products from the Olympic Partners program (TOP programme) of the International Olympic Committee.
The TOP program is the highest level of Olympic sponsorship, recalls the official website of the Olympic Committee. It grants a select group of global partners exclusive marketing rights, in a given category, to the Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics and Youth Olympic Games.
Among these companies, we find the behemoths Visa or Coca-Cola who are ready to spare no expense in order to strengthen their notoriety in all major international competitions. To be visible to football fans, these two brands have for example had to spend between 50 and 70 million euros per year over 4 years to obtain the title of official FIFA partner, according to data provided by Sporsora. It was the price to pay for these brands to be highlighted in the stadiums as well as in all the official publications during the last Football World Cup.
Competitions are played more and more outside sports venues with the advent of sport business. The sums committed are therefore commensurate with the financial stakes linked to the fallout from these events. During the last Olympics held in Tokyo, more than three billion people stared at their televisions, according to data from Statista. There are therefore as many viewers who are in contact with the brands during the time of a competition. And advertisers have taken the full measure of these issues, even if it means paying colossal sums to be visible. But for them, the return on investment is such that the game is worth the candle…
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2023 BFM Bourse
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