The International Olympic Committee announced last week that the 2020 Summer Olympics would be delayed, and we now have a new date for when the games will take place. The games will be held from July 23-Aug. 8, which is almost exactly one year from the date that they were set to be held in 2020.
The opening ceremony will be held on July 23, and the closing ceremony will take place on Aug. 8. The International Olympic Committee considered changing the games to the spring of 2021, but the games would then clash with several key dates on the sports calendar.
It was eventually determined that the games should take place during the same time frame.
The Paralympics were also forced to be rescheduled because of the coronavirus. The new date for these games is Aug. 24-Sept. 5. The International Olympic Committee has pledged over $1 billion to help Japan deal with the financial strain that this delay will cause.
Visa Extends Sponsorship Deals
Most of the prominent US Olympic athletes had some sort of sponsorship deal heading into the 2020 Summer Olympics. At least one major sponsor has agreed to extend that sponsorship until 2021.
Visa has agreed to remain the sponsor of both Olympic and Paralympic athletes through the duration of the Olympic games now set to take place in 2021.
Visa is currently set to sponsor more than 90 athletes across 27 sports in the Summer Olympics. Megan Rapinoe and Simone Biles are the two biggest female stars on “Team Visa,” and they are also sponsoring David Rushida.
Not only will this give the athletes some support as they now must train for another year, but it will also provide some financial support. Some of the top athletes have already filmed promotional commercials for the company, but those advertisements will need to be adjusted to reflect the new dates.
US Olympic Organizations Set to Lose Money
The delay of the 2020 Summer Olympics will obviously be a huge financial strain on the country of Japan, but it is also set to affect several Olympic organizations in the United States. There are 50 national bodies that supply money to the US Olympic cause, and at least 40 of those organizations have reported that they are set to lose money.
The NGB Council provides money and support for athletes to participate in the Summer Olympics, and they rely on their member organizations to supply the funds. Sources have indicated that the NGB Council could be set to lose close to $120 million as a result of this delay of the games.
Some of the companies that supply money to the NGB Council have not only reported losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but they are also starting to layoff employees. USA Cycling has a staff of around 70 full-time workers, but they have already laid off eight employees over the last few weeks.
USA Swimming gets most of their money from membership dues that are submitted throughout the year, but that has been cut off with the lack of swimming taking place around the United States.
The US Olympic Committee is unable to provide funds for the Summer Olympic athletes without support and money from the NGB Council. The US Olympic Committee has reached out to the federal government for some relief aid, but that has yet to come.
US Olympic athletes will continue to train, and the belief is that something will be figured out before the 2020 Olympics are set to begin.
