Let's Talk About the Olympics
Post By ConnectMarketing in SponsorshipThis is the very first Connect Blog, the first time that we really want to bring forward our opinion as a firm and create a platform to discuss those opinions with you. Of course, sometimes, as a firm, we may not have one opinion. Because we encourage open discourse, we will make the different opinions open to our readers.
We thought we should talk about the Olympics as the very first topic for discussion on this blog. Thinking about it, there are so many ways you could look at this- you can look at it from the global perspective or from the local angle. This particular edition is very interesting because of the host country, China. We have already started seeing a lot of activities targeted against the host. The main thrust of the anti-China activities is to raise awareness about their human rights record. The first line of attack was the Olympic torch tour. We do not remember a shorter Olympic torch tour in history. The route was well planned to create maximum impact and minimum confrontation with protesters. However, the protesters had their own plans as well.
However, the result is that for the first time in recent years, the pre-Olympic leverage activity level is at the lowest. The major Olympic sponsors are not leveraging as heavily as they used to. For Nigerian companies, the situation is slightly more complicated.
In the last four to eight years, the interest around the Olympic Games in Nigeria has really dwindled. There are different reasons for this. The first reason is that in some of the cases, the broadcast timing has been unfriendly because of the different time zones. The second and more important reason is that Nigerians are not passionate about the games because they do not see their athletes doing well in the games. Apart from football, Nigerians know that the state of our sports is not such that we expect a lot of medals. This reason is probably more important because if our representatives had good medal hopes, even if their contests came on TV at 2.00am, Nigerians will watch!!! However, our biggest medal hope is in football and we all know how difficult it is to win a medal in football. Even after all the pain, it is only one medal. Of course, the Olympics is a multi-event competition and since Nigeria started participating in Helsinki in 1952, we have only won nineteen medals with two of them being gold!!! Compare that to Kenya that has been participating since 1956 and has skipped two Olympic games and they have hauled 61 medals in total with 17 being gold!
Some people say the problem is the administration, others say the problem is that corporates are not investing money in any other sport apart from football. We read that the President has set an 8 gold medal target. We know that it is very unlikely that the Nigerian Olympic team will come home with 8 medals but then what is the problem?
Our opinion is that we need to go back to the building blocks. We need to build a programme based on a clear-cut long-term strategy. A strategy that builds on our strengths, engages the athletes from the grassroots and rewards corporates for every kobo spent in sports. A transparent and well-resourced strategy.A strategy that provides different incentives for the key stakeholders. If we do not put such a structure in place, we will continue to go to the Olympics as mere tourists.
Comments
Comment by T on May 28th, 2008 a 9:56 pm
I think we are just going to China to waste our time. All our athletes should sit down at home and watch the event from their television sets. We are not prepared!!!!!!! But, are we ever prepared?
Comment by Dele Odugbemi on May 28th, 2008 a 10:22 pm
The Olympics is a jamboree. Similar to the oft repeated top 20 economy by 2020 kind of rubbish. We go because we are expected to go as a 'big' nation. Like every aspect of our lives, we can perform better if our involvement becomes more deliberate and not because some people are going earn estacodes. Its never been about the athletes so whether this blog exists or not, we'll go anyway. Who's counting the medals? If we don't get the 8 gold medals, what will happen?????
Comment by Chris-Aladum Ugochukwu on May 29th, 2008 a 11:29 am
I agree that we have to go back to the building blocks. Nigeria is fond of adopting a fireman approach in most activities amd sports is not excluded. Pumping money into the sports ministry or olympic committee 3 months to the event will not win us medals against other countries who started their preparation for this olympics immediately after the last one. Nigeria needs a clear plan/programme for sports development and growth. A plan that would grow our atheletes for all sports events ( including the Olympic) that would upgrade our sports facilities and make them world class. Nigeria needs a master plan for sports development else every other thing will be like painting over a crack on a wall.....unless it is cemented the wall will finally fall.
Comment by Obi Asika on May 29th, 2008 a 1:11 pm
This is seriously on point, loving this blog, will return later, well done guys, the analysis on the local market is spot on and points to the decay we have collectively allowed to enter our sports in schools.
Comment by Busola Williams on May 29th, 2008 a 1:39 pm
Yes we have every reason to be at the Olympics. We have earned our places there and our sports men and women should be there. We must not mix politics and sports as this has robbed us of medals in the past e.g 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Comment by Chimezie Uguru on May 30th, 2008 a 9:03 am
I my opinion, i wont subscribe to skipping the Olympic games either because of China's Human right issues or because of the unlikely ability of our athletes to garner as many madels as possible. Firstly i think there is so much hypocricy about China. In the United States, civil rights advocates have been maltreated for several years, and i have never heared any western power advocate that the United Sates be sanctioned, they have hosted the games in about 3 or more cities. We have the Irish issue in the UK and they have hosted severally and will be hosting in London in 2012. Secondly on the other issue, i think corporate organizations should begin to demand transparency before commiting to sponsor. Many of them are accomplice in this, a case is the NFA?NFL sponsorhip deal. We know that many of them are guilty of sheddy sponsorship deals, but the media wont report honestly. Let corporates be honest and make demands for honest dealings/long term planning and clearly workable spo
Comment by Yemmy Ibironke on May 30th, 2008 a 9:15 am
I dont think Nigeria should be in this year's olympic,i think we've had enogh shame in the lexicon of sports competition this year and above all, Nigeria Sports Ministry needs an acidious overhauling because of what i called an arrogance display of shenanigan in the management of sports aactivities in this country.
Comment by Brenda on May 30th, 2008 a 9:17 am
For this year in particular, I think we should attend but only with the athletes/teams that have a chance to win medals and not just to ensure we fill up all available slots so that some people can either "defect" or go shopping. As for the protests, the olympic spirit is supposed to be "world peace" and this implies that we should use the opportunity to forge friendships with people we usually can't tolerate. It should be an avenue to affect the status quo and change perceptions. We should leave politics out of it.
Comment by ET on June 2nd, 2008 a 9:04 pm
@ Brenda, its kinda difficult to forge friendships with the country with one of the worst human rights records in recent history. I personally believe countries that have guts should just pull out in protest. As for our Nigerian contingent... the beauty is I think even they know they won’t win anything! They just need the exposure. Meanwhile, how come there is NO conversation about the Under 17 World Cup???? We are hosts and are current champions.. how come no ones talking about it???
Comment by Akin Adeoya on June 9th, 2008 a 3:33 pm
Who is the author of this article? I think we ought to know who is writing...
Comment by T on June 11th, 2008 a 7:15 pm
Hiya Akin, the article is the voice or opinion of Connect. We are just trying to get some conversation going.
Comment by abioye olufemi on June 17th, 2008 a 7:12 pm
the truth is that we are just marking numbers at the olympic just because we have self centered administrators who sees our participation as opportunity for them to share the national cake. until we have sincere people around our sport it will be for the "love of thier pocket and not the game"
Comment by Dem! on June 18th, 2008 a 4:50 pm
Olympics? *How much are we spending on the olympics? *How many hospitals can that money build? *How many doses of anti-malaria drugs can the money procure? *Why should we participate in a sport in which our best athlete is clearly not within the best 100 in the world and then hope to win medals? Lets remember the definition of insanity.....doing a thing the same way and expecting to get a different result....
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