A Gold-Medal Market

For example, starting about a month before the opening ceremonies, the Chinese government began giving Olympic sponsors preference on advertising space at the Beijing airport, on the city's subway lines and on TV stations featuring Olympic content, the New York Times reported.

That limits the ability of ambush marketers — companies with no official Olympic ties — to try to link their name to the Games. Companies such as Nike, which will have a presence through its clothing of certain athletes and teams, will be hard-pressed to buy billboard ads and other marketing that imply an official relationship with the Olympics.

Of course, Olympic sponsors risk the possibility of bad publicity. The torch relay — marred by protests regarding China's treatment of Tibet — was a prime example. Coca-Cola, one of the sponsors of the torch relay, says it hasn't regretted its choice. Said Tressler: "We believe the torch relay is clearly a force for good."

From Coca-Cola to Kodak to McDonald's, corporate giants are spending tens of millions of dollars to ingratiate themselves, through athletics, in the world's biggest market.

One example of the potential payoff: China's sportswear market is expected to nearly double by 2009 from just three years earlier, according to ZOU Marketing in Shanghai. The investment is huge, but the rewards for companies targeting a still largely untapped market could be Olympian.

© 2008