VANCOUVER - Organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver are raking in the sponsorship money and have exceeded their 2007 target by at least $15 million.
The organizing committee issued a financial report Friday saying it raised $80 million in sponsorships for the fiscal year ending July 31.
"I am pleased to report that we continue to meet or exceed our financial and planning milestones,'' said John Furlong, CEO of the organizing committee known as VANOC.
"I never dreamed we would be in such a favourable position so early, and we will continue to honour our promise to Canadians to keep these Games on budget, on schedule and to engage the private sector fully in the project.''
The committee is now 88 per cent of the way toward its total target of raising $760 million for the Games, with just over two years left to go.
The report outlines some of the milestones the committee has reached this year, including releasing the ticket-pricing scheme and released the Games' business plan.
Still to come in 2007 is the unveiling of the 2010 mascot and delivery of the 2010 competition schedule to the International Olympic Committee's executive board.
As well, several venues will be completed by the end of the year.
Sixty-two per cent of the $580-million venue construction budget has been expended, the report notes.
Earlier this year, VANOC received the go-ahead from the Games' board to take $26.5 million from its contingency fund to complete construction projects.
Most of the money is to go toward the Whistler athletes' village, mostly to cover 800 additional temporary rooms that had to be added to accommodate athletes and officials.
Costs of a high-performance gym also went up.
One area where revenues dipped was in merchandising.
Last year, VANOC brought in $3.4 million in sales of clothing and other merchandise, but this year it was only $2 million.
The report attributes the difference to the strong sales of such products in 2006 around the Games held in Turin, Italy.
But VANOC got a somewhat unexpected boost from the strength of the Canadian dollar.
The committee was criticized in years past for not properly hedging the exchange rate on the Canadian dollar.
While last year VANOC had a foreign exchange loss of $2.1 million, this year it got a gain of $3.7 million.
John McLaughlin, VANOC's chief financial officer, said the committee had to make its budget predictions two years ago.
"So we went out and we bought what amounts to options to buy and also we sold options for others to buy U.S. dollars from us.
"What that's done is put us in a position where right now, the worst we can do on those U.S. dollars is get $1.08 Canadian, which is, I think, about 10 cents more per dollar than it is on the market today.''
Furlong said the committee is now moving into the operational period of the Games, "easily the most complex phase.
"The Games are the equivalent of staging three Super Bowls a day for 17 days,'' he said.
