VANCOUVER - There's already an official diamond, an official bakery and even an official heating insulation -- and now the Vancouver 2010 Olympics has an official brew.
The Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC, announced Tuesday that Molson will be the official beer supplier for the Games in a deal worth between $3 million and $15 million.
It's the latest in a growing list of lucrative sponsorships covering a wide range of products from cola to shipping to online job searching.
And there will be more to come.
"You will see all kinds of categories, if you can dream it up and there's a way for us to create an opportunity,'' VANOC CEO John Furlong said following Tuesday's announcement at the Molson brewery just outside downtown Vancouver.
"The job we have as an organizing committee is to deliver a great Games and to do it in the most financially responsible way we can, so the more partners we have ... the better it is.''
Such multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals are incredibly valuable to both sides.
The deals take millions of dollars off VANOC's spending budget for the Games, and companies such as Molson in turn receive a level of exclusivity to the tens of thousands of people expected to attend one of the biggest events in the world.
But Kevin Boyce, CEO of Molson, said the relationship is more than just about sales.
"I don't think you can look at these things as making a profit or not,'' said Boyce following the announcement in Vancouver.
"If we do it properly, consumers will feel better about the Molson business.''
VANOC's CEO said there were other breweries competing for the chance to be the Olympic beer, though he wouldn't offer specifics.
Furlong said Molson -- Canada's oldest brewery, which merged in 2005 with U.S.-based Coors -- has strong ties to sport in Canada and was a natural fit, adding that the company has been involved with VANOC since Vancouver was bidding for the Games.
When the Olympics were last staged in Canada, the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Labatt was the official beer. At the time, that deal was reported to be worth between $8 million and $10 million.
A few million dollars is a bargain for the exposure that comes with the Games, whether it's exclusive rights to sell at Olympic venues or the close association with the event's idealistic image of hope and international co-operation, said marketing professor Juliet Zhu.
Zhu, who teaches at the University of British Columbia, noted that a 30-second television ad during this year's Superbowl cost US$2.7 million.
"Compared to that, this is nothing,'' Zhu said in an interview.
"You get the exposure that you would probably not have any other opportunity to get. ... And these are consumers not necessarily just from greater Vancouver and British Columbia, but from all over the world potentially.''
There have been questions about whether that imagine is being tarnished because of the controversy that has dogged this summer's forthcoming Games in Beijing, with protesters following the Olympic torch relay to voice opposition to China's human rights record.
For example, longtime Olympic sponsor Coca-Cola has faced calls to pull its support from the Beijing torch relay, though the soft-drink company has said it has no plans to withdraw.
There has already been talk about potential protests at the Vancouver Games, from native groups to anti-poverty activists, but Zhu doesn't think political controversy will rub off on sponsors.
"At the end of the day, people go to the Games, they enjoy watching the Games and then they consume, and they consume whatever is available,'' she said.
"If you start thinking about these Games, these athletes -- this is about sports. Politics eventually will be overridden by the (Olympic) spirit.''
