China's Alibaba becomes major sponsor of Olympics

[January 19, 2017]    DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has become a major sponsor of the Olympics after signing a deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that runs until 2028, the two parties said on Thursday

Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma, attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

Alibaba, which becomes the official e-commerce and cloud services partner, joins 12 other companies - including Coca-Cola and McDonald's - as top Olympic sponsors.

No financial details were disclosed. IOC sources have previously told Reuters that major sponsors pay about $100 million per four-year cycle, which includes one summer and one winter games.

The Alibaba deal comes as Asia prepares to host three consecutive Games with South Korea's Pyeongchang staging the 2018 winter Games, Tokyo the 2020 summer Olympics and Beijing the 2022 winter Games.

"This is a ground-breaking, innovative alliance, and will help drive efficiencies in the organisation of the Olympic Games through 2028," said IOC President Thomas Bach.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Pravin Char)

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