The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is betting on the country\u2019s pride in Team Canada athletes to drive the success of its recent Olympic sponsorship deal, says Brock University expert Michael Naraine.<\/p>\n
The Crown-owned gambling entity recently became the Official Ontario Lottery Partner of Team Canada for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The partnership with the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees (COC, CPC) is the first of its kind for the OLG. The Summer Olympics in Paris are also the first Games to take place since the regulation of single-game sports betting in Ontario.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot more strategies around sports betting, and one of them is sponsorship,\u201d says Naraine, Associate Professor of Sport Management at Brock. \u201cThere is almost a century-and-a-half now of equity in the Olympic rings \u2014 it is elusive and exclusive \u2014 and aligning yourselves with Canada’s team, whether it’s Olympic or Paralympic, has a lot of power to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The OLG\u2019s Olympic campaign features Team Canada athletes Andre De Grasse, Penny Oleksiak, Maggie Mac Neil and Jillian Weir, among others who have received funding from Ontario\u2019s\u00a0Quest for Gold program<\/a>. The campaign\u2019s messaging focuses on the OLG\u2019s proceeds \u2014 including those from its new $2 Instant Quest for Gold lottery game \u2014 going directly back into initiatives that help fund athletes in their journey to reach the podium.<\/p>\n The partnership may raise a few eyebrows, however, says Naraine. Aligning oneself with what he calls the \u201csin\u201d categories \u2014 like gambling, tobacco or cannabis, for instance \u2014 could be perceived as a risky move for an organization that places ethics and integrity as keystones of its brand identity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s an interesting dynamic because this is not something that we’ve seen before in the Olympic movement here in Canada,\u201d he says. \u201cSports integrity is a very hot topic issue as sports gambling is becoming more prominent here in North America, as well, so that is a bit of the worry.\u201d<\/p>\n What the OLG is banking on, however, is finding what\u2019s known as congruence: an alignment between the values of the sport property and the sponsoring brand, Naraine says.<\/p>\n Fundamentally, if they share the same values, the sponsorship should work, he adds.<\/p>\n