The International Olympic Committee’s loosening of iron-fisted rules around sponsorship gives Canada’s Olympians more commercial wiggle room in Tokyo this summer.
Under pressure from athletes, the IOC now allows for a more liberal interpretation of rules that govern the way athletes engage with their personal sponsors during an Olympic Games.
“We’re seeing a democratization of power,” Canadian Olympic wrestling champion Erica Wiebe said.
Rule 40 of the IOC’s Olympic charter ensures market exclusivity to companies who pony up hundreds of millions of dollars to have their brand in the Olympic Games.
Rule 40 previously stated “except as permitted by the IOC Executive Board, no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.”
The Canadian Olympic Committee revealed its updated guidelines around Rule 40 for the 2020 Tokyo Games on Tuesday.
Wiebe, from Stittsville, Ont., will be able to interact with personal sponsors on social media more than she could when she won gold in 2016, and appear in advertisements under certain conditions.
“A female wrestler in Canada is a pretty niche market,” she told The Canadian Press. “We’re not Usain Bolt or even Andre de Grasse. We get two weeks every four years to have the spotlight shone on us.
“It would be amazing to thank the people that have supported me since Day 1, that have had my back.”
Rule 40 has effectively not changed at all…. What has changed is country to country, athletes have begun mobilizing to change the interpretation of Rule 40 and how it’s ultimately enforced.— Agent Russell Reimer, who represents numerous Canadian Olympians
Jane Roos, the founder of Canadian Athletes Now, or Canfund, has raised over $40 million from the private sector for athletes since 2003.
But every Olympic Games, athletes were silent about Canfund’s contributions because acknowledging it ran afoul of Rule 40.
“When there’s crickets and no one is saying ‘Thank you’ and our donors say, ‘Do they appreciate it?’ I say, ‘It’s a blackout period,”‘ Roos said.
“To have athletes being able to say ‘Thank you’, which I think they should be able to, would help us a lot.”
Rule 40’s wording is now “competitors, team officials and other team personnel who participate in the Olympic Games may allow their person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games in accordance with the principles determined by the IOC Executive Board.”
German victory
“What’s happened is Rule 40 has effectively not changed at all. It’s the same exact rule that was crafted by the IOC,” explained agent Russell Reimer, who represents several Canadian Olympians.
“What has changed is country to country, athletes have begun mobilizing to change the interpretation of Rule 40 and how it’s ultimately enforced.”
German athletes successfully lobbied their country’s anti-trust agency last year to have the IOC’s restrictions on Games-time marketing declared “abusive.”
“This was something we had to pay close attention to, not because of what was happening in Germany, but because of what was important to athletes and their partners and their ability to commercialize themselves during the most important period of their athletic careers,” Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker said.
The COC must still assure its own sponsors they’ll get bang for their marketing buck during the Tokyo Games that open July 24 and close Aug. 9.
So restrictions remain on what athletes can post, say and wear during a “blackout period” from July 14 to Aug. 11.
A good balance, says COC CEO Shoemaker
Wording and images used by athletes and any of their non-Olympic sponsors in advertising and on social media can’t contain any intellectual property deemed Olympic in nature.
“We feel really good about the balance we’ve struck here,” Shoemaker said. “The COC is 98 and a half per cent funded by the private sector through nearly two dozen marketing partners and some of the greatest companies in this country.
“They sign on to a wonderful proposition in Team Canada and, in doing so, fund our Canadian sport system. That’s what we’re looking to protect.”
For most of the Canadian athletes bound for Tokyo, more freedom on social media is crucial. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are their primary means of marketing themselves.
“The Olympics is a brand. They need to protect their brand. But athletes are also brands and they need an opportunity to promote themselves,” Canadian race walker Evan Dunfee said.
“It’s once every four years we get a chance to be seen, so yeah, being able to utilize that opportunity a little bit more certainly is welcomed.”
NHL superstar Sidney Crosby is among the few athletes with the commercial stature to test Rule 40 in recent years.
Tug-of-war battles
A Tim Hortons spot featuring Crosby that ran before and during the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver was the Canadian test case for a non-Olympic sponsor continuing its association with an Olympian during the Games.
American swimmer Michael Phelps did the same with an Under Armour campaign during the Rio Olympics.
The Phelps and Crosby commercials contained no mention of the Olympics or medals or the Games in which they were competing, and thus provided templates for what is allowed now.
But as long as athletes are under contract to competing shoe and apparel companies, there will be tug-of-war battles.
Think Nike’s Michael Jordan covering his jacket’s Reebok logo with an American flag while standing on the basketball podium in 1992.
Compromise is more elusive outside the Olympic window, when athletes are loyal to the companies paying their bills between Games.
Pole vaulter Alysha Newman pulled out of a Canadian Olympic Committee media day in December because she wanted to wear her Nike gear. The COC’s clothing company is HBC. (Matt Dunham/The Associated Press)
Athletes adjusting
Pole vaulter Alysha Newman pulled out of a COC media day last month because she wanted to wear her Nike gear. The COC’s clothing company is HBC.
“She along with some other athletes have contractual commitments to their personal footwear and apparel brands that conflict with those of the COC,” her agent Brian Levine said at the time.
“Come the opening ceremony … of course they’re going to proudly don the official Team Canada apparel and footwear and all that stuff. They’ve been named to the team, they’re at the Olympics. That’s the understanding.”
Sport climbing makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo. Sean McColl of North Vancouver, B.C., is already accustomed to accommodating competing sponsors.
He’s backed by Adidas. Climbing events are staked by Mountain Equipment Co-op, so he wears an MEC logo in competition too.
“It’s a big beast,” the climber acknowledged. “It’s kind of like two parallel universes that I’m jumping back and forth in between.
“I think that’s just the way the world of sports is.”
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins will bring in another quarterback while starter Tua Tagovailoa deals with his latest concussion, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
For now, Skylar Thompson will be considered the Dolphins’ starter while Tagovailoa is sidelined. Tagovailoa left Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo in the third quarter with the third known concussion of his NFL career, all of them coming in the last 24 months.
“The team and the organization are very confident in Skylar,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said the team has not made any decision about whether to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve. Tagovailoa was expected at the team facility on Friday to start the process of being evaluated in earnest.
“We just have to operate in the unknown and be prepared for every situation,” McDaniel said, noting that the only opinions that will matter to the team will be the ones from Tagovailoa and the medical staff.
McDaniel added that he doesn’t see Tagovailoa playing in Miami’s next game at Seattle on Sept. 22.
“I have no idea and I’m not going to all of a sudden start making decisions that I don’t even see myself involved in the most important parts of,” McDaniel added. “All I’m telling Tua is everyone is counting on you to be a dad and be a dad this weekend. And then we’ll move from there. There won’t be any talk about where we’re going in that regard … none of that will happen without doctors’ expertise and the actual player.”
Tagovailoa was 17 for 25 passing for 145 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions — one of which was returned for a Buffalo score — when he got hurt. Thompson completed eight of 14 passes for 80 yards.
Thompson said he feels “fully equipped” to run the Dolphins’ offense.
“What’s going to lie ahead, who knows, but man, I’m confident, though,” Thompson said after Thursday’s game. “I feel like I’m ready for whatever’s to come. I’m going to prepare and work hard and do everything I can to lead this team and do my job.”
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
TORSBY, Sweden (AP) — David Beckham and former England coach Roy Hodgson were among the soccer dignitaries who attended the funeral of Sven-Goran Eriksson on Friday in the Swedish manager’s small hometown of Torsby.
Eriksson’s wooden coffin was covered in white flowers and surrounded by six tall candles and other floral wreaths as the ceremony began inside the 600-seat Fryksande church.
“It is a day of grief but also a day of thankfulness,” the priest, Ingela Älvskog, told those in attendance.
Beckham, who arrived by private jet on Thursday, greeted Eriksson’s 95-year-old father Sven and other family members with hugs inside the church before the funeral started.
Eriksson became England’s first foreign-born coach when he led the national team from 2001-06, and made Beckham his captain.
Eriksson, who also won trophies at club level in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, died on Aug. 26 at the age of 76, eight months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had at most one year to live.
Some 200 seats in the neo-Gothic church from 1898 were reserved for his family, friends and players from his career in the football world, according to his agent. The remaining seats were open for the public, according to Eriksson’s wish, with a big screen set up outside the church where hundreds more gathered to watch the ceremony. The funeral was also broadcast live on some Swedish media websites.
The wooden coffin was wheeled in by pallbearers at the church Friday morning as fog wrapped Torsby — a town of about 4,000 people located about 310 kilometers (193 miles) west of Stockholm. Next to the casket was a photo of Eriksson on a small table. The floral wreaths included ones sent by FIFA and Lazio, the Italian team that Eriksson led to the Serie A title in 2000.
The ceremony began with somber piano and organ music, but later took on a more upbeat note with Swedish singer Charlotta Birgersson performing Elton John’s song “Candle In The Wind” and then “My Way” in a duet with Johan Birgersson, who later intoned the popular Italian song “Volare” after the family had gathered around the casket to lay flowers.
Beckham also visited Eriksson in Sweden in June to say goodbye. Others attending the funeral included the Swedish coach’s longtime partner Nancy Dell’Olio. Eriksson’s agent had said that guests from England, Italy and Spain were expected.
After the funeral, the casket was carried out of the church by eight men to the hearse. The guests then walked in a procession accompanying the coffin to a nearby museum where speeches and eulogies to the coach fondly known as “Svennis” were planned on an outdoor stage. A brass band played during the procession through Torsby, including the tune “You never walk alone” from the musical “Carousel” which has become the anthem of Liverpool, the club Eriksson supported since childhood.
The local soccer club Torsby IF, where Eriksson started his career in the 1960s, wrote on its webpage that “you also showed your greatness by always being yourself, the caring Svennis who talked to everyone and took the time, for big and small, asking how things were and how the football was going. We will miss you.”
