- Airbnb has scored a nine-year sponsorship deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
- The deal comes in time for next year's Tokyo 2020 games, and will cover four more games in Beijing, Paris, Milan, and LA - all hotspots for the accommodation rental platform.
- The Financial Times reports the deal was closed at $500 million.
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Airbnb is becoming a worldwide Olympic partner in time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo as the games' organisers bid to cut the costs associated with hosting the event.
Airbnb said that the partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would cover five Olympics and Paralympics over the next nine years. Alongside next year's Tokyo Olympic games this includes: the Beijing 2022, Paris 2024, Milan 2026 and LA 2028 winter and summer games. All are major rental hotspots for the accommodation platform.
Details of the partnership were not disclosed, but the Financial Times reported the deal was set at $500 million, citing sources briefed on the talks.
IOC President Thomas Bach said that the partnership would not replace the Olympic village but would be based on a guarantee of accommodation for visitors, families of athletes, and officials, and would reduce the need for host cities to unsustainably invest in new hotels.
"One of the goals of (our) agenda is to make the Olympic Games more feasible and more sustainable," Bach said at an event in London to announce the partnership.
"There, this partnership will greatly help, because it will provide accommodation that will reduce the costs for the Olympic Games organisers and all the stakeholders."
Locals staged protests at the last summer games in Rio de Janeiro because of the cost of hosting the event while Brazil was mired in recession.