Home Depot ends Olympics sponsorship program

[rainbowgirl28]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/o ... .depot.ap/

Home Depot ends Olympics sponsorship program

DENVER (AP) -- DENVER (AP) -- Hardware store Home Depot will end its multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with the U.S. Olympic Committee and discontinue a program that offered jobs and benefits to American athletes.

Home Depot had been a USOC sponsor and provider of the Olympic Job Opportunity Program since 1992. The sponsorship was worth $15 million to $20 million in the four-year period ending in 2008.

The 86 athletes currently in the program will be offered traditional jobs at their current stores. But after March 2, they will no longer receive either full-time benefits or full-time pay for their part-time work, which they performed on flexible schedules depending on their Olympic regimens.

To make up for the financial loss, the USOC plans to provide stipends to winter athletes who are in the program through January 2010 and a one-time, $5,000 stipend to summer athletes. It will also provide health insurance that the athletes might lose if they scale back or quit their Home Depot jobs.

"It's been an outstanding relationship and we greatly appreciate everything Home Depot has done," USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said on Wednesday. "We're sorry to see them go. At the same time, we appreciate their continued support of America's athletes."

At its high point, the Home Depot program put more than 200 athletes to work, the bulk of whom need outside employment on top of their USOC support to pay for rent, food, training and travel.

Like so many big companies, Home Depot has been having trouble in the rough economy. It recently reported a 31 percent drop in third-quarter earnings for 2008 -- better than expected but still a shocking decline that experts predicted would not ease up anytime soon.

"I don't know if it's directly associated with" the economy, Home Depot spokeswoman Jean Niemi said of the decision to sever with USOC. "But in these economic times, we're looking more closely at our options and trying to find, relevant, exciting programs."

The Home Depot decision leaves a $15 million hole in the USOC's sponsorship budget. The USOC was also trying to find a replacement for General Motors, which discontinued its partnership after 2008.

Negotiations with AT&T and Bank of America -- whose sponsorships were both in the $20 million range -- are ongoing.

The Olympics are, however, considered to be in relatively good shape considering the economy. The USOC has 16 sponsors under contract for the 2009-12 cycle and Seibel said "we're making good progress" on filling the open categories.

[smokinvaulter1]

That stinks I shopped Home Depot just because they back US olympians.