Athenian Brewery links up with 2004
Partner
After many years or preparation, construction and organisation,
the moment will arrive three years from now. Greece will then
host the world's most prestigious sports event: the Olympic Games.
Heineken Operating Company Athenian Brewery is a Grand Sponsor
with Heineken beer.
Greece is the birthplace of the Olympic Games. In the year 776
B.C. the Olympic Games were held there for the first time, in the
small town of Olympia. Almost a thousand years later, however,
the tradition came to an abrupt end. The Roman emperor
Theodosius I banned what he called those 'heathen' Games. It was
only at the end of the nineteenth century that the Olympic Games
were restored to the position they deserved - thanks to the
Frenchman Pierre de Coubertain. It almost went without saying that
Greece was chosen as the venue for those first "modern Olympics".
In 1896, thirteen nations sent 285 of their best athletes to compete
in Athens for the topmost honours in their field of sport. More than
one hundred years after those first Olympic Games of the modern
era, it will be the turn of Greece again to welcome the athletes.
But this time the contestants will number more than ten thousand
and will be representing almost all countries in the world.
Athenian Brewery is proud of the title of Grand Sponsor and has
ambitious plans to exploit the sponsorship to optimum effect. As
Athenian Brewery's General Manager Minas Tanes explains, the
aim of the sponsorship is twofold: "It is our goal to form a warm
emotional bond with the Greek people, inspiring them to get
involved and at the same time associate the Heineken brand with
the world's most recognised international athletic event."
The Olympic Sponsorship Programme does not involve sponsoring
in the traditional (commercial) sense of the word. It is more like a
partnership, comprising three different status levels: TOP sponsor
(TOP stands for The Olympic Partner), Grand Sponsor and Official
Sponsor/Official Provider. The TOP sponsors for 2004 include
Coca Cola, IBM, Kodak and Panasonic. The Grand Sponsors, such as
Athenian Brewery, operate at national level but are permitted by the
organising committee to expand their activities to other countries.
