Stocks of Olympic Sponsors Strike Gold

Companies that have paid to associate with the 2008 Beijing Olympics are trouncing their competition in the stock market this year.

Shares of the games' partners, sponsors and "exclusive" suppliers have returned 34 percent through November, compared with a 10 percent return from blue chip U.S. stocks.

Dow Jones Indexes, the owner of the Dow Jones industrial average, created a custom 2008 Summer Games index of 33 companies from nine countries to measure the stock performance of Olympic sponsors and suppliers. Together, they have a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion.

The index, which isn't officially sanctioned by the Olympics, includes Germany's Adidas AG, South Korea's Samsung, Canada's Manulife Financial Corp., and China Mobile Ltd.

Besides putting money into each company's shares individually, it's not possible to invest in the Olympics index, at least for now.

"If any interested person wanted to license that, by all means, we're not against it," Dow Jones Indexes spokeswoman Naomi Kim said Wednesday.

High-profile sponsors, including General Motors Corp., have begun to bail out of costly advertising arrangements with the Olympics.

GM in August said it would not renew its sponsorship of the U.S. team after next year. On Tuesday, Chinese computer maker Lenovo announced it would stop paying to be a global Olympics sponsor after the Summer Games but declined to give a reason.

Analysts have estimated Lenovo paid $80 million to $100 million in cash and services for the sponsorship.

Despite the cost, Olympics organizers pitch the games as a unique event for businesses trying to boost their worldwide brand.

"The Olympics in many ways are a reflection of business," says Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee. "They are global in nature."

The Olympics' 11 global partners, including The Coca-Cola Co. and McDonald's Corp., have paid more than $850 million for the privilege of associating with the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics and next year's Summer Games, according to the International Olympic Committee. Beijing, through its local organizing committee, has brought in many millions of dollars more through its own affiliate programs.

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On the Net:

2008 Olympic sponsors: http://en.beijing2008.cn/bocog/sponsors/sponsors