Organizers of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are betting on the popularity of flip-flops and their yet-to-be-revealed mascot to help meet a projected target of $420 million in total merchandise sales. The organizing committee is reportedly halfway through completing 65 licensing agreements with various companies that will help produce and sell more than 12,000 Olympics-related products and merchandise–more than in any previous Olympic Games–while about 16 percent of the total sales (a projected $67.2 million) will go towards raising the $2.84 billion needed to stage the international sporting event. The Rio organizers are “Stretching it almost as far as we can go,” according to Licensing Director Sylmara Multini, who has previously worked with the Walt Disney Company and Mattel Inc. Not only is Rio targeting companies to produce the thousands of various Olympics products, including a bracelet that will send a signal to mobile devices anytime a Brazilian wins a medal, but the organizers are also selling licenses to run 150 temporary stores throughout the host city.
Seeing as about 90 percent of Olympic Games merchandise is aimed at the domestic market, a heavy emphasis will be placed upon products like beach towels, sarongs, and flip-flops. “We believe we can sell millions of sandals,” Multini says, who is supposedly close to closing a deal with one of Brazil’s largest flip-flop brands. “You got the London Games, zero flip-flops were sold, and here it might be our number one product.” However, nothing is truly more important when it comes to Olympic Games merchandise sales than a successful mascot–which will reportedly be unveiled sometime next month. Brazilian environmentalists have launched a campaign in an attempt to persuade Rio 2016 to choose the endangered golden lion tamarin as its mascot, yet no details have been revealed about the future mascot’s identity other than that it “will live in the hearts of the fans.” The Rio organizers are planning include the mascot the full range of licensed products as well as developing mobile applications, digital games, and even a television cartoon series that will feature the mascot.
The 2016 Olympic Games, which happen to be South America’s first Olympics, are scheduled to begin on August 5, 2016. Watch the ceremonial raising of the flags at the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games below, as London, England hands over the honors to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Video by Olympics/YouTube.com
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
