The EDF group became Tuesday the second national sponsor of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Paris-2024, after BPCE, said Tuesday the two actors at a press conference at the headquarters of the company in Paris. The amount of the contract should not be disclosed but the group, majority owned by the state (83.49%), has the rank "premium", the highest for domestic sponsors, welcomed the CEO of the energy producing group, Jean-Bernard Lévy.
According to estimates, the amount of this type of partnership is above 100 million euros. EDF will also be the official electricity and gas supplier of Paris-2024. "The ambition (is) to provide 100% of our sites in renewable electricity," said the chairman of the organizing committee of the Olympic Games, Tony Estanguet.
1.2 billion euros from the sponsors
Already well established in the landscape of sports sponsoring, especially with the French football team, EDF was part of the prospective sponsors for Paris-2024, especially since the failure of negotiations with the oil giant Total, on which the mayor of Paris , Anne Hidalgo, had vetoed, because of its bad reputation in terms of the environment.
The announcement of the signing of EDF comes the day after the arrival, controversy too, among the main sponsors of the International Olympic Committee (CIO), the giant of the rental of homes between individuals Airbnb, whose mayor of Paris denounces the role in rising rents, shrinking housing supply and competition for hotels in the capital and other major cities. EDF is today in a difficult financial situation, with a net debt of more than 33 billion euros at the end of 2018 and significant investment needs to renovate its nuclear fleet. The group remains for the moment a nuclear champion but is gradually diversifying into renewable energies.
Sponsors are at the heart of the business model of the Olympics. On a projected budget of 3.8 billion euros, the Organizing Committee of the Paris-2024 Olympics expects 1.2 billion euros from its national sponsors, such as BPCE or EDF.