Six New Sponsors Boost Annecy Budget by USD4.3m to 43.4m

The bid of French city Annecy to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics has received a much-needed financial boost having agreed six new sponsorship deals to increase their budget by US$4.3m to $43.4m.

New deals were reached with Air France, buy  GL Events, impotent Havas Sports and Entertainment, Institut Merieux and Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVHM), bid president Charles Beigbeder revealed, stating: “This money will allow us to be more efficient in the international promotion of our bid.

“It also shows the commercial potential of an authentic Games in France using the global sporting platform of the French Alps.”

The French bid is widely considered to be the outsider having hit numerous glitches in its process, in a competition that most experts believe is a battle between Pyeongchang and Munich.

However, Beigbeder added: “Our Games will be on a truly human scale, bringing the Games home after Chamonix 1924 to a region shaped by Olympism, a territory whose natural assets make it the leading destination in the world for winter sports.

“We want the Annecy Games to be a real instigator of initiatives showing the way to what the mountains could be in the 21st century, supporting the longer term development of winter sports and mountainous regions around the world. 

“Our aim is to reach out to the young people of this planet and stimulate their interest in the Winter Games.

“We still have work to do, but we have a great prize at stake. 

“We are determined to win. 

“We would like to thank the French people, the personalities and athletes who are supporting us and, of course, the 135,000 fans who follow us every day on Facebook. 

“Their support is essential and we are counting on them.”

Beigbeder was supported at the announcement by vice-president of Annecy 2018 Jean-Pierre Vidal, who added: “As athletes, we have played a major role in the bid from the outset in the interests of putting sport and harmonious development at the top of the list of priorities.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is due to choose the host city at its Session in Durban on July 6.