Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has become a major sponsor of the Olympic Games after signing a deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that runs until 2028, the two parties said yesterday

Alibaba, which becomes the official e-commerce and cloud services partner, joins 12 other companies – including Coca-Cola and McDonald’s – as top Olympic sponsors.

No financial details were disclosed. IOC sources have previously told Reuters that major sponsors pay about $100 million per four-year cycle, which includes one summer and one winter games.

The Alibaba deal comes as Asia prepares to host three consecutive games, with South Korea’s Pyeongchang staging the 2018 winter games, Tokyo the 2020 summer Olympics and Beijing the 2022 winter games.

“This is a ground-breaking, innovative alliance, and will help drive efficiencies in the organisation of the Olympic Games through 2028,” said IOC president Thomas Bach.

Sitting next to Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma at a news conference, Bach added: “This is an historic strategic partnership in the digital world. It will transform the global Olympic movement.”

The IOC hopes the deal will make the Olympics movement more technologically efficient and secure, while also creating a platform for promoting licensed products and extending the reach of its newly-created digital platform, the Olympic Channel.

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