• by Karl Greenberg , December 8, 2014

The Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles includes a roster of top-tier sponsors including ESPN. The network, for the first time, is doing a total broadcast package. Opening ceremonies for the games will likely include acts like U2 and Stevie Wonder, who along with Vanessa Williams, have performed at prior games. It is the first time in 16 years that the games will be in the U.S. 

The event will bring some 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches from 170 countries to the city to compete in 25 events at over 27 venues. Meanwhile, say organizers, brands like Coca-Cola, Mattel, Deloitte, Toyota, Bank of America, Microsoft and Google, among others, will sponsor. 

Steven Vanderpool, head of communications for the Los Angeles 2015 Special Olympic World Games, tells Marketing Daily that the ESPN deal will give around 75 countries access to the games and its opening ceremonies, with the network committed to 13 hours of coverage, including 30 packaged mini-movie vignettes. "ESPN has been a supporter for the whole existence of the Games, for 30 years they have been involved on a foundation-support level," he says.

According to Vanderpool, the games will include events at the University of Southern California, U.C.L.A., the Los Angeles Convention Center, the golf courses at Griffin Park and various aquatic sports, yachting, and swimming facilities. And the opening ceremonies will be at the Memorial Coliseum. "That will be a large entertainment event with a worldwide audience, and probably 80,000 fans attending" he says. 

“Everything we do is about delivering on the mission of acceptance and inclusion." One of the largest sporting events next year, the games include a Bank of America-sponsored “Unified Run Across America” torch relay. 

The sponsorship tiers are modeled after the Olympics, says Brian Erickson, SVP of corporate sponsorships for the Special Olympics World Games. "We have programs from $25,000 to a million, with a sliding scale of benefits to sponsors. So a brand's executives can put medals on athletes, or be on the field of play, and there are also opportunities during opening and closing ceremonies.” Who is doing what will shake out in coming months leading up to the event.