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 McDonald's and the International Olympics Committee (IOC) are ending their long-running sponsorship deal three years early. 
 
 The fast food chain said it was "reconsidering all aspects of its International Olympics Committee business" as part of a plan to re-invigorate its business. 
 
 The IOC said it understood "that McDonald's is looking to focus on different business priorities". 
 
 The partnership began in 1976. 
 
 "For these reasons, we have mutually agreed with McDonald's to part ways," said the IOC. 
 
 The next Olympics will take place in Japan during 2020. 
 
 McDonald's had extended its sponsorship agreement with the Olympics in 2012 for a further eight years. 
 
 As a "Top Partner", it paid a reported $100m for each two-game deal covering the summer and winter Olympic Games up to and including 2020. 
 
 McDonald's partnership with the IOC will end immediately, but it will continue to be a sponsor of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. 
 
 The IOC said on Friday: "The financial terms of the separation was agreed by all parties, details of which are confidential." 
 
 A number of companies have ended partnerships with the Olympics recently, including AB InBev's Budweiser, the hotels group Hilton and US telecoms giant AT&T. 
 
 'Priorities' 
 
 McDonald's has been restructuring its business to arrest a decline in sales. Steve Easterbrook was appointed as chief executive in 2015 when he said he would "not shy away from the urgent need to reset this business". 
 
 Commenting on the "mutual" decision to part ways with the IOC, Silvia Lagnado, global chief marketing officer at McDonald's, said: "As part of our global growth plan, we are reconsidering all aspects of our business and have made this decision in cooperation with the IOC to focus on different priorities." 
 
 The IOC said it has no immediate plans to appoint a direct replacement in the "retail food operations sponsorship category" which will be reviewed. ||||| The Olympic Games are one of the most effective international marketing platforms in the world, reaching billions of people in over 200 countries and territories throughout the world. 
 
 Support from the business community is crucial to the staging of the Games and the operations of every organisation within the Olympic Movement. 
 
 Revenue generated by commercial partnerships accounts for more than 40% of Olympic revenues and partners provide vital technical services and product support to the whole of the Olympic Family. 
 
 Each level of sponsorship entitles companies to different marketing rights in various regions, category exclusivity and the use of designated Olympic images and marks. 
 
 TOP: The Olympic Partners The Olympic Partners (TOP) Programme is the worldwide sponsorship Programme managed by the IOC. The IOC created the TOP Programme in 1985 in order to develop a diversified revenue base for the Olympic Games and to establish long-term corporate partnerships that would benefit the Olympic Movement as a whole. The TOP Programme operates on a four-year term – the Olympic quadrennium. The TOP Programme supports the Organising Committees of the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games, the NOCs and the IOC. The TOP Programme provides each Worldwide Olympic Partner with exclusive global marketing rights and opportunities within a designated product or service category. The global marketing rights include partnerships with the IOC, all active NOCs and their Olympic teams, and the two OCOGs and the Games of each quadrennium. The TOP Partners may exercise these rights worldwide and may activate marketing initiatives with all the members of the Olympic Movement that participate in the TOP Programme. ||||| Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE After 41 years, McDonald's is leaving its sponsorship deal with the International Olympic Committee behind. Video provided by Newsy Newslook 
 
 McDonald's is no longer an Olympics sponsor. (Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images) 
 
 McDonald's has halted its Olympics sponsorship after 41 years supporting the worldwide sporting event. 
 
 In a joint announcement with the International Olympic Committee, the fast-food chain explained that it's part of an overall reevaluation of itself. 
 
 “As part of our global growth plan, we are reconsidering all aspects of our business and have made this decision in cooperation with the IOC to focus on different priorities,” said McDonald’s global chief marketing officer Silvia Lagnado. 
 
 The end is effective immediately and McDonald's is no longer listed on the IOC Web site as a sponsor. 
 
 In 1968, McDonald's airlifted hamburgers to homesick athletes at the Grenoble Winter Olympics, though the company didn't become a sponsor until the 1976 Montreal Summer Games, according to McDonald's Web site. Eight years later, the chain and franchisees built the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium for the Los Angeles Summer Games. 
 
 "We have mutually agreed with McDonald’s to part ways. I would like to thank our friends at McDonald’s on behalf of the IOC for the commitment the company has shown to the Olympic Movement over many decades," said Timo Lumme, managing director of IOC's television and marketing service. 
 
 Follow USA TODAY reporter Zlati Meyer on Twitter: @ZlatiMeyer 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2sx7wbE ||||| IOC and McDonald's mutually agree to end Worldwide TOP Partnership 
 
 The IOC and McDonald's have announced that they have mutually agreed to bring their Worldwide TOP Partnership to an end. 
 
 Timo Lumme, Managing Director of IOC Television and Marketing Services, said: “The IOC’s sponsorship strategy is aimed at delivering long-term partnerships that help the Olympic Movement achieve the objectives set out in Olympic Agenda 2020, our strategic roadmap for the future. This strategy is exemplified by the recent announcement of long-term, ground-breaking agreements with new and existing global Partners. In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, we understand that McDonald’s is looking to focus on different business priorities. For these reasons, we have mutually agreed with McDonald’s to part ways. I would like to thank our friends at McDonald’s on behalf of the IOC for the commitment the company has shown to the Olympic Movement over many decades.” 
 
 “As part of our global growth plan, we are reconsidering all aspects of our business and have made this decision in cooperation with the IOC to focus on different priorities,” said McDonald’s Global Chief Marketing Officer Silvia Lagnado. “We have been proud to support the Olympic Movement, and we thank our customers and staff, the spectators, athletes and officials, as well as the IOC and local Olympics Games organizing committees, for all of their support over the years.” 
 
 The financial terms of the separation was agreed by all parties, details of which are confidential. 
 
 McDonald’s Worldwide TOP Partnership will end with immediate effect, however McDonald’s will continue to be a sponsor of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 with domestic marketing rights in the Republic of Korea only. The company will deliver its Games-time operations, including restaurants in the Olympic Park and the Olympic Village. 
 
 The IOC has no immediate plans to appoint a direct replacement in the retail food operations sponsorship category, and will review the category in the broader context of existing Olympic marketing programmes. 
 
 The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit independent international organisation that redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of USD 3.25 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world. 
 
 The IOC has long-term commercial partnerships in place; has delivered record financial contributions to the Olympic Movement in the last Olympiad (2013-2016); and is on course to deliver record contributions in the current cycle (2017-2020). All current Worldwide TOP Partners have agreements through to 2020, with Bridgestone, Panasonic and Toyota through to 2024, Alibaba through to 2028, and Omega through to 2032. 
 
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 For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: 
 
 Tel: +41 21 621 6000, email: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org. ||||| The International Olympic Committee (IOC) shook up the rules for advertising for Rio 2016 when it announced changes that opened the door for more brands to benefit from their ties to the games, even if they aren't official Olympic sponsors. While the new rules come with restrictions, they've helped non-official sponsors get a sliver of the marketing pie and changed the sponsorship landscape for the games overall. 
 
 In past Olympics, under the IOC's Rule 40, official sponsors like McDonald's, Procter & Gamble and Visa had a lock on advertising during the games. Athletes were barred from tweeting about non-official sponsors, and non-sponsors were not allowed to feature Olympic athletes that they had sponsorship deals with in ads. In February 2015, the IOC announced changes to the rule, which were adopted by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) in June 2015. Those changes allow athletes to appear in generic advertising that does not explicitly mention the games or use any Olympic intellectual property (the Olympic rings, and terms such as "Olympics" "2016" "Rio," "games" and "gold" are off limits). Athletes also are now allowed to tweet about non-official sponsors provided they don't use such Olympic IP. 
 
 To take advantage of these changes, however, U.S. athletes and non-sponsor brands had to submit waivers to the USOC by January 27, 2016, including plans for advertising and social media campaigns, and ads must have been in-market by March 27. 
 
 Under Armour, which is not an official Olympic sponsor but sponsors 250 Olympic athletes, including Michael Phelps, has been one of the most notable beneficiaries of the relaxed Rule 40. The brand's "Rule Yourself" campaign includes an emotional spot with the U.S. women's gymnastics team and a Cannes award-winning spot with Phelps that shows the most decorated athlete in Olympic history as he trains for his last games. Both ads comply with Rule 40: They launched before the March deadline, and neither contains any Olympics IP. 
 
 Under Armour submitted an application to both the USOC and IOC for a waiver to feature its Olympic athletes in the brand's marketing per the Rule 40 guidelines, and the brands' social media initiatives during the games will fall in line with the guidelines, as well, said Peter Murray, vp of global sports marketing at Under Armour. 
 
 "The USOC and IOC accepted our plans, and the process was very streamlined," Murray said. "The changes to Rule 40 allow us to fulfill our No. 1 objective, which is to support the Olympic athletes and hopefuls tied to the Under Armour brand during the games." 
 
 While Under Armour has successfully capitalized on the Rule 40 changes, Sally Bergesen, founder and CEO of Oiselle, an athletic apparel company that sponsors 15 Olympic hopefuls, feels the rule is still too restrictive. 
 
 "The relaxed Rule 40 is a joke. You had to have submitted your campaign in January, before anybody's qualified for anything. Then, you need to start running your campaign in March, so you don't get any timing benefit with the Olympics. For small businesses, running an ad campaign from March through August is really expensive," she said. 
 
 Oiselle is considering ways to talk about the Olympics on social media that don't use Olympics IP, like creating alternative terms for the games, such as #TheBigEvent, or using its 400 individual brand ambassadors (non-Olympic hopefuls) to post about the Olympics on social media, which is allowed. "We'll get creative and find a way to recognize our athletes," Bergesen said. 
 
 Analysts think that smaller businesses and non-sponsor brands should see the relaxed Rule 40 as an opportunity. "It's still going to be hard for a small business to get a big-name athlete. It's a large investment. But there are hundreds of other Olympians that don't require that investment, and you, as a small business, can use them in any of your marketing campaigns now," said Zaileen Janmohamed, svp of client services at GMR Marketing. 
 
 The wider playing field actually could diminish the value of official Olympic sponsorships, she added. "As a non-sponsor, you still can't use the Olympic rings or Olympic intellectual property, and that's what the IOC will hold on to, but if I'm an everyday person watching a commercial or social media post, I probably don't understand the difference. If I see an Under Armour ad with Michael Phelps, a premier Olympian, I probably think they're an Olympic sponsor, too. My gut tells me that, post-Rio, the value of official Olympic partnership is going to go down, because that exclusivity goes away." 
 
 Matt Powell, sports industry analyst at NPD Group, agrees. "It wouldn't surprise me if some of these brands decided they weren't getting their money's worth. If their competitors can still run ads with Olympic athletes in them during the Olympics, that devalues the rights they pay a lot of money for." 
 
 A spokesperson for official Olympic sponsor Procter & Gamble, which will continue its successful Thank You, Mom Olympics campaign in Rio, said, "We trust the IOC and USOC will continue to protect the rights of P&G and other top sponsors." 
 
 Other top sponsors McDonald's and Visa did not return Adweek's requests for comment, but the USOC, for its part, hasn't fielded any complaints from official sponsors about how the Rule 40 changes have impacted the value of their sponsorships. "It's a new waiver process but one we are confident in—and a process that we will evaluate post games if needed," said Jon Mason, the USOC's associate director of communications. 
 
 The rule changes force all brands—official sponsor or not—to step up their Olympics marketing game, said Dom Curran, U.S. CEO of sports marketing and sponsorship agency Synergy. "Even if you're official, you should think like a non-official," he said. "Think about all of the potential angles you could take, because your official status should really just make that better. Your campaign should be powerful either way." 
 
 Adds Janmohamed: "Now, everyone's on an even playing field, so the importance will be on great marketing campaigns, a great social campaign, a great TV spot. That Under Armour spot with Michael Phelps is great. This will force brands to come up with great concepts, and use Olympic athletes or IP in the best way possible to really capture consumers' attention." ||||| LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Fast-food chain McDonald's has ended its Olympic sponsorship deal three years early. 
 
 The International Olympic Committee says confidential financial terms of the immediate separation were agreed to. 
 
 IOC marketing director Timo Lumme says "we understand that McDonald's is looking to focus on different business priorities." 
 
 McDonald's was among 13 top-tier sponsors signed through the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Games. 
 
 An Olympic sponsor since 1976, McDonald's had signed an eight-year extension to run through 2020. 
 
 McDonald's had exclusive rights in the "retail food services" sponsor category. 
 
 The IOC says it will review the sales categories rather than sign a direct replacement. 
 
 McDonald's remains a national sponsor of the 2018 Olympics with domestic marketing rights in South Korea. ||||| NEW YORK/BERLIN (Reuters) - McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N) ended its 41-year-old sponsorship of the Olympic Games three years early, the International Olympic Committee said on Friday, reflecting the U.S. fast-food giant’s focus on its core business as well as rising Olympics sponsorship costs and declining TV ratings. 
 
 McDonald’s deal would have run through the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, and bowing out will likely to save it hundreds of million of dollars if it had continued into the next four-year Olympics cycle and beyond. 
 
 McDonald’s has been trying to hold down costs as it invests in improving food quality, restaurant service and online ordering to woo back U.S. diners. Intense competition has gnawed away at sales. 
 
 “We are reconsidering all aspects of our business and have made this decision in cooperation with the IOC to focus on different priorities,” said McDonald’s Global Chief Marketing Officer Silvia Lagnado. 
 
 The company, first involved with the games in 1968 and a sponsor since 1976, was the Olympics’ food retail sponsor. Despite pulling out with immediate effect, McDonald’s will continue at next year’s Pyeongchang winter Olympics as a domestic sponsor. 
 
 The company’s move may also reflect a rising view among consumer brands that exclusive Olympics sponsorship deals do not offer the marketing impact they once did. Some companies find it is much cheaper to work directly with athletes or specific countries than the IOC. 
 
 Moreover, in a trend that began after the Beijing games in 2008, shrinking television audiences for the games could be diminishing the value of sponsors’ ads. With the Rio de Janeiro games in 2016, many viewers turned to social media alternatives like Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) and Facebook Inc (FB.O). 
 
 In the United States, Comcast Corp’s (CMCSA.O) NBCUniversal 
 
 said it had attracted 8.6 percent fewer eyeballs for Rio than it 
 
 did for London in 2012. 
 
 FILE PHOTO - Athletes line up at a McDonald's inside the Olympic village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 1, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo 
 
 The fast food chain has been part of the IOC’s top sponsors program that contributes more than $1 billion in each four-year cycle for the games. 
 
 While terms of Olympic sponsorship are not disclosed, a source who negotiated previous IOC sponsorship deals said that top global sponsors like McDonald’s spend about $25 million a year or about $100 million for a four-year period that includes a summer and winter games. 
 
 Reuters previously reported that the IOC had wanted to roughly double fees to $200 million per four year period starting in 2021. 
 
 While it is unusual for an Olympic sponsor to leave early, sponsors change regularly within the IOC’s top program. The most recent addition was China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), which signed a deal in January for a partnership through 2028. 
 
 The next three Olympics take place in Asia, and this could turn off U.S. sponsors trying to reach a U.S. audience. The U.S. Olympic Committee also has lost recent sponsors such as AT&T; (T.N) and Citigroup (C.N) ahead of the 2018 winter games in South Korea. 
 
 The IOC said it was not planning a direct replacement for McDonald’s, but it is expected to announce a new global deal with Intel Corp (INTC.O) next week, according a source familiar with the matter. 
 
 Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 
 
 “Companies with a deep focus on technology are barging in while others migrate out,” said Peter Land, who works with Olympics and Paralympics sponsors for communications firm Finsbury. 
 
 The IOC has faced criticism from public health campaigners for allowing sponsors such as Coca-Cola (KO.N) and McDonald’s to use the games to market their products, which are perceived to be unhealthy. 
 
 John Lewicki, who oversees global Olympic sponsorship deals for McDonald’s, said last year the company would reevaluate its Olympic relationship after changes to a rule that ended a marketing blackout for companies that sponsor athletes rather than the event itself. 
 
 Shares of McDonald’s rose $1.06, or about 0.7 percent on Friday.
– The year 2018 will mark the first time since 1976 that you won't see the McDonald's logo plastered across Olympic venues, reports USA Today. That's because McDonald's has negotiated an early end to its corporate sponsorship agreement with the International Olympic Committee, which was scheduled to run through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Effective immediately, McDonald's is no longer one of the IOC's top sponsors, though it signed an eight-year sponsorship extension in 2012, per the AP. The company is believed to have paid about $25 million per year to call itself the Olympics food retail sponsor, reports Reuters. It's not cutting ties completely, however. Under the change announced Friday, McDonald's will keep domestic marketing rights in South Korea for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, per a release. It will also keep restaurants in the Olympic Park and Olympic Village in 2018. Last year, McDonald's announced it would review its Olympic sponsorship deal, citing a new advertising rule that allowed non-official sponsors to benefit. In a statement, the company says it will "focus on different priorities … as part of our global growth plan." The BBC notes Budweiser, Hilton, and AT&T have also ended Olympic partnerships recently.