This course offers an examination of the Olympics past and present in order to understand the current business and marketing landscape around the Games and its’ future. Olympic sports marketing differs from more general sports marketing in several important ways, including: the complexity of this mega-sports event, the diversity of Olympics fans, the wide range of competitive sports at each Olympiad, the uniquely global appeal and reach of the Games and the governing rules that surround marketing and sponsorship of the Games. We will study how the Olympic Games have evolved into arguably the most powerful sports brand in the world and have created a unique sports marketing opportunity. The TOP (The Olympic Partners) sponsors program is one of the key topics we will study. In order to understand the marketing of the Olympics, we must also understand the fundamentals of Olympic values, history of the Olympic movement, and issues that threaten the Olympics and its marketing appeal.