At the 2010 Vancouver Games the Canadians had hugely popular red mittens; the US team in 2006 at the Salt Lake Olympics sold a must-have beret. British officials say they have ruled out umbrellas, wellingtons and tweed as they consider their choice.
BOA chief executive Andy Hunt said he was totally confident that “athlete activation” plans with Olympic sponsors coupled with the merchandising – would ensure all of the BOA’s plans for Team GB would be met despite reports the BOA is several million pounds short to prepare the team.
The pressure on the BOA’s budget comes as the association takes on the swollen expectations of preparing the home team which is double the size of Britain’s Beijing Olympic line-up. In Beijing there were more than 300 athletes and around 250 support officials.
For London there are expected to be 1,000 athletes and support staff in total. But while there are none of the huge travel costs, officials say the price of accommodating, kitting out and preparing the team is extensive.
The BOA has expanded its role from being a travel organiser to now providing extensive athlete support services especially to smaller Olympic sports in the areas of sports medicine, and strength and conditioning, without receiving any government money.
Hunt says this was always known, and it was the plan of the BOA to ramp up additional marketing opportunities closer to the Games.
The BOA is also looking at whether the naming of individual teams by the 26 national governing bodies could also be turned into multi fund-raising events.
“We will deliver at the Games and that has always been the case, we have a dozen new programmes and opportunities, from the pre-Games camp to the team launch and the introduction of a new piece of merchandise – all of which has been approved by the London Olympic organisers,” Hunt said.
“We don’t receive government or Lottery funding and we are a highly commercial organisation used to raising funds.”
“For the London Games we won’t have the flights but there is a bunch of other costs, which the public would expect us to do,” added Hunt, noting that for the 35 test events organised in the lead-up to the London Olympics the BOA would be testing its own plans around travel, transport and athlete services.
“Everything we do is to enhance the athlete performance and you might question whether activation at the test events is necessary but if we don’t do it that is a lost opportunity.”
The BOA says it is also not including financial considerations in its decisions on the size of the London Olympic team. Some of the smaller sports like volleyball and basketball have had to argue for automatic host nation representation, proving that they can benefit from the Games experience after failing to qualify on performance standards alone.
“There is absolutely no relation to our budget, not one bit, when we look at host representation. Those places are dependent on credible performance and legacy,” Hunt said.