Los Angeles 2028 Olympics confirms Autodesk as partner as it presses toward $2.5 billion sponsorship target

Autodesk has been named an official supporter of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA

Design and engineering software company Autodesk has become a supporting partner of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, in a major boost for the Games’ goal of $2.5 billion in domestic sponsorship.

Autodesk was named the “official design and make platform of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA,” the company announced Tuesday.

It’s the first time the business-to-business tech company has sponsored the Olympics and follows a spree of major marketing activations, including an ad campaign during the Oscars and a takeover of the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Autodesk’s software will be used to help adapt more than 40 existing venues across southern California and design temporary buildings to support LA28’s no-new-permanent-venues plan.

LA28 also intends to use Autodesk software to design transport and traffic control plans to be used in the city throughout the Games.

Dara Treseder, Autodesk’s chief marketing officer, told B-17 that the sponsorship was helping drive new business for the company as it works on LA’s $1 billion temporary overlay and construction plan.

She added that the partnership should also help elevate Autodesk’s brand through a legacy of “leaving the city better than we found it.”

“The business case wrote itself,” Treseder said.

Dara Treseder, Autodesk chief marketing officer.

Autodesk intends to air a 30-second TV spot during the hand-off section of the Paris Olympics’ closing ceremony on August 11 highlighting the sponsorship, as well as social media ads.

The LA Olympics is estimated to cost $7 billion, which organizers have said they hope to offset with sponsorships, ticket sales, media rights, and other revenue. In June, the organizing committee said it was prioritizing retrofitting existing venues rather than building new ones to bring down costs.

LA28 has faced challenges in reaching its $2.5 billion domestic sponsorship goal.

In April, Salesforce, LA28, and Team USA “amicably decided” to end their seven-year deal, which had been signed in 2021.

Salesforce’s exit left behind just two top-tier “founding partners” — the highest paying category — Delta Air Lines and Comcast. Autodesk is in the “official supporters” category, the third tier, joining Guild, Hershey, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The International Organizing Committee will also share with LA28 a portion of the proceeds of its worldwide sponsorship deals.

Christopher Pepe, LA28 chief commercial officer, said in an interview that the LA Games had achieved north of $1 billion in sponsorship commitments and is already ahead of what the Paris 2024 Olympics has achieved, with four years to go before the event.

Research published by Ampere Analysis last month suggested Paris was on track to reach its $1.34 billion domestic sponsorship revenue target.

“Some people are looking for hundreds of brands to be announced along the way; we need to look at a smaller number of brands, quality brands at the top of their category, to help us innovate,” Pepe said. “Our price tag is probably larger than some Games because of that.”

Alex Balfour, cofounder of the marketing agency Generate Digital and former head of media for the London 2012 Olympics, said LA28 faced high expectations for sponsorship.

He said this was partly because the 1984 LA Games were credited for putting the Olympics back on the commercial map.

“I would imagine the LA team are pretty buoyed by the visibility of the Paris Games and the TV numbers for NBC,”