Sport Industry Group

Visa reveals London Media Centre deal- 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00

Visa Europe has been revealed as the first sponsor of the London Media Centre, which will provide facilities and news generation services to around 10,000 non-accredited media who are expected to be in the UK during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Non-accredited media will be unable to access Olympic venues so the London Media Centre will act as a hub for these journalists looking to tell wider stories about London and the UK in and around Games time.

Run by the Greater London Authority, the London Media Centre will be based at One Great George Street off Parliament Square.

The London Media Centre, along with its partners, will also be proactively producing and distributing content to journalists using the centre about the wider London 2012 story on topics such as tourism, finance, economics, lifestyle and technology.

Importantly, the London Media Centre will welcome both non-accredited and accredited media, of which there are anticipated to be in excess of 12,000 and 23,000 respectively.

By sponsoring the London Media Centre, Visa will also share its news with international, European and local journalists.

This will include content showcasing mobile and contactless payment innovations at the Games and regular reports on economic impact and consumer spending during Games time as well as providing access to the wide range of athletes in Team Visa.

Visa plans to use London 2012 to showcase the Future of Payments by enabling contactless payments across Olympic and Paralympic Games venues, retail outlets and in the London Media Centre, as well as through its partnership with Samsung to launch the Samsung Olympic and Paralympic Games mobile handset, which will support mobile contactless payments.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has already made special arrangements to accommodate journalists at the Centre, equipping it with workspaces for over 250 journalists and press conference facilities to sit 200 members of media.

Colin Grannell, Head of Partnership Marketing at Visa Europe, said: ‘As a global sponsor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games we are proud to announce our additional sponsorship of the London Media Centre. We will be sharing our latest news on contactless and mobile payments innovation in and around the Games direct to journalists based at the Centre, as well as showcasing payments technology.'
 
'We’re working closely with the Greater London Authority to make sure it is the best possible base for non-accredited media throughout the Games.’

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson added: ‘With the eyes of the world looking towards London next summer, the 2012 Games will be a major opportunity for firms to promote their brands to audiences right across the globe. It is fantastic to have Visa on board through their sponsorship of the London Media Centre, which will play host to thousands of journalists who will be here to tell the story of what will be the greatest show on earth.’