I remember we had some discussions about who was going to be the next tech sponsor of the Olympics after IBM dropped out. Surprise, looks like it's Gateway...
John
Gateway Replacing IBM for Olympics
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- Gateway Inc. will replace IBM as the official supplier of computer hardware for the 2002 Winter Games, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday.
The company has agreed to provide 5,000 computers and servers in a deal the newspaper said was to be announced Wednesday at Gateway's Salt Lake City manufacturing plant.
"This is huge," a source close to Salt Lake's Olympic marketing team told the Tribune. "This deal will send shock waves through the industry."
IBM announced last year it would not renew its sponsorship of the Olympics beyond next year's Summer Games in Sydney. In July, the International Olympic Committee gave the Salt Lake Organizing Committee the go-ahead to recruit computer companies.
Gateway, headquartered in San Diego, will not be able to advertise its new sponsorship until January 2000, after IBM's deal expires.
Gateway will work closely with Sema Group, a European software and systems-integration company that signed a multi-Olympic deal with the IOC; timing specialist Seiko and Wigi MIC, a German company hired to help tabulate scores and results. SLOC has yet to sign a supplier of routers, switchers and other networking hardware.
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