TD Ameritrade will not return as a U.S. Olympic team sponsor, opening the online brokerage, personal investing and wealth management categories for Team USA. Omaha-based TD Ameritrade became the USOC’s first official online brokerage in '11, part of a joint sponsorship-media deal worked out with NBC, then renewed for a full Olympic cycle in '13. Since then, it has invested heavily in the NFL, and sources said football has occupied an increasing amount of its bandwidth. "It has long been our practice to test and learn from a variety of marketing strategies, and with our most recent agreement ending following the 2016 Olympic year, we have decided to shift our focus to other initiatives,” said TD Ameritrade Dir of Communications & Public Affairs Kim Hillyer. TD Ameritrade’s confirmation means brokerages/investing/wealth management joins hotels and banking as major known vacancies in the USOC’s partnership roster. Hilton and Citi both decided after the Rio Games to walk away. In a prepared statement, USOC Senior VP/Marketing Mitch Poll did not directly address the loss of TD Ameritrade. However, he did for the first time confirm a deal with packaged foodmaker Mondelez, first reported by THE DAILY in September. "You never want to lose partners, both for the business and the personal relationships that have been built, but we know the combination of great longtime partners and new voices brings fresh energy and ideas to Team USA sponsorships,” Poll said. The USOC may be dealing with sponsor concerns about geography, 21 Sports & Entertainment Founder & CEO Rob Prazmark said. The next three Olympics are in east Asia, starting with the '18 PyeongChang Games. “There’s a misconception that because the Games are way off shore that the American consumer interest will wane, and that’s not the case,” Prazmark said. “We as Americans love to support the teams no matter where they are."
