USOPP sells the Olympics. Even the name on the building.

An arena name is easy to overlook until someone proposes taking it away. For Honda, the prospect mattered. Its name was already on the Honda Center in Anaheim. As Los Angeles prepared for the 2028 Olympics, a new naming-rights opportunity raised a pointed question: whose name would spectators see during the Games?

Ed Beadle, American Honda’s vice president of digital services and marketing, told Marketing Brew that keeping the name had been a significant part of the sponsorship conversation. He described the naming opportunity with the language of dessert: “I wouldn’t call it the cake, but it’s icing.”

The company selling the larger cake is United States Olympic and Paralympic Properties, usually shortened to USOPP. Its business is assembling the commercial rights behind Team USA and LA28 into things a brand can purchase. The Honda example makes that otherwise abstract work wonderfully tangible. An agreement can reach from a television screen to a vehicle fleet to the lettering on an arena.

First, put the rights in one room.

USOPP began with an institutional arrangement. LA28 established the Delaware limited liability company on June 13, 2018. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee joined as a member that August. Together, they created a commercial operation representing both the American teams and the Los Angeles Games.

That combination matters to a marketing director with a calendar to fill. The joint offering covered rights to the 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams, plus the LA28 Games. A brand could build its association through successive competitions, with the home Games as the destination. The proposition had something to offer before 2028 arrived.

In April 2019, LA28 and NBCUniversal added another connection: sponsorship, activation and media in a coordinated offering. Official rights let a brand associate itself with the property. Advertising supplies opportunities for people to see that association. Putting the two into a connected sales process reduced the amount of assembly left to the buyer.

This is USOPP’s place in the sports market: the commercial representative for a particular, officially controlled combination of assets. Other leagues, events and entertainment properties compete for the same marketing budgets. An agency can help a brand plan a campaign, but obtaining this particular package requires access to the people who control these rights.

A long runway can become a long wait.

The appealing sales logic did not make every agreement durable. In April 2024, Salesforce and LA28 confirmed their separation. Salesforce had signed a seven-year deal in 2021 with Team USA, LA28 and NBCUniversal. Less than three years later, the LA28 relationship was over, while its Olympic media relationship with NBCUniversal continued.

Sports Business Journal reported that the exit left LA28 with two top-tier sponsors, Delta and Comcast, during a period of slower-than-expected sales. The episode exposed a weakness in the long calendar. A company can commit to a distant event and still reassess the arrangement before the event takes place. A signature does not freeze its priorities.

In October 2024, USOPP announced John Slusher as CEO. He arrived after 26 years at Nike, where he had led global sports marketing. His assigned remit included domestic sponsorship, consumer products, hospitality and ticket sales. It brought experience from the brand side of sports negotiations to a business whose buyers had to justify those commitments internally.

Honda had a place, a purpose and a price to consider.

Honda’s announcement followed on June 2, 2025. It became a Founding Partner of LA28 and Team USA’s official automotive partner. The arrangement included working with organizers on an accessible vehicle fleet for athletes, officials and other Games stakeholders. Moving people around Southern California is a substantial job for an automotive sponsor.

Beadle had initially considered an Olympic sponsorship a long shot. In his account, Honda’s Southern California roots, the fit with its brand and the financial evaluation helped the opportunity make sense. Naming rights added a benefit tied to something Honda already owned in the public imagination. His team also intended to measure emotional connections with the brand before and after LA28.

The price deserves careful handling. When Honda signed, the Associated Press reported that sponsorships at this level had been reported to start around $200 million. That figure is an indication of scale, not Honda’s confirmed fee. Honda separately announced a $1 million commitment over four years to organizations helping people reach their potential. A community donation and a sponsorship purchase are different transactions.

The building gets to keep its name.

In August 2025, LA28 announced its venue naming-rights pilot, developed with the International Olympic Committee. Qualifying partners could retain existing venue naming rights during the Games. Opportunities at up to 19 temporary venues would also become available. Existing worldwide Olympic partners received the first opportunities to purchase eligible rights.

Honda Center and Comcast Squash Center at Universal Studios were the first announced named venues. The squash location adds a pleasingly Los Angeles detail: Courthouse Square, a working studio backlot. The commercial program had found another use for a familiar place.

The pilot changed the inventory available to sell, while ordinary clean-venue policies remained in place outside the naming arrangements. Its lesson for a business reader is specific: examine whether an existing restriction can be renegotiated with the authority that controls it. The permission is part of what makes the resulting product valuable.

“I wouldn’t call it the cake, but it’s icing.”

Ed Beadle, American Honda
On Olympic venue naming rights, September 2025

There is also coffee. And a cap.

Large corporate deals are only one part of the commercial operation. New Era’s June 2024 official product agreement covered Team USA headwear and apparel through Los Angeles 2028. It was Team USA’s first official product agreement with a headwear-focused brand. Licensing lets a company turn an authorized association into something a fan can wear.

Starbucks joined as official coffee partner in September 2025, with plans to serve athlete and fan-facing locations including the Village and volunteer hubs. Intuit’s November announcement added financial software sponsorship, the Intuit Dome name and initiatives for small businesses and athlete financial support. Each arrangement has its own practical content.

That pattern continued in August 2026 when Rapiscan was announced as an LA28 security technology provider and Team USA supporter. These customers buy an association with sport, but some also bring capabilities the event needs. For organizers, selecting a partner can therefore be both a commercial decision and a step toward delivering the Games.

The USOPC’s 2025 impact report placed secured LA28 sponsorship and licensing agreements above $2 billion, with roughly $1 billion in new deals during that year. The numbers show commercial progress. Assessing the economics still requires keeping signed agreements, collected cash and recognized revenue separate. They answer different questions.

The part another business can borrow.

My reading of USOPP’s approach is that a useful bundle starts with the buyer’s unfinished job. A sponsor needs permission to use the association, a way to reach people and something worth communicating. Connecting those elements makes the offer easier to explain inside the customer’s company. Honda’s existing arena relationship gave that explanation a concrete starting point.

The conditions matter. The seller needs authority over the assets. The buyer needs a suitable category, a relevant audience and resources to put the agreement to work. A short campaign with a small budget may be better served elsewhere. A long agreement also leaves both sides exposed to changing priorities, as Salesforce’s departure demonstrated.

Participation now extends beyond the sponsor boardroom. LA28 reported more than six million Olympic tickets sold in August 2026, with the next general-public purchase opportunity planned for 2027. On September 10, it opened applications for a local food-business program, running through November 16. Those are fan and procurement routes, respectively, with different obligations from sponsorship.

That distinction is worth making before approaching the organization. A manufacturer seeking licensed merchandise rights, a brand seeking a national campaign and a local food vendor have different needs. USOPP’s commercial story is about matching the right piece of the Games to the right buyer. Sometimes that piece is as conspicuous as the name above the entrance.