AT&T retains Olympic spot

Expect to see a lot of AT&T commercials when the Winter Olympians hit the slopes.

AT&T announced today that it is once again a major sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team and will use the upcoming Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, in its re-branding of the SBC-AT&T merger.

The last time AT&T used the Olympics for a major campaign was in 2004, when it launched its VoIP service, CallVantage, at the Summer Olympics. That campaign was widely considered to be an expensive flop, however.

AT&T will serve as the Official Telecommunications Services Partner of the U.S. Olympic Team for both the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in February and for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. “Official Partner” is the highest level of sponsorship for U.S. teams.

“We're very pleased that the new AT&T has rejoined the United States Olympic Committee in support of the men and women who represent our country at the Olympic Games,” said Ed Whitacre, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T, in a prepared statement. “It is truly fitting that our first sponsorship announcement as the new AT&T is in support of the most recognized sports team in America.”

“We are extremely pleased to have a company with the tradition and heritage of AT&T supporting our Olympic athletes and programs,” said Jim Scherr, chief executive officer of the USOC, also in a prepared statement. “We are particularly honored to be the first company with which the new AT&T has chosen to align itself by becoming an Official Partner.”

AT&T has promised a major multimedia advertising campaign to promote the company as it integrates SBC and AT&T into one entity. To date, SBC is still advertising under its own brand name, using “now part of AT&T” or “powered by AT&T,” as an advertising tagline.