Home Depot ends Olympic sponsorship

Home Depot has announced it is ending its multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and discontinuing a program that offered jobs and benefits to American athletes, the Associated Press reported.

The partnership began in 1992 and was worth between $15 million and $20 million during the four-year period ending in 2008.

The 86 athletes currently in the program -- who worked flexible schedules depending on their Olympic training -- will be offered traditional jobs at the Home Depot stores they now work in. After March 2, however, they will no longer receive full-time pay and benefits for part-time work.

“It’s been an outstanding relationship and we greatly appreciate everything Home Depot has done,” USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel told the A.P. “We’re sorry to see them go. At the same time, we appreciate their continued support of America’s athletes.”

At the height of the program, Home Depot employed more than 200 athletes. To make up for the financial loss, the USOC plans to provide stipends to winter athletes in the program through January 2010 and a one-time, $5,000 stipend to summer athletes. It will also provide health insurance these athletes might lose if they scale back or quit their Home Depot jobs.

Home Depot, which recently reported a 31 percent drop in third-quarter earnings for 2008, would not confirm that this decision was directly associated with the economy, according to the A.P.