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Editor note — In this column, we normally write about the how and the why of searching for sponsors for your race team or event. However, this month I would like to bring to your attention a book that was written back in 1985 titled MADE IN AMERICA by Peter Ueberroth. If you remember, Ueberroth was the guiding force behind the 1984 Olympic Games, an event that made an unprecedented profit – largely due to marketing and sponsorships. I think that by reading this book, you will have a greater understanding of the symbiotic relationship between a sponsor and a program whether it is a race team, event or venue. It’s well worth your time.

MADE IN AMERICA by Peter Ueberroth (His Own Story)
Author: Peter Ueberroth with Richard Levin and Amy Quinn
ISBN: 0-688-05882-5
401 Page, Hardbound
Publisher: William Morrow and Company, New York, NY

There was an unexpected magic to the 1984 Olympic Games. The athletes performed at world-class levels and the Games themselves rated almost a perfect ten. More than half the world watched them on television — more than 2.5 billion people — and they witnessed what America’s entrepreneurial energy and optimism can achieve.

This incredible success can be credited to the efforts of Peter Ueberroth and an extraordinary group of leaders. Together with seventy-two thousand staff members and volunteers who were determined to make our country proud, they organized the Games of the XXXIIIrd Olympiad.

MADE IN AMERICA is Peter Ueberroth’s story. It is the story of a young man who built with his own two hands one of the largest travel companies in the world. It is the story of daring entrepreneurship and faith in the volunteer spirit of America. Starting with nothing, Ueberroth created the largest peacetime army of volunteers in American History, and they put on a show that made the nation stand up and cheer.

To achieve his goals, Ueberroth first had to fight against the opinions of millions of people and the local and national media, all of whom predicted the Games would be a disaster. He had to overcome problems that threatened to put the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee in the same desperate financial strait as those endured by other host cities such as Montreal and Lake Placid. He had to counter one of the greatest terrorist threats in this century and prevent Los Angeles from becoming another Munich. He had to be stoic in the face of self-serving demands by members of the Olympic family. He had to be a diplomat in facing down the Soviet and their boycott and persuading a record number of uncommitted nations to participate in the Games. He had to be determined when it came to dealing with two administrations of his own government when neither administration understood the importance the rest of the world attributed to the Games. And he had to be a financial genius, organizing the Games without spending a dime of taxpayers’ money yet earning for the first time in history, a massive $225 million surplus that will benefit America’s youth for years to come.

MADE IN AMERICA take the reader behind the scenes where power brokers from both the East and the West use athletes as political pawns. The book shows the good and the bad sides of the Games. It proves that the Olympics should be above and beyond selfish national interests. It demonstrates Ueberroth’s love for his country, and show how the Games he organized helped unify America.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Peter Ueberroth created the First Travel Corporation and made it the second-largest travel enterprise in North America next to American Express. At age twenty-eight, he became a member of the prestigious Young Presidents’ Organization and ultimately became its international president. For his entrepreneurial skills and spirit in organizing the 1984 Olympic Games, he was named the 1984 Man of the Year by Time Magazine.

Richard Levin was LAOOC assistant press secretary. He also co-authored MAGIC, the autobiography of Earvin “Magic” Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Amy Quinn served as press secretary for the Olympic Games for five years.

Editor note — Our apology: The book cover above is somewhat tattered as the editor, over the years, has read the book several times and has loaned it to many friends. MADE IN AMERICA may be still available from the publisher, otherwise check with your local library or perhaps in the used book section of Amazon.com. In any event, use the ISBN number to locate the book.

END

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