Toyota And BP To Sponsor Channel 4 Paralympic Coverage

Channel 4 has announced Toyota and BP as joint sponsors of its Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 coverage.

The two brands are both official partners of the IPC and the BPA, and will share the sponsorship equally, with programming across Channel 4, More4 and on-demand service All 4 as well as across other digital platforms.

The agreement with Toyota follows the car manufacturer’s sponsorship of Channel 4 2018 Paralympic Winter Games coverage, but the deal with BP marks the company’s first TV sponsorship with the broadcaster.  

Both Toyota and BP share exposure around live Paralympics coverage as well as build-up programming, highlights and entertainment shows the broadcaster will produce during the event.

The pair will also have their logos made visible across the broadcaster’s digital platforms, including branding on the OTT service All 4 as well as site sponsorship of the dedicated Channel 4 Paralympics website, which will carry live streaming throughout the Games.

Both brands will work in collaboration with Channel 4’s Sports Commissioning team to create editorial content which will run across the broadcaster’s linear and digital platforms.

Jonathan Allan, Chief Commercial Officer, Channel 4, said: “Following the great success of the Rio games, we are thrilled to be building on our partnership with Toyota, whilst joining forces with BP for the first time in a major collaboration that will take coverage of the Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020 to a new level.”

Andrew Cullis, Director – Communications & Product, Toyota (GB) said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Channel 4 for their award-winning Paralympic coverage, continuing a long and hugely successful relationship. Tokyo 2020 is an extremely important and exciting time for the Toyota brand as our business begins its evolution from an automotive manufacturer to a mobility company and we look forward to bringing this to life through this partnership and beyond.”

Both sponsors will benefit from branding across the channel’s marketing around the games – following on from the successful 2012 ‘Superhumans’ and 2016 ‘We Are The Superhumans’ campaigns.

The deals were negotiated by Channel 4’s sales house, 4 Sales, and the media agencies for Toyota and BP – m/SIX and Mindshare respectively.