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A still-unfolding corruption scandal linked to the 2020 Tokyo Games has “turned public opinion sharply against” Sapporo’s 2030 bid and “complicated Japan’s ability to stage large events in the coming years,” according to Dooley & Ueno of the N.Y. TIMES. The “slow drip of allegations of bid-rigging in the run-up to” the Tokyo Games, which were delayed until 2021 because of the pandemic, has “ensnared some of Japan’s top companies.” The most prominent is Dentsu, one of the world’s "most powerful sports marketing firms and a key force in arranging everything from the initial Tokyo bidding process to the event’s tiniest details.” Arrests began last summer, “toppling the heads of one of Japan’s largest publishers and a major clothing retailer.” In February, prosecutors accused Dentsu, as well as Japan’s second-largest marketing firm, Hakuhodo, of “forming a cartel to skirt rules on bidding for public contracts related to the Tokyo Games.” In response to the scandal, Tokyo and Osaka, among other cities, have “pledged that -- at least in the short term -- they will exclude Dentsu and its alleged conspirators from bidding for public contracts.” Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto said that the city “still hopes to host the 2030 Games,” but he believes that it will be "difficult to secure the necessary sponsorships without the involvement of Dentsu." Dooley & Ueno note the firm hauled in a "record-shattering" $3.6B in "domestic sponsorship money” for the Tokyo Games. It also controls nearly 28% of "Japan’s advertising market.” Sapporo had been “especially appealing” as Olympic organizers seek a home for the 2030 Games. The city seemed to "have it all: an Olympic legacy as the 1972 host; most of the necessary facilities; an eager public; and consistent, powdery snow.” Its “only serious rival, Salt Lake City, preferred to wait until 2034 to host the Games” (N.Y. TIMES, 3/30).
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