Deloitte on the Road to Paris: “We envision a better world through sport, just like the IOC does”
International Olympic Committee
10 June 2024 – As the countdown to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 continues, the Worldwide Olympic Partners are preparing to play a fundamental role in making the Games a success. In our “Road to Paris” series, these Partners talk about some of the essential support they will be providing and reveal their excitement at helping to shape an unforgettable Olympic experience for fans and athletes alike. Here, we speak with John Skowron, Deloitte’s Vice-Chair for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and John Tweardy, Deloitte’s Managing Partner for Olympic, Paralympic and Major Events.
What attracted Deloitte to The Olympic Partner (TOP) programme?
John Skowron: Deloitte has long supported the Olympic Movement – we’ve supported various National Olympic Committees, we’ve supported various Organising Committees – so it was a natural extension for us to become a TOP Partner, and really bring our global brand to the Olympic Movement. Our brand is about helping our clients solve their biggest business problems, and to participate with the IOC, as they think about the strategy for the Olympic Games moving forward, is exciting for the firm.
What do you think Deloitte can bring to the Olympic Movement?
JS: When I think of the IOC’s mission of building a better world through sport, I think about all that that entails. It’s a force for good. It’s a force for inclusion. It’s a force for gender equality in sports. Those characteristics align well to our firm and Deloitte. Being able to bring our capabilities to the Olympic Movement to help support that mission is very exciting to us.
What is Deloitte’s vision for its Olympic partnership?
John Tweardy: Deloitte’s vision for this partnership is admittedly quite grand. We envision a better world through sport, just like the IOC does, and that has tremendous implications. Can we help the Olympics connect? Can we enable the complex ecosystem of sports? Can we drive experience in digital? Can we drive cost and be more effective? Can we build better platforms? I think we can. We see tons of possibilities. But that’s really our vision; that we work together, and that our DNAs, which are already so really well connected, combine to make an impact.
What does a successful collaboration look like for Deloitte?
JT: A successful collaboration for Deloitte, I think, starts with trust. And trust is both afforded and earned. We’re new and excited, and we’re still learning, so I think we’re in the affording trust stage. And we hope that because we’re Deloitte, and we’ve been around for 175 plus years, they will afford that, and we look to earn that trust. And then I think the collaboration has to look at the possible. We have an expression that we “see possibilities everywhere”, and before possibilities are impact. And so, we see tremendous possibilities for this great relationship, to collaborate and then to drive impact, and I think that will be the really important part.
What is Deloitte most looking forward to about the Olympic Games Paris 2024?
JS: Paris 2024 is really our first experience as a TOP Partner, so we’re excited about that activity, and all of the excitement that Paris will bring to the world. Participating in that will be an incredible experience.
JT: This is our first Games, and we’re really looking forward to Paris. The world needs this, I think, more than ever, but for us, it’s our first. So, we want to learn, we want to enjoy this, we want to share the Olympics with Deloitte, and then kind of transversely share Deloitte with the Olympics. And this is our first chance to do that, to get our executives, to get our great clients, to get our staff excited about why we’re on this great adventure, this great journey together. So, I’m excited. We’re going to be delivering some digital assets, which I’m excited about. But I think for me personally, I’m just excited to get in the game.
