With billions of dollars at stake—and Los Angeles taxpayers ultimately on the hook—corporate sponsorships could make or break LA28’s entire city budget for years to come. Yet many labor groups are arguing that the brands backing LA28 don’t reflect the shiny Olympic image. Fair Games LA and the Starbucks Workers Union, for instance, recently posted that Starbucks hasn’t “earned the privilege” of being an Olympic sponsor, given the company’s well documented union-busting practices. It’s clear to us, however, that the true Olympic values of exploitation, displacement, and corruption make Starbucks a perfect match.
Let’s take a look at some of the other corporations proudly carrying the torch of hypocrisy, hoping to use the Olympic spotlight to sportwash their public image. Who corrupted who?
Sponsors:
Airbnb
Airbnb is the perfect accomplice for the Olympic legacy of gentrification and displacement. Short-term rentals have massively fueled the housing crises from Tokyo to Paris to Los Angeles, driving rents up and pushing out long-term residents. The only way to make LA a habitable place is to expel Airbnb and the IOC. Read our analysis in full here!
And yes, Airbnb is on the BDS boycott list too.
Alibaba
Alibaba’s founder, billionaire Jack Ma, famously called his company’s “996” work schedule (9 a.m. to 9 p.m, six days a week) a “huge blessing.” For workers, this blessing leads to burnout, exploitation, and even suicide. As an official Olympic sponsor, Alibaba fits right in with the Games’ own culture of overwork and underpay.
Allianz
In 2022, Allianz Global Investors pled guilty to a massive scheme that defrauded pension funds for teachers, bus drivers, and working-class retirees, paying over $6 billion in penalties and restitution. It’s fitting that a company that preyed on the retirement savings of public-sector workers is now underwriting the Olympics: an event that guts public services and drains city budgets at every turn.
Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola logo has been plastered across Olympic podiums for nearly a century, using brand nostalgia to distract from its record of union-busting, environmental harm, and complicity in global human-rights abuses. Also on the BDS list!
Corporate branding on the Metro Detention Center from the LA24/28 bid book.
Deloitte
This consulting firm’s alleged goal is to help governments and corporations “do the right thing.” But in October 2025, Deloitte’s Australian arm had to issue a $290,000 refund to the Australian government after its much-hyped AI technology was caught “hallucinating” false information in official government reports. Other Deloitte clients include Monsanto, Boeing, and, for some reason, the St. Louis Archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Deloitte remains a “Worldwide Olympic Partner” through all their wrongdoing, helping to shape an event that’s been ~hallucinating~ its own image for centuries.
Michelob Ultra
Michelob’s parent company, AB InBev, has a long and ugly record with Teamsters labor disputes, wage theft, and greenwashed marketing. Their “sweat responsibly” ads celebrate athleticism while the company’s own workers have to fight for living wages. It’s the perfect metaphor for the Olympics, where working people do the labor, and corporations take the glory.
Omega
From bidding on its own vintage pieces at auctions to inflate the market price, to the 2021 “Frankenstein” fake watch scandal, Omega has proven that, just like the IOC, its business is less about integrity and more about maintaining images of its perceived value.
P&G
In 2025, P&G was sued for greenwashing over deforestation linked to its toilet paper production. The company was accused of obtaining their wood pulp from the Canadian boreal forest, one of the world’s most important biological ecosystems, through harmful logging practices such as clear cutting and burning – behavior completely at odds with their “Keep Forests Forests” slogan. It only makes sense that they’d link with the Olympics, another brand comfortable with contradictory messaging and actions.
Samsung
Samsung’s Olympic ads show sleek gadgets and elite athletes, but off-screen, the company faces accusations of labor abuse, child labor, and unsafe working conditions across its supply chain. Investigations have revealed exploitative factories, unethical marketing, and even bribery scandals involving top executives.
TCL
The company’s smart TVs have been flagged for privacy and security vulnerabilities, with reports of data collection practices that turn your living room into a surveillance zone. Even worse, TCL has been linked to forced labor in its supply chain and accused of deceptive advertising meant to gloss over these abuses. In short, TCL profits from both surveillance capitalism and worker exploitation — two industries the Olympics know all too well.
Visa
Visa is the Olympics’ exclusive payment partner– a deal that perfectly fits the brand’s history of monopolistic behavior. The U.S. Justice Department sued Visa in 2024 for monopolizing debit markets, accusing it of crushing competition to maintain dominance.
Founding Partners:
Delta
Delta has spent millions fighting its own workers’ right to organize. This year, it tried to block a minimum wage increase in Los Angeles and failed. Now it’s using Olympic sponsorship to polish its anti-worker image.
Remember “Don’t be evil?” —neither does Google. The company has partnered with Israel’s military technology sector and collaborates with surveillance firms like Palantir, all while collecting unprecedented amounts of user data worldwide.
Honda
In June 2024, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board accused Honda of illegal union-busting at its Indiana plant. The company’s hostility toward organized labor mirrors the broader Olympic trend of suppressing worker voices while celebrating “The Power of Dreams.”
Starbucks
Starbucks’ workers are leading one of the most visible union drives in the country, and the company’s been relentlessly union-busting in response. Despite its public image of progressivism, the company has fired organizers, shuttered unionized stores, and fought collective bargaining every step of the way. Employees even launched a campaign to drop the company’s Olympic sponsorship. In case it’s not clear by this point, the Olympics and Starbucks share the same playbook: sell community, crush organizing.
“Official” Sponsors
AECOM
The company helped build Tokyo’s stadium, a project that displaced residents and reshaped neighborhoods for the sake of a global photo op. Now it’s helping shape LA28’s infrastructure, continuing the cycle of “revitalization” that almost always means removing the people who already live there.
Cisco
Cisco calls itself a company that “connects the world” – unfortunately it does so through collaborating with ICE and supplying tech to the Israeli government for surveillance and control.
Lilly
Their record of insulin price-fixing, bribery scandals, and a history of lobbying against affordable healthcare speaks for itself. They’re pro-Israel, too.
Nike
Nike’s empire was built on sweatshop labor, and its anti-union tactics show little has changed. Add in its massive environmental footprint and cozying up with Israel, and Nike fits right into the Olympic ecosystem—a global operation running on exploitation disguised as inspiration.
Ralph Lauren
Behind the starched, white-supremecist-ass aesthetic (unsurprisingly) lies a murky supply chain rife with labor abuse. Perfect for the opening ceremony of the world’s biggest PR event.
Uber
Uber’s model depends on underpaid, unprotected workers, and the company’s recent partnerships with surveillance giants like Palantir and NVIDIA only deepen its commitment to data extraction and worker control.
“Official” Supporter
Archer Aviation
The official air taxi provider for the Games, partnered with predictive surveillance behemoth Palantir, Archer was allowed to buy the entire Hawthorne Airport and intends to use it as a “testbed for AI-powered” ground and air operations. Rich tourists can isolate themselves from “undesirables” while the cameras on their helicopters surveil residents who can’t afford to attend the games.
The Games have always rewarded profit over people, and this sponsor lineup shows that tradition is alive and well.
Displacement, exploitation, and corruption aren’t contradictions of the Olympic ideal; they’re the blueprint!
