Brazil bets on flip-flops, Olympic mascot for sales of 1b reals

Rio de Janeiro

ORGANISERS of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are banking on the popularity of flip-flops and a yet-to-be-announced cuddly mascot to help meet a target of one billion reals (S$533 million) in total merchandise sales.

The Rio 2016 organising committee is halfway through completing 65 licensing agreements with companies that will produce and sell 12,000 games-related products, more than for any previous Olympics. About 16 per cent of the total sales will go toward raising the seven billion reals needed to stage the event.