Russian athletics is becoming a trademark, as the country’s Olympic Committee is developing a national sports brand called “Team Russia.”
The idea is to popularize a healthy lifestyle and get more people behind the national team.
The logo features a bear and was developed by an international brand-marketing agency.
So far it has cost 120,000 euros to develop. A $5 million promotional campaign kicks-off in September, both on television and through large retail chains.
Recent years have delivered several major sports coups for Russia: first the country won the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, then followed up with a successful bid for the 2018 soccer World Cup.
The country’s Sports Ministry is now doing its best to turn Russia into a soccer fans’ paradise.
A new draft law prepared today for the 2018 World Cup gives sports lovers and organizers a wide range of bonuses, covering all aspects of the world’s biggest sports event.
The Sports Ministry is promising visa-free travel to Russia to World Cup ticket holders – for entering the country, they will only have to register in a special database of World Cup spectators.
There may also be free transportation between host cities, as well as state-controlled hotel prices, which is way more advanced than preparations for the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.
As for FIFA-linked organizers, they will pay almost zero taxes and will not have to obtain a special work permit for foreign workers. Market analysts say these conditions are even better than those offered by the Skolkovo technology hub.