The United States Olympic Committee (USOC), initially called the American Olympic Association, was founded in 1896. Members of the committee sought to provide assistance to United States Olympic athletes with training and other needs. Because the USOC is not government funded, the committee relied heavily on corporate funding and private donations (“Team USA,” 2011). However, over the years, while the attractiveness of the Olympic Games remained constant, the rising cost of housing, clothing and support for US athletes along with other professional sports vying for corporate sponsorship, made difficult to obtain financing. Therefore, the USOC was faced with the challenge of persuading corporate benefactors that investing in the Olympic Games was a profitable and cost-effective venture (O'Rourke, 2010). Therefore, the methods used by the USOC to persuade companies to invest are explored, as well as the motivating factors behind corporate sponsorship. Case Analysis Persuasion Message The ability to communicate effectively is essential in business (O'Rourke, 2010). To provide information, convey a message and explain an idea, communication tools must be applied on a daily basis (N, 2005). The most important communication tool is the persuasive one (N, 2005). This is because whatever is conveyed in the workplace requires a certain degree of persuasion (N, 2005). Thus, persuasion is the ability to move an individual or group to action. Boyer and Stoddard (2011), describe persuasion as “the act of convincing a sentient being other than yourself to adopt a particular belief or pursue a particular action (p. 1). Therefore, for persuasion to be effective, a level of trust must exist between the parties (O'Rourke, 2010). Therefore, the challenge… makes clear… their association with the Olympic movement and develops interventions that include updated marketing and promotional strategies to correct the problem. Furthermore, an exclusivity right for some corporate sponsors has caused companies without this type of contract to feel second-rate, which creates the possibility for ambush marketing to emerge (Palomba, 2010). Ambush marketing is a company's attempt to directly or indirectly associate itself with an event, team, or celebrity without obtaining proper authorization or paying the necessary licensing fees. As a result, official sponsors may not receive the full benefit or business value of paying for being legitimate sponsors (Palomba, 2010). Therefore, the USOC must protect legitimate sponsors by enacting or enforcing protective legislation to reduce or eradicate ambush marketing tactics (Palomba, 2010).