Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
This study investigates Alibaba Cloud’s strategic partnership with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as an exemplar of bidirectional image transfer, wherein advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions enhance both the sponsor’s brand capabilities and the event’s technological profile. Through qualitative content analysis of official platforms and media reports employing an inductive-deductive coding approach, eight themes emerged: innovation, efficiency, sustainability, legitimacy, competence, ethics, cultural synergy and industry leadership. Alibaba Cloud’s digital infrastructure, scalable broadcasting and eco-friendly technologies streamlined operations, enriched fan engagement and positioned the Games as a modern, sustainable mega-event. Conversely, the Olympics conferred global credibility, demonstrated technical robustness and bolstered the sponsor’s ethical standing. Moreover, the collaboration fostered cultural integration and established new benchmarks for cloud-based event management. By moving beyond a unidirectional focus on sponsorship benefits, our findings propose a reciprocal framework for sponsor-property value co-creation, offering practical implications for technology sponsors and sports organizations to cultivate mutually reinforcing partnerships.
Xiao et al. (2025) studied this question.