Michael Robert Payne (born 25 March 1958) is an English and Irish marketing executive and author, for many years head of the marketing division of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) and from 2004 through 2016 with

Formula One Group The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the Promotion (marketing), promotion of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights. The ...

. He is the author of the 2005 book ''Olympic Turnaround'' and 2021 book "Toon In!" and contributes widely to the media on sports business issues.

Biography

Payne was educated at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...

. A British free-style skiing champion in the 1970's, he began marketing his fellow athletes, helping them find sponsors to permit them to compete. Payne was drafted into the IOC in the 1989, having previously worked at ISL Marketing , a Swiss based marketing company that in 1982 had been appointed by the IOC to develop a global marketing program. During his 17 years with the IOC, he contributed to the development of a multi-billion marketing program for the organisation, worldwide. According to media outlets, Payne is "credited with turning the Games into a financial success" through the television and marketing deals he negotiated for the Olympics during his tenure. After the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, he took a position with

Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns ...

, who holds the commercial rights for the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

brand. He remained an advisor for the IOC. In 2004 Payne also founded his global strategic advisory group, Payne Sports Media Strategies, advising governments, corporations, broadcaster and sports organisations, including

Alibaba Ali Baba (character), Ali Baba is a character from the folk tale ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves''. Ali Baba or Alibaba may also refer to: Films * Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1902 film), ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' (1902 film), a F ...

, WPP, CVC amongst others. Payne also acted as senior advisor for the winning Olympic bids of

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Rio de Janeiro 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and Los Angeles 2028. In 2005 Payne released his first book, ''Olympic Turnaround''that details how the Olympics stepped back from the brink of extinction to become the world’s best known brand and a multi billion global franchise. The book has been published in more than 15 different languages. In 2021 Payne released his second book, Toon In! that in 2022 won the prestigious Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year Award (8) detailing the Olympic history through cartoons and how the Games have defied threats. All profits donated to charity – Back Up, Sport for Peace, Yunus Sports Hub and Cartooning for Peace. Nominated by Advertising Age, as one of the World’s 50 most influential marketeers, he has also written for leading newspapers including the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

, Yomuiri Shimbun (Japan) and

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

. He has interviewed for over 100 media outlets including flagship television news programmes in the US ( NBC,

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

) UK (

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, Newsnight,

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

) Canada ( CBC) Australia (

Channel 7 Channel 7 or TV7 may refer to: Television networks, channels and stations ;Algeria *TV7 (Algerian TV channel) ; Argentina *Channel 7 (Argentina), a government-owned Argentine TV station * Channel 7 – Bahía Blanca, an Argentine TV station in Bue ...

) Japan ( NHK,

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

) China (

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

) and Bloomberg,

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Wall St Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

, L'Equipe,, AP, AFP,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

amongst others where he is frequently called upon to comment on the business of sport and politics and sport. He is also a regular speaker at international conferences. He has served on a number of boards including advisory board to

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

; Chairman of Crystal Digital International.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Michael English businesspeople English writers Living people People educated at Highgate School 1958 births