O2 denied Dome naming rights during Olympics

[Fiona]

O2 will see its brand 'blanked' from the Millennium Dome when the venue's most high-profile event yet, the London Olympics 2012, rolls into town.

Just two months into its £6m-a-year initiative to rebrand the Dome as "the O2", the mobile network has found itself on the wrong side of strict IOC rules.

In May, the mobile network announced a six-year deal with Dome owner Anschutz Entertainment Group to rename the venue, but is unlikely to benefit from media coverage during the three-week event now it has been confirmed as an official Olympics venue.

The venue is being lined up to host the gymnastics competition, although it is not yet known how organisers or the media will refer to it.

IOC rules state that all venues must be "clean" of non-sponsor branding. An IOC spokeswoman said no exception would be made unless O2 became an official sponsor.

O2's sponsorship of the Dome comes into effect in 2007. Executives hope that by 2012, recognition of the venue as the O2 will be so high that a temporary name change will not affect it.

An AEG spokeswoman said that no agreement had yet been reached on what would happen to the O2 during the Olympics.

Digital Bulletin