Samsung is one of the most important Olympic Partners. The company has put a lot of resources into the Paris 2024 Olympics, sponsoring many athletes and teams, creating a fourth medal out of recycled glass, and gifting every Olympian a brand-new special edition Galaxy Z Flip 6.
The company delivered roughly 17,000 Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition phones, and athletes have been using them to take selfies on the Olympic podium. That's a first in the history of the Olympic Games. Athletes have never before been allowed to carry phones to the podium.
Samsung gifted nearly $20 million worth of state-of-the-art limited-edition Flip 6 models to Olympians last month. However, judging by their actions, some athletes seem to care little about Samsung's sponsorship or the special edition Galaxy Z Flip 6. Not even as memorabilia, which is baffling.
A few of these rare Samsung phones are now up for sale on websites like eBay and Marktplaats. Samsung isn't the one selling them. Athletes are, and some say they're not doing it to make a profit.
Showing complete disregard for one of the Olympic's biggest sponsors
Technically, Olympians who have received Samsung's gift (all of them) are not prohibited from selling these rare phones. However, their actions show disregard to a major sponsor. The 2024 Olympic is ongoing, and these athletes lacked the courtesy to at least wait for the Olympics to end before trying to sell the phones they've received as gifts.
Although some Olympians can earn up to $768,000 for winning gold, winnings vary by country (via CNBC). Some olympians aren't paid very well. Despite that, they put in a lot of work to reach that high level of performance. But some never reach the podium, and others could use the $1,000 they could get from selling an Olympic Edition phone.
However, according to some athletes who are selling these rare Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition phones through online marketplaces, they're not doing it for profit but because they already have a phone (via AD). And, judging by their actions, they don't care about keeping the Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition as a piece of memorabilia, either.
Selling a gift never looks good. But selling a major sponsor's gift online while the Olympic Games are ongoing looks even worse. It comes off as ungrateful and shows complete disregard for the sponsor, which isn't very sportsmanlike.
