McDonald's ends Olympic sponsor deal with IOC early

FILE PHOTO: The sign outside a McDonalds restaurant is seen in Westminster, Colorado, U.S. January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

NEW YORK/BERLIN (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp ended its 41-year-old sponsorship of the Olympic Games three years early, the International Olympic Committee said on Friday, reflecting the U.S. fast-food giant's focus on its core business as well as rising Olympics sponsorship costs and declining TV ratings.

McDonald's deal would have run through the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, and bowing out will likely to save it hundreds of million of dollars if it had continued into the next four-year Olympics cycle and beyond.