Olympics Security Is No Game

Even as the likes of McDonald's (MCD), Adidas, and Coca-Cola (KO) spend millions of dollars trumpeting their affiliation with the Beijing Olympics, a different group of multinationals is less eager for the spotlight. China is spending some $6.5 billion on security for the Games, and much of that has gone to foreigners. But given the sensitive nature of those contracts—and a skittishness over being perceived as supporting China's authoritarian government—these companies are often reluctant to discuss what they're doing or how much they're making. "We want to avoid answering sensitive questions," says a staffer in the Beijing office of Panasonic (MC), which has sold surveillance cameras for use at the Games.

That doesn't mean these companies haven't been aggressive in courting business. General Electric (GE), IBM (IBM), Honeywell (HON), Siemens (SI), Panasonic, and LG have all won major contracts providing security technology for the Olympics—one of the biggest security-business opportunities ever, and a shot at lots of ongoing business for those that get in early. The Chinese are laying out more than four times the $1.5 billion that Athens spent on security in 2004, says the Security Industry Assn., a Washington trade group.