Good morning. Welcome to Axios today. It's Tuesday, July 20th. I'm Nyla Budu. Here's what

you need to know today. GOP leaders fight for a say in blue cities. Plus, the Delta variant

in the U.S. by the numbers. But first, the new reality for Olympic sponsors is today's

one big thing.

Companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars to be sponsors at the Olympic Games. An investment

that usually means big returns. But this year, the pandemic has put sponsors in a really

tight spot. With the Olympic opening ceremonies this Friday, Axios Business Order Hope King

is with us for the details. Good morning, Hope.

Hi, Nyla.

So we've talked on the past about all the problems that these games have had because

of the pandemic. What are the problems facing sponsors?

I think the biggest one is just being associated possibly with a super spreader event. A lot

of people in Japan are worried that despite all the precautions that the officials are taking,

there could still be, and we are seeing this as new athletes coming in or getting tested

and testing positive for it, that this could lead to another outbreak as cases are already

on the rise in the country.

And what's been the reaction inside Japan to these games?

Inside Japan, they have been taking to the streets to protest, and that's not something

that's very common in Japan. So you can imagine just how upset people are. Back in May,

a survey was conducted around the popularity of the games continuing forward in a vast majority,

83% of folks surveyed in Japan said that they were against the games continuing.

What does that mean for the advertisers who have undoubtedly spent millions of dollars

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