After previous sponsor DMB Bank NV backed out due to an October bankruptcy, Colbert announced he would take over financing the team's 2010 Olympic run.
Colbert told viewers on Monday's edition of
The Colbert Report that he is now
the U.S. speedskating team's main sponsor and its members will wear uniforms with "Colbert Nation" written across them. The term refers to the group of diehard fans of the comedian's satirical political show on Comedy Central.
Before its bankruptcy, the Dutch bank was supposed to pay $300,000 in sponsorship funds and when it backed out, the team found itself in a tight spot. Instead of giving money directly to the team, Colbert is calling on fans to donate at either
ColbertNation.com or
USSpeedskating.org.
"On their enormous, billboard thighs, it will say, 'Colbert Nation,'" Colbert said in interviews. "[The logo] will be easy to see because it will be in first place." Colbert may also film episodes on location in Vancouver, where the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in February 2010.
Olympian Apollo Anton Ohno, who competes in short track speedskating and is a fan of
The Colbert Report, is excited about the creativity of the sponsorship method and hopes to appear in a skit for the show.
This is neither the first time
The Report has reached out to viewers to support a cause nor the first time Colbert's name has appeared in an unlikely place. Followers of
the comedian raised over $170,000 in January for the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which benefits injured service men and their families. He has also used his influence to raise funds for DonorsChoose.org and Save the Children. The Colbert name has appeared on a NASA
treadmill, as a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor and has been used to name a bald eagle and a junior hockey team mascot.
