Olympic Stadium
Companies have the chance to buy the right to put their brand to Olympic venues, such as the Olympic Stadium (Reuters) Reuters

Naming rights for the London 2012 Olympic Games venues have gone on sale as organisers try to claw back some of the £10bn ploughed into the event by taxpayers.

Would-be sponsors are being asked to formally express an interest by 2 March. They will then be told to submit a proposal to the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), the publicly owned not-for-profit government body.

A final decision on sponsors will be made in May.

IBTimes UK understands there has been a lot of informal interest in sponsorship, which could raise millions of pounds.

Companies will have the chance to put their brands on the 60,000-seater Olympic Stadium, Aquatic Centre, and Multi-Use Arena, all in Stratford's Olympic Park in east London.

OPLC would not confirm how much it is pricing the sponsorships or if it will work on an auction basis with the deal going to the highest bidder.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport said the government had not set any targets on how much money OPLC had to raise. The cash raised will go towards offsetting the enormous amount that has been spent by the taxpayer on the Olympics.

Andrew Altman, OPLC chief executive, highlighted the advertising potential of the branding.

"Billions of people will see these venues during the games, and millions more will visit every year," he said.

Altman added that they wanted a company that "promotes healthy living and offers sporting, training and employment opportunities to our local communities".

London 2012 is due to start on 27 July and will see two months of Olympic and Paralympic events.