United States calls the shots in money game
Posted July 28th, 2016, 10:54 AM IST
No host city can afford to go against the wishes of NBC because the American TV channel pays almost half of the total global broadcasting rights fee to the International Olympic Committee. The TV money is the fuel that keeps the Olympic engine revving as it makes up 75% of IOC’s total revenue, which is expected to be around Rs 37,000 crore for the 2013-16 cycle. With nearly 90% of TV broadcast rights fee coming from Europe and the USA, the IOC has no choice other than to obey the diktats of the two regions. There isn’t much to complain about because he who pays the piper always calls the tune and it’s the way the world is run in every sphere today.
When Pierre de Coubertin founded the modern Olympics in 1896 he wouldn’t have envisaged that the Games would grow into such a commercial behemoth.
American Avery Brundage, IOC president from 1952 to 1972, was of the opinion that the Olympic body should have nothing to do with money. The IOC says 90% of its humungous earnings is ploughed back into sports through grants to National Olympic Committees, international federations and the Olympic Games. In other words, the IOC earns to spend.
Even the decision of the IOC to conduct the Winter Olympics two years after the Summer Games from 1992 owes its genesis to America’s influence. Until 1988, the Summer and Winter Olympics were conducted in the same year.
The IOC decided to separate the two events to reduce the financial burden on the official US Olympic broadcaster in the same year. NBC is planning to offer nearly 6,750 hours of Rio Olympics coverage on TV and digital platforms.
The role of America in keeping the Olympic movement alive can’t be stressed enough after Montreal’s misadventure in 1976. The Los Angeles Games in 1984, the first one to be organised without state support, returned a profit of more than $200 million. The Montreal organisers, on the other hand, had overshot the budget so recklessly that the Canadian city took another 30 years to pay off its debts.
Los Angeles proved that the Olympics were sustainable and it was a timely boost the IOC needed after two editions marred by mass boycotts. Another important source of revenue for IOC is The Olympic Partnership (TOP), which came into force in 1985. A few MNCs pooled in around $100 million as part of the initial cycle of the TOP, which was the brainchild of then IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and Adidas boss Horst Dassler.
Eleven companies, six of them American, contribute more than $1 billion to the IOC kitty in the current four-year term. TOP’s revenue contribution is expected to be 18% for 2013-16. Coca-Cola, a key TOP member, has been involved with the Olympic movement since the 1928 Amsterdam Games. As on-field advertisements are banned at the Olympics, money from local sponsorship in the host country, ticketing and merchandising is also important to fill the coffers of the IOC.
- BATC: Indian women’s team reaches maiden final with 3-2 win over Japan
- India defeat England by 106 runs to level five-Test series 1-1
- FIR against gaming site, FB page as Tendulkar raises concerns over his deepfake video
- Telangana Sailors Shine at National Sailing Championships, Bag Medals
- Inaugural Edition of Indian Street Premier League to Begin from March 2
- Thrilled to welcome Hardik back home to Mumbai Indians, says Nita Ambani
- Techie dies of heart attack as India loses to Australia in World Cup final
- Carlos Alcaraz set to make ATP finals debut in Turin
- Pandya had hurt his left ankle while fielding of his own bowling in the game against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19
- Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek win their WTA Finals opening matches in straight sets
- Berlin to Host Germany's First Major WWE
- Para Asian Games: Gold rush continues as Deepthi Jeevanji clinches gold in women’s 400m-T20 final
- Indian cricket legend Bishan Singh Bedi passes away
- CWC 2023: After big ton, Warner credits IPL for success in ODIs
- India-Australia T20 set to dazzle Visakhapatnam
More Sports News
- Aditi Rao Hydari misses ‘Heeramandi’ event after wedding
- Bigg Boss winner Munawar Faruqui among 14 detained in Mumbai raid
- Mrunal Thakur follows ‘grandma diet,’ believes in not skipping meals
- Selena Gomez shares makeup-free selfies on Instagram
- Diljit collaborates with Saweetie for ‘Khutti’ Song, says ‘she just landed in Punjab’
- Malaika Arora, Arjun Kapoor, Richa, Ali Fazal, Farah, and more at KJo’s Bash
- Jamie Lever is ‘honoured’ to represent her heritage with Telugu debut film
- Janhvi and Aditya Roy Kapur shine on the ramp for Kalki at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI
- I am fond of Kate Moss, says Diana Penty, about her fashion icon
- Kriti Kharbanda, Pulkit Samrat share pictures from dreamy wedding
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: file_get_contents(): http:// wrapper is disabled in the server configuration by allow_url_fopen=0
Filename: views/newsdetails.php
Line Number: 29
Backtrace:
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/views/newsdetails.php
Line: 29
Function: file_get_contents
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 135
Function: view
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 77
Function: newsdetails
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: file_get_contents(http://www.indiaaffiliates.in/ads.php?size=300X250): failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found
Filename: views/newsdetails.php
Line Number: 29
Backtrace:
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/views/newsdetails.php
Line: 29
Function: file_get_contents
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 135
Function: view
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 77
Function: newsdetails
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once