Business of the Beijing Games

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – This is the end my friends

2008-08-25T00:20:00.000-04:00

What the Chinese called a hundred year odyssey ended Sunday evening in Beijing when the 29th Olympiad the 2008 Summer Olympic Games reached their conclusion. Sports Business News asked one very important question in the days immediately preceding the Beijing Games – will the first ever Olympic Games being held in China be called the best ever Games. The answer now is what it was then – NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.

When it comes to facilities Beijing receives a gold medal. When it comes to execution of events Beijing receives a gold medal. When it comes to the lasting legacy the Games will leave – the Chinese may one day be wise to remember this not so old quaint Chinese Proverb "be careful what you wish for, lest it come true". China’s totalitarian communist government who for so long wished and dreamed the world would be their oyster if only the International Olympic Committee would award China the right to host an Olympic Games now have to face the reality of what happens when the door opens. It will not happen today, it will not happen tomorrow, next week, next year or maybe not even in the next decade. But as sure as the Olympic flame was extinguished Sunday in Beijing – the Chinese people one day will realize democracy – now that they’ve tasted freedom.

Over the last few days there have been a number of remarkable events that have taken place in Beijing and China . These moments in time have everything to do with the real lasting legacy the Beijing Games will have on the Chinese people, the world and if there is justice the International Olympic Committee and their major sponsors.

Wednesday The New York Times and the world media reported that two women displaced by the Games of the 29th Olympiad where sentenced to a year in a prison labor camp. As the Times put it; Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying became the most recent examples of people punished for submitting applications to protest. A few would-be demonstrators have simply disappeared, at least for the duration of the Games, squelching already diminished hopes that the influx of foreigners and the prestige of holding the Games would push China ’s leaders to relax their tight grip on political expression.

“Can you imagine two old ladies in their 70s being re-educated through labor?” asked Li Xuehui, Ms. Wu’s son, who said the police told the two women that their sentence might remain in suspension if they stayed at home and stopped asking for permission to protest.

“I feel very sad and angry because we’re only asking for the basic right of living and it’s been six years, but nobody will do anything to help,” Mr. Li told The New York Times.

In the months leading up to the Games suggestions China’s totalitarian communist government would allow some free thought during the Games welcomed the news that protest zones would be set up for those who wished to ‘express’ their feelings about China during the Games.

“In order to ensure smooth traffic flow, a nice environment and good social order, we will invite these participants to hold their demonstrations in designated places,” Liu Shaowu, the security director for Beijing’s Olympic organizing committee, said at a news conference before the Games. He described the creation of three so-called protest zones and suggested that a simple application process would provide Chinese citizens an avenue for free expression; a right that has long been enshrined in China ’s Constitution but in reality is rarely granted.

“For Chinese petitioners, if their protest applications were approved, it would lead to a chain reaction of others seeking to voice their problems as well,” Mr. Li told The New York Times before the Games.

In what must have been a remarkable compliment to Chinese understanding – more than 75 (but less than 80) groups applied for permits. What makes this so ‘interesting’ all 75 to 80 groups thought better of following through with their planned protests.

Officials say that they received 77 protest applications but that nearly all of them were dropped after the complaints were “properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations.”

At a news conference on Wednesday, Wang Wei, the vice president of Beijing ’s Olympic organizing committee, was asked about the lack of protests. He said it showed the system was working. “I’m glad to hear that over 70 protest issues have been solved through consultation, dialogue,” he said. “This is a part of Chinese culture.”

But human rights advocates say that instead of pointing the way toward a more open society, the Olympics have put China ’s political controls on display.

“Given this moment when the international spotlight is shining on China, when so much of the international media are in Beijing, it’s unfathomable why the authorities are intensifying social control,” said Sharon Hom, the executive director of Human Rights in China in a New York Times report. “The truth is they’re sending a clear and disturbing message, one they’re not even trying to hide, which is we’re not even interested in hearing dissenting voices.”

The “lack” of planned protests and protestors didn’t stop six Americans from being arrested late last week and then being sentenced to 10-day prison terms as guests of the Chinese people.

According to various media reports: activists from the New York-based Students for a Free Tibet said Friday that they had no information about four other protesters who were detained early Thursday during a protest near National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest. The four are two Americans, a German and a Briton.

Extrajudicial detentions, a common punishment for Chinese dissidents, are rarely handed out to foreigners, who are often deported almost immediately after being taken into custody.

Members of Students for a Free Tibet have staged eight protests involving 55 people since the Olympics began on Aug. 8. Human rights advocates speculated that the government might be seeking to deter those contemplating similar activities in the Games’ final days.

J. Alexander Hamilton, a spokesman for the American Embassy in Beijing , said United States officials were working with Chinese authorities to gain more information about the detainees. “Our policy is to encourage the Chinese government to respect free expression and freedom of religion, which are protected by law,” he said.

According to The New York Times: On Friday, students for a Free Tibet declared that its Olympics campaign had succeeded and that it was winding down. In characteristically stealthy fashion, the announcement was made by two members who summoned reporters to a street corner with 20 minutes’ notice.

The members, Alice Speller and Ginger Cassady, said that even though the protests had been fleeting and witnessed by only a few Chinese, they had helped highlight the issue in the foreign media.

“ China is trying to show the world this face, that they are a modern, progressive country, but that really isn’t the truth,” said Ms. Speller, a law student from Britain in a New York Times report. “The real face is one that denies freedom of expression, and that denies it brutally and violently when it can.”

United States Ambassador to China Clark T. Randt Jr. said in a statement released Sunday that the Beijing government should demonstrate respect for human rights and free speech.

U.S. officials, he said, are "disappointed that China has not used the occasion of the Olympics to demonstrate greater tolerance and openness."

China is home to 1.3 billion people – nearly a quarter of the world’s population. What’s a few displaced Chinese when you have the chance to host an Olympic Games?

The Washington Post reported that Cheng Linpeng, 34, formerly a fish farmer, found a job at a construction company in the capital, working on a residential building. But that project was shut down in July because of worries about dust and air pollution ahead of the Games.

"Because of the Olympics, we are not allowed to do our jobs anymore. The whole place was shut down, and we don't know when we'll be able to go back," Cheng said. What’s the loss of one’s livelihood in terms of cleaner air?

And those empty seats at Olympic events – pity if Linpeng and his now unemployed friends wanted to attend at Olympic event – the thought never crossed their minds.

"Would we be allowed?" Cheng asked, explaining that migrant workers are considered second-class citizens in Beijing . "The place is not so big, and it wouldn't be able to hold everyone who wants to come. We are not qualified."

As for the lack of protests – what role if any could the International Olympic Committee have played? Did the Lords of the Rings hope and pray the Games of the 29th Olympiad where free of protests?

The IOC "has "completely mishandled the human-rights issues in these Games," said Minky Worden, a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch in a Philadelphia Inquirer report.

The China Daily noted that the move to set aside the protest zones "is in line with Beijing 's promises to the International Olympic Committee to adhere to the Olympic traditions, such as free expression outside the sporting venues."

"It must be the most cynical interpretation of the freedom to protest - that you follow the rules, apply five days in advance, then are turned away or put under house arrest or worse," Worden said in a telephone interview, adding that most Chinese applicants were aware of the potential risks.

"How desperate do you have to be to file a protest that would result in likely detention?" Worden said.

Dreamers dream big dreams. When Beijing was awarded the Games of the 29th Olympiad on Friday July 13, 2001 (who ever suggested Friday the 13th was a bad day) the Chinese assured the world by the day the Games opened on August 8, 2008 Human Rights would be a bedrock of China’s society. Needless to say that hasn’t happened, but…..it takes many years to really create lasting change.

"They'll keep most of the things in place—certainly the harassment of the dissidents—and we won't see any kind of greater move towards liberalization or opening up or anything like that," Adam Segal, senior fellow for China Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations predicted in a Business Week report. "Did this change China 's view in the world? Is this a turning point? No. It will just reinforce your sense of a party that's completely insecure and lacking a great deal of confidence."

Cheng Li, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Business Week he believes the government's successful staging of the Games will be a boost to reformers. "I believe the Olympics [will] make China more open, more transparent, more tolerant, and more confident," says Li, who predicts progress on human rights and media freedom. "The Chinese government has become more confident because of a successful Olympics—that helps the liberal wing of the leaders…they will argue that we should not be so scared of the international media and international integration and also to a certain extent openness or transparency," he says.

Progress won't happen quickly, cautions Li. But he told Business Week he believes the Games will spur reform over the medium term. "Probably it will take another 5 to 10 years," says Li. "But who will win the battle is quite clear."

Which of course comes back to the earlier issue raised – it isn’t a matter of if but when China ’s totalitarian communist government are toppled. That will be the true lasting legacy of the Games of the 29th Olympiad that will be what the Games be remembered for – the day China’s totalitarian communist government opened Pandora’s Box.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Business Week.

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – credit deserved – NBC’s amazing Olympics

2008-08-23T00:25:00.000-04:00

If history teaches us anything it is that we learn from our mistakes. NBC’s 2008 Beijing Olympic experience is an example of how a major corporation (the National Broadcasting Company – NBC) owned by General Electric, took what they learnt from their previous Olympic Games coverage and will have delivered a stunning 17 days of coverage by the time the Games end Sunday.

The numbers (looked at in an earlier Insider Report) have seen NBC deliver their best ever Olympic Games ratings, best ever Olympic Games advertising sales and best ever Games coverage. That is a testament to learning what worked and didn’t work in the 11 previous Olympic Games NBC has televised.

NBC made their Olympic television debut when they showed the 1964 Summer Olympics from Tokyo, marking its Olympic TV debut. They did this with the aid of the Syncom 3 satellite for direct broadcasts.

Meanwhile, NBC first televised the Winter Olympic Games in 1972, while the 1964 Summer Olympics were the first Summer Olympics televised by NBC.

NBC had won the U.S. broadcast rights for the 1980 Summer Olympics, but when the United States Olympic Committee kept U.S. athletes home to honor the boycott announced by President Jimmy Carter, the telecasts were greatly scaled back. In the end, what had been 150 hours of scheduled coverage, shrunk to just a few hours of weekend highlights. These highlights were fed to local NBC stations for use on local newscasts. Many affiliates however, refused to show the Olympic highlights on their local news. They also refused to clear airtime for the few hours of coverage NBC did present.

NBC then bid for, and won, the rights to show the 1988 Summer Olympics. Network officials convinced the organizers in Seoul to stage most of its gold-medal finals in the afternoon, which is primetime of the previous night in the U.S. Bryant Gumbel was the host that year.

Just as his mentor Roone Arledge had before over at ABC, Dick Ebersol, who took over NBC Sports in 1989, decided to make the Olympics a staple of his network's sports television schedule. NBC continued its Summer Games coverage into the decade, with both the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. And as with Arledge (who had to deal with the Munich massacre during the 1972 Summer Games), Ebersol had to deal with breaking news during the Games. During the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996, NBC suspended its coverage of a volleyball game and broadcast the news for several hours commercial-free. Bob Costas made its debut as primetime host in 1992. Costas had previously, hosted the late night coverage in Seoul.

To help defray the increasing costs of broadcast rights, NBC turned to cable and satellite services for additional coverage. In 1992, NBC teamed up with Cablevision for the Triplecast, which provided three channels of pay-per-view telecasts that supplemented NBC's regular coverage. However, NBC lost over $100 million, the package was dropped, and there was no supplemental coverage from Atlanta.

Coverage in the first decade of the 21st century revolved around two major storylines:

NBC became the sole U.S. rights holder for the Olympic Games for the entire decade and beyond. The network could rightly boast of being "America's Olympic Network" as it made the longest and most expensive commitment ever since the Olympics were first presented on TV. For the 1996 Summer Games, and all Games from 2000 to 2008, NBC paid a total of $3.5 billion, mostly to the International Olympic Committee but also to the USOC and local organizers. To extend rights to the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics, NBC then gave up another $2.2 billion.
The rise of various media platforms extended the reach and availability of Games coverage. NBC returned to supplemental cable/satellite coverage in 2000, with some events on CNBC and MSNBC.

In 2004, it added USA Network, Bravo, and Telemundo, all of which parent company NBC Universal had acquired earlier in the decade.

In 2006, Universal HD was added to the list of channels carrying the Games. Finally, in 2008, events were streamed live for the first time on the Internet through the website NBCOlympics.com. (Also in 2008, Oxygen replaced Bravo as a supplemental network, and NBC launched high-definition channels dedicated to the basketball and soccer competitions.)

USA Today sports media reporter Michael Hiestand (one of the most influential in the industry) believes NBC finally understood how they could best deliver an Olympic Games.

“Not to be ungrateful, but anybody watching Beijing Olympic TV could reasonably ask: NBC, what took you so long?
“What's good about NBC's coverage, which is so far highly rated and acclaimed, is that it's another step in the long slog toward bringing common sense to Olympic TV — and gradually squeezing out elements of the Olympic TV formula that long annoyed viewers.

“Take the up-close-and-personal features NBC uses to introduce viewers to largely unknown athletes. Now, they're usually concise and neatly tucked in event coverage.

“But they used to seem like mini-movies that could leave viewers just tuning in wondering if they really had the channel showing the Olympics. It took NBC's stream of tear-jerkers for the 1996 Atlanta Games — how did John Tesh manage to find so many athletes whose pets were gravely ill? — To turn the tide against these maudlin melodramas. NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol joked (sort of) that they'd no longer portray asthma as a life-threatening condition.

Now, NBC gives us glimpses of Beijing, rather than forced sightseeing. Travelogues became of Olympic TV when ABC's Roone Arledge invented the Olympic TV formula in the 1960s, when spanning the globe seemed exotic. But by the time CNN gave us Baghdad being bombed live in 1991, the novelty was gone. Still, it was only after NBC's wandering travelogues (albeit from fascinating Australia) for the 2000 Sydney Games that NBC cut back on forcing viewers back on the tour bus.” Hiestand offered in a USA Today report.

Hiestand continued his look at what NBC has done right and how they finally arrived were they are today: “Kids today might assume there was always lots of live Olympic action on various channels — even if the best action is still held for all-important prime time — because the idea seems obvious. But it was a long march to get it, though every moment of live Olympic action has been available to national Olympic TV rights-holder for decades.

“Many people probably didn't know that all-encompassing world TV coverage was being kept from them until NBC tried to sell it to them with its "Olympic Triplecast" of the 1992 Barcelona Games, a $125 TV package that almost nobody bought. And even after CBS offered free supplemental cable TV Olympic action for the 1994 Lillehammer Games, NBC offered none for its wildly popular 1996 Atlanta Games. That rendered many top athletes, such as soccer's Mia Hamm, invisible.

“The trickle of supplemental cable TV coverage NBC began with the 2000 Games led to this year's debut of NBC putting the world TV feed being available online — something that's already happened in many other countries. Prime-time viewers used to be left in the dark about exactly what they were about to see and when, so they wouldn't channel-surf. Starting with the 2002 Salt Lake Games, NBC has been dropping more hints.

“After an irreverent cable TV skating show with Dick Button and Mary Carillo was a hit at the 2006 Torino Games, NBC's Beijing coverage has avoided being too earnest — even showing host Bob Costas outdoors.

“So now, NBC says there's no way that it will deviate from its routine of showing prime-time Olympic action on tape-delay in the Pacific and Mountain time zones — the regular formula it uses for entertainment shows — even if Michael Phelps is swimming for his eighth gold medal in Saturday's 4x100 medley relay. That's just not how they do things. When it comes to Olympic TV finally making sense, you need to be patient.”

When the Games end Sunday morning (Americans will see the Closing Ceremonies Sunday night hours after they’ve ended and many of the athletes will be on their way back to the United States) NBC will have had their Beijing expectations not only met but exceeded.

Neal told the USA Today’s Michael Hiestand NBC has been pretty happy with its Chinese hosts and story lines such as Michael Phelps. "I came to these Games with stratospheric expectations, and they've been exceeded," Neal says. "The planets were aligned."

Agreed the a great deal fell into place for NBC but the key was the table being set during the first week. The two marquee events from week one (swimming and gymnastics) where both held during the morning in Beijing – with the 12 hour time difference live in prime time on the American east coast. Sports makes for compelling television when it televised live. The last two Summer Olympics (Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004) where offered on a tape-delay basis for the most part by NBC – that didn’t work in delivering record ratings numbers.

News earlier this week that ESPN/ABC and the Fox network are interested in bidding for the rights to the 2014 Winter Games (scheduled to be held in Sofia, Russia) and the yet to be awarded 2016 Summer Games could push the rights for the next available Olympic quadrennial to the stratosphere. The interest ESPN/ABC and Fox have in the Olympic Games doesn’t come as a surprise to industry insiders.

On June 7, 2003 The New York Times Richard Sandomir reported that: NBC Sports held on to its Olympic franchise by winning a three-way auction for the United States media rights to the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games with a record bid of $2 billion. It was augmented by a nearly $200 million deal for General Electric, NBC's parent, to become a worldwide Olympic sponsor. The bid was made even though the sites for those Games have not yet been determined.

NBC outbid offers made by the News Corporation's Fox network and by ABC and ESPN, which are owned by the Walt Disney Company.

The price for TV rights exceeded by 33 percent the $1.5 billion that NBC paid for the 2006 and 2008 Olympics. Including the G.E. Olympic sponsorship deal, the bid at its maximum means that the Olympic committee will receive 47 percent more for the Games in 2010 and 2012 than in 2006 and 2008.

It remains to be seen which city will host the 2016 Summer Games. The right to host the 2016 Summer Games will be decided on October 9, 2009 (a little over a year from now), at the IOC Congress in Copenhagen Denmark.

Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo have been selected to the shortlist and will compete to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Baku, Doha and Prague were eliminated June 5, 2008. It remains to be seen where the 2016 Games will be held but logic (and money) dictates the 2016 Games will be held in Chicago. If an American city hosts the Summer Games for the first time since Atlanta Games in 1996. The IOC could generate as much as $3 billion for the 2014 Winter Games and 2016 Summer Games.

According to published reports when NBC reached their rights agreement for the next quadrennial NBC paid $820 million for the 2010 Winter Games and $1.18 billion for the 2012 Summer Olympics. G.E. sweetened its investment by becoming a worldwide Olympic sponsor (the TOP program), which will cost $160 million to $200 million.

Using those figures as a barometer if rights where awarded after the 2016 Games are awarded (unlikely but very possible) and the Games are awarded to Chicago the IOC could realize $1 billion for American rights to the 2014 Games and……$2 billion for the rights to the 2016 Chicago Games.

SBN’s belief that the 2016 Games are destined for Chicago – all one needs to do is follow the cookie crumbs the IOC has left. The 2012 Games are being held in London. Back-to-back Summer Games in Europe all but eliminates Madrid. The 2000 Games where held in Sydney, the 2008 Games in Beijing again it just doesn’t make sense to award another Summer Games to that geographical region. As for Rio de Janeiro – the Summer Games have never been held in South America, but the 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil. The IOC won’t award the Summer Games to the country that is playing host to the 2014 World Cup. That would be bad business.

The Olympics are a hot TV property again thanks to NBC. Under the leadership of Dick Ebersol the Olympics have become a stand and deliver property for NBC. Ebersol was named chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics in May 2005, after serving as chairman of NBC Sports & Olympics since June 1998. He is responsible for all sports programming on the NBC and USA networks, along with overseeing every aspect of NBC Universal’s involvement with the Olympic Games.

ESPN/ABC and Fox may be interested but all they’re going to do is push the price for the 2014 Games and 2016 Games up. At the end of the day as far as Dick Ebersol is concerned NBC has to have the Olympic Games. Thanks to the results NBC produced in Beijing Dick Ebersol will be ready and waiting for the IOC with a blank check when they come calling looking to sell the rights to the 2014 and 2016 Games.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The New York Times and the USA Today.

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – catching up with Michael Phelps

2008-08-21T00:05:00.001-04:00

When Sports Business News last visited Michael Phelps yours truly told The Wall Street Journal Nike would cast their eyes lovingly on Phelps and by the time their courtship with Phelps was over Phelps could sign a multi -year agreement with the sport industries biggest brand name in excess of $50 million. We’ll focus on why Nike, Speedo and Adidas are all destined to become involved in a bidding war for the swimmers services next week. Today we’ll catch up with the man who won eight gold medals in Beijing. It’s been a busy few days since Phelps claimed his eighth Beijing gold medal Saturday evening (Sunday morning) in Beijing.

"Michael Phelps is going to have no problem from here on out," said Scott Sanford, managing director at the Dallas-based Davie-Brown talent group in an ESPN report. "He will have star power."

"He has transcended himself into a position that is going to sustain him for a long time," Sanford said. "He has separated himself from just being a swimmer."

For Phelps Beijing was truly an all or nothing proposition. Win the eight gold medals and the world would be his. Win seven gold medals (or less) he’d have his 15 minutes of fame but his road wouldn’t be paved with gold.

"Marketing potential is such a tough question," Evan Morgenstein Mark Spitz’s wrote in an e-mail from Beijing to ESPN. "It's defined by whether he is thought of by performance or stature/story. If America believes his struggle to achieve eight golds has a broader good than just victories, he will earn millions of dollars forever."

The key remains for Phelps agents to strike while the iron is hot – leverage the opportunity their client has provided them with.

The August 25 edition of Sports Illustrated features a smiling Michel Phelps with his Beijing hardware draped around his neck. The cover reprises a 1972 Sports Illustrated cover that honored Mark Spitz after he won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Games. It was back-to-back SI covers for Phelps. He was featured on the magazine’s August 18 edition cover as well. Now if that where it – everyone would be missing the big picture. SI’s July 28 Beijing preview edition cover had Phelps on its cover.

Three times in four weeks is amazing for any athlete. Phelps has also appeared on SI’s covers on February 3, 2005, August 23, 2004 and August 2, 2004 (SI’s Athens Olympic preview).

Phelps has left Beijing (he won’t be carrying the American flag in Sunday’s closing ceremonies). Phelps arrives in Baltimore today (he won’t be home very long). Phelps as one sports agent suggested might be well advised to remember his B-More roots.

"Some of the big companies like Octagon are very global and they have to be careful with that," said John Maroon, who runs a public relations firm in Baltimore and has worked with Ripken in various capacities for the past 13 years. "They have to be careful with that or it's going to reflect on Michael. His brand and his worth can just keep going and going. Baltimore is a town that really embraces its own if its own embraces it."

"Right now, it seems like the biggest thing in the world and we'll be talking about this for years and years," Maroon said. "I like Michael and I wish him the best, but the truth is that people move on.

"He needs to strike while the iron is hot."

London’s 2012 Olympics begin on July 27, 2012 and run through August 12, 2012. London Olympic organizing officials working with Visa (one of the International Olympic Committee’s TOP sponsors) has arranged for Phelps to be in London Sunday to participate in part of the official ‘handoff’ when Beijing’s mayor hands the Olympic flag to London’s mayor symbolizing the passing of the Olympic Games from Beijing to London.

Representatives of the 2012 team, including the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, will be in Beijing to collect the flag and be part of an eight minute section of the closing ceremony when London will look forward to the next Summer Games. David Beckham and singer Leona Lewis are rumored to be part of the ceremony.

Rumors aside – Michael Phelps will be front and center Sunday in London.

Phelps, who is the most successful Olympian of all time with 14 gold medals in total, said: "It will be a great opportunity to celebrate the success of the Beijing Games and kick off the countdown to London 2012."

Steven Levitt, whose company, Marketing Evaluations Inc., devises Q scores to measure celebrity appeal offered The Baltimore Sun a look at Phelps before he won eight gold medals.

Only 39 percent of those polled in March were familiar with Phelps and, of those, 22 percent considered him a favorite performer, Levitt said. Tiger Woods, for example, was familiar to 89 percent of those polled and viewed favorably by 48 percent of that group. Levitt expects Phelps' numbers to rise dramatically in next spring's study.

By surpassing Mark Spitz, Phelps transcended sport in a way that few athletes ever do. His story headlined national news broadcasts for a week. Celebrity news publications and programs such as US Weekly, Inside Edition and TMZ.com have taken an interest in his personal life. One posting on the movie-geek Web site Ain't It Cool News said Phelps should look into playing Marvel Comics' superhero Sub- Mariner. "He is a man from Atlantis," gushed the site's creator, Harry Knowles.

On another Internet frontier, more than 1 million people have signed up to be fans at Facebook.

Bob Dorfman, who makes a living looking at the marketing potential of Olympians for Baker Street Partners of San Francisco knows Phelps is the real deal.

"I can't see any other story surpassing his," Dorfman told The Baltimore Sun. "People just can't believe what he's been doing. There is a superhuman aspect to it. From that standpoint, he's hard to top."

"He is much bigger than his sport," said Dorfman, who could see Dancing With the Stars coming after Phelps or MTV building a new reality program around him.

"It could be Michael Phelps teaching other celebrities to swim like Olympians or I don't know what," Dorfman said. "But he's at the level where I could see people imagining stuff like that around him."

One deal that Phelps handlers have worked out since Saturday – Phelps is about to become best friends with Tony the Tiger.

Phelps can add one more milestone to the list. After earning eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympic Games, Michael Phelps has earned a place of honor on the front of specially-marked Kellogg's Frosted Flakes(R) and Kellogg's Corn Flakes(R) cereal boxes.

The gold medal winning Olympic champion from Baltimore, Maryland will be featured on Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereal packages that are expected to hit grocery store shelves across the U.S. in mid-September. The boxes will feature images of Phelps during what were some of the most memorable moments of this summer's Olympic Games.

"As an Official Sponsor of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team and a proud sponsor of Phelps, it is only fitting that Kellogg Company feature this world-class athlete on its iconic boxes of Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereals," said Marta Cyhan, Vice President, Global Promotions, Kellogg Company. "Michael embodies the values behind our Frosted Flakes Earn Your Stripes(TM) program. He knows that winning is not just about the glory that comes with gold medals, but about good sportsmanship, working hard and being your best."

What makes this agreement “interesting” Phelps being married to Tony the Tiger as opposed to Wheaties. According to several published reports Michael passed on the traditional Wheaties box because his breakfast of champions is sugar-drenched Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.

Before Phelps left Beijing Tuesday he did take one final lap of a pool and of course it was linked to an endorsement agreement. And of course Phelps final Beijing swim wasn’t in the Games Water Cube.

The 16-time Olympic medalist took to the pool at the Hilton Beijing to swim the 6,250th and final lap of the "Hilton Swim to Beijing Relay," a multi-city charitable event contributing $100,000 to the USA Swimming Foundation to fund swim education programs across the United States.

In celebration of the 2008 Olympic Games, Hilton Hotels & Resorts partnered with the USA Swimming Foundation and embarked on an ambitious relay of 6,250 laps - each lap symbolizing one of the miles between Los Angeles, the relay's starting point, and Beijing. The "Hilton Swim to Beijing Relay" began with a splash at the Hilton Universal City in Los Angeles where Phelps swam the initial lap in November 2007. After making its way through five U.S. cities, the "Hilton Swim to Beijing Relay" concluded with a ceremonial final lap by Phelps in the pool of the Hilton Beijing following his final competition of the 2008 Olympic Games.
"After representing my country and competing in the Olympics, Hilton gave me another great reason to get back in the pool," said Phelps. "By being a part of this campaign I'm able to help support swim education programs across the nation and give young people the chance to experience the power of the sport. Swimming is much more than a fun activity and great form of exercise. It teaches self-discipline and dedication--two important qualities that one can draw on to succeed both in and out of the pool."

Phelps list of sponsors include:

Phelps' sponsors, according to his agents at Octagon, which declined to specify the value of the deals:

Speedo USA: maker of swimsuits, a licensed brand of the Warnaco Group Inc.

Visa Inc.: credit card company

Omega: luxury watchmaker, a unit of Swatch Group AG

Hilton Hotels Corp.: hotel chain

PowerBar: nutrition bar from Swiss chocolate maker Nestle SA.

AT&T Inc.: communications provider

Kellogg Co.: maker of Frosted Flakes, Cheez-Its and Eggo waffles

Rosetta Stone Ltd.: language-learning software maker

PureSport: sports performance beverage, made by Human Performance Labs

SwimRoom.com: Internet site for swimmers

In the four days since Phelps date with destiny arrived there remain plenty of naysayers who simply don’t believe Michael Phelps will enjoy long-term success in the corporate marketplace.

"It is possible but unlikely for the simple reason that swimming commands our attention only once every four years, while Tiger and LeBron enjoy weekly, even daily coverage during their respective seasons," said John Davis, a professor of marketing at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business at Singapore Management University in an MSNBC report. His book "The Olympic Games Effect — How Sports Marketing Builds Strong Brands" was published this month.

"Swimming is really not the topic of our typical sports conversations once the Olympics end, so sustained visibility will be a challenge for Phelps," Davis added. In fact, once the Olympic torch is extinguished, football — both college and pro — will dominate the national conversation.

At the same time, Davis notes, Phelps' accomplishments are so stupendous he will attract a slew of suitors.

"Companies that become sports sponsors, whether of athletes, teams or events, want to associate with greatness," he said. "We love good stories, and Michael Phelps is one of the best, so he is a natural attraction for companies."

All good points – and as Davis told MSNBC the key – Phelps being front and center enjoying and maximizing his new found fame.

"For Phelps to have staying power his agent needs to work overtime to place Michael on the various shows (Letterman, Leno, and so on) while, at the same time, not saturating the market with Phelps," he pointed out. "It is a tough balancing act."

The news – its all good for Michael Phelps, the time is now, the moment is right, time to ride his train bound for glory – sponsorship glory!!

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: CNBC, Forbes, The Baltimore Sun

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – What an Olympics for NBC

2008-08-20T01:24:00.000-04:00

The Beijing Games end Sunday but for NBC the verdict is already in – gold medal coverage, gold medal ratings and gold medal advertising sales. The numbers are overwhelming.

Tuesday NBC reported that through 11 days, NBC Universal's Olympic coverage has reached 200 million people and more than 83 percent of all U.S. television homes. It has also delivered the most dominant margins of victory for any network in any primetime week in the history of Nielsen's People Meter sample, which dates back 21 years to September 1987.

Through just 11 days, the networks of NBC Universal already have reached 200 million total viewers, 12 million more than the first 11 days for Athens (188 million) and 4 million more than the Atlanta Games (196 million), which was the most-viewed television event in U.S. history. The 11-day total for these Games makes it the fourth most-viewed television event in U.S. history. Additionally, 94 million of the of the nation's 112.8 million television homes (83 percent) have tuned into the Olympics.

It’s not a matter of if, but when the Beijing Games will be recognized as the most watched Olympics in American history. Gander at these numbers as to why it’s a certainty Beijing has been a ratings winner for NBC:

1. 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, 209 million (17 days)
2. 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, 204 million (16 days)
3. 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, 203 million (17 days)
4. *2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 200 million (*through 11 days)
5. 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, 194 million (17 days)

The key to remember is the statistics are based on the Beijing Games through the first 11 days with six days of numbers to be added.

Then factor in these numbers: For the week of August 11-17, NBC generated more than four times the household rating of the No. 2 network, and more than five times the total viewers of the No. 2 network to claim the biggest week-long wins in those categories for any network since Nielsen initiated its current People Meter sample in September 1987.

According to data provided by Nielsen Media Research, NBC averaged 28.7 million viewers overall and a 16.8 rating/28 share in households for the primetime week of August 11-17. Those averages were strong enough to deliver record margins over the week's No. 2 finishes of 463 percent in total viewers (28.7 million vs. CBS's 5.1 million) and 394 percent in households (16.8 vs. CBS's 3.4).

NBC also beat the combined ABC-CBS-Fox results in these categories and again by margins that are the biggest for any network in People Meter history, 143 percent in total viewers (28.7 million vs. 11.8 million) and 113 percent in household rating (16.8 vs. 7.9).

The Beijing Olympic 11-day average primetime viewership is 29.6 million, 13 percent ahead of Athens in 2004 (26.2 million). NBC's average of a 17.2 rating, 30 share in households is the best through the second Monday for a Summer Olympics outside the U.S. since Barcelona in 1992 (18.4/35) and is a nine percent jump from Athens in 2004 (15.8/28).

Monday night garnered 67 million total viewers in primetime and 26.4 million average viewers, a two percent gain from the comparable night in Athens (25.9 million). The night earned a 15.8 rating/26 share, which is off just four percent from Athens' comparable night (16.4/27) which featured the USA's Jeremy Wariner's gold medal in the 400m.

TAMI FOR SUNDAY: The TAMI (Total Audience Measurement Index) measures the 3600 hours of programming during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including Television (P2+ reach), Online (Unique Users), Mobile (WAP unique users and Mobile VOD unique users) and TV VOD (unique users). Below is the TAMI measurement through Sunday, Aug. 17:

Sunday, Aug. 17: 107.2 million
TV: 101.9 million, ONLINE: 4.8 million, MOBILE: 506k, TV VOD: n/a
Saturday, Aug. 16: 107.9 million
Friday, Aug. 15: 95.0 million
Thursday, Aug. 14: 101.4 million
Wednesday, Aug. 13: 100.9 million
Tuesday, Aug. 12: 105.0 million
Monday, Aug. 11: 103.1 million
Sunday, Aug. 10: 113.0 million
Saturday, Aug. 9: 97.8 million
Friday, Aug. 8: 74.6 million

And what a week it’s been for NBC. Now its fair to suggest Fox, CBS and ABC are running reruns (it may be made more sense to feature a test pattern) but numbers don’t lie – the first week of the Beijing Games made it a week to remember and then some for NBC and their parent company General Electric.

BC's coverage of the Summer Olympic Games from Beijing has delivered the most dominant margins of victory for any network in any primetime week in the history of Nielsen's People Meter sample. For the week of August 11-17, NBC generated more than four times the household rating of the #2 network, more than five times the #2 total-viewer result and more than seven times the #2 adult 18-49 rating, to claim the biggest weeklong wins in those categories for any network since Nielsen initiated its current People Meter sample in September 1987. (Note that weekly averages have not been finalized by Nielsen and some minor adjustments may be made in official results for the week.)

According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research, NBC averaged a 9.6 rating in adults 18-49, 28.7 million viewers overall and a 16.8 rating/28 share in households for the primetime week of August 11-17. Those averages were strong enough to deliver record margins over the week's #2 finishes of 638 percent in 18-49 (9.6 vs. 1.3 for second-place CBS), 463 percent in total viewers (28.7 million vs. CBS's 5.1 million) and 394 percent in households (16.8 vs. CBS's 3.4).

NBC also beat the combined ABC-CBS-Fox results in those three categories and again by margins that are the biggest for any network in People Meter history – 167 percent in 18-49 (9.6 vs. 3.6), 143 percent in total viewers (28.7 million vs. 11.8 million) and 113 percent in household rating (16.8 vs. 7.9).

NBC's 9.6 rating in 18-49 is the highest for any network outside the traditional television season since the week of September 18-24, 2000 (10.0 for NBC during the Sydney Summer Games). In both total viewers and households, NBC scored the top weeklong results for any network outside the traditional season since the week of July 29-August 4, 1996 (32.1 million viewers overall and a 21.4 household rating for NBC during the Atlanta Summer Games).

NBC's seven nights of primetime Olympics coverage claimed the top seven spots in the weekly program rankings in every key ratings category. Tuesday's telecast was the #1 program of the week in all key categories, including adults 18-49 (12.4/34) and total viewers (34.0 million).

NBC also soared on Saturday, when Michael Phelps claimed his record eighth gold medal of these Olympics and NBC delivered its biggest average audience for a Saturday program since a "Golden Girls" episode in February 1990.

Through 10 days, the networks of NBC Universal have reached 196 million total viewers who've watched at least a part of the Olympics coverage, 11 million more than the first 10 days for Athens (185 million) and 3 million more than the Atlanta Games (193 million), which was the most viewed television event in U.S. history. The 10-day total for these Games now surpasses the final overall viewership totals for the Barcelona Games (192 million) in 1992 and the Seoul Games (194 million) in 1988.

The Beijing Olympic 10-day average primetime viewership is 29.8 million, 14 percent ahead of Athens in 2004 (26.2 million). NBC's average of a 17.2 rating, 30 share in households is the best through the second Sunday for a Summer Olympics outside the U.S. since Barcelona in 1992 (18.6/35) and is a 9 percent jump from Athens in 2004 (15.8/28).

Primetime averages for the week of August 11-17 in adults 18-49 were NBC (a 9.6 rating), CBS (1.3), Fox (1.2), ABC (1.1) and CW (0.6). In overall total viewers the weekly averages were NBC (28.7 million), CBS (5.1 million), ABC (3.4 million), Fox (3.2 million) and CW (1.5 million).

Through 47 weeks of the 2007-08 season, Fox leads in primetime's key demographic of adults 18-49, with NBC now ranking #2 ahead of ABC and CBS. NBC is matching its year-ago rating in 18-49 while ABC is down 10 percent, CBS is down 19 percent and Fox is up 3 percent. Season-to-date averages in adults 18-49 for the period September 24, 2007 through August 17, 2008 are Fox (3.7), NBC (2.8), ABC (2.7), CBS (2.6) and CW (0.9).

NBC is the only major network that has not seen its audience get significantly older this season versus last and it is now the "second-youngest" of the major broadcast networks. Through the first 47 weeks of the 2007-08 season, NBC is running within 0.4 years of its median age from the prior season (48.8 years this season vs. 48.4 years last season). In this same comparison, ABC's median age has increased by 1.7 years (to 48.8 from 47.1 years old at this point last season), CBS's median age has increased by 0.8 years (to 53.3 from 52.5) and Fox's median age has increased by 1.4 years (to 43.9 from 42.5).

And it what shouldn’t come as a surprise where there are ratings numbers – advertising sales tend to follow: NBC Universal has sold $25 million in Olympic advertising since the start of the 2008 Beijing Games including an additional $15 million in the last seven days. This is on top of the more than $1 billion the network sold leading into the Games. The announcement was made today by Seth Winter, SVP Sales & Marketing, NBC Sports & Olympics.

"The Beijing Olympics have truly captivated the American public, generating record performance across all of our platforms," said Winter. "In addition to the ratings success, the Games have also provided a valuable environment for our advertisers to deliver their messages. The feedback from our partners has been tremendous and we're already actively engaged in discussion with many of them for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and London in 2012."

Winter cited continued interest in the movie, retail, packaged goods and pharmaceutical categories, among others. More than 100 companies have advertised during NBC's Olympic coverage.

NBC also today released the results of a Nielsen IAG study on the value of Olympic advertising. Among the findings are:

Traditional ads within the Olympics produced greater ad performance than ads airing outside of the Olympics

Brand recall in the Olympics reached levels that were up to 130 percent higher than those realized by other primetime programs

Message recall in the Olympics attained levels that were more than twice as high as scores in other primetime programs (Message Recall in the Olympics is 50% higher than the Academy Awards)

Ad likeability scores in the Olympics achieved levels that were nearly three times as high as performance in other primetime programs

Olympic-themed creative generated stronger brand message and likeability messaging than non-themed ads

"We've always known that the scale and unique qualities of the Olympics make it a singular sales and marketing platform," said Alan Wurtzel, President, Research, NBC Universal. "Now that we have been able to measure how effective advertising is on the Olympic platform, we are sharing the information with our marketing partners, and using it to optimize our sales efforts in Beijing and looking forward for Vancouver and London."

Here’s the most important statement – the bottom line. NBC paid $844 million for the rights to the Beijing Games. Additionally they spent an estimated $100 on production costs associated with their broadcasts cost. They’ve generated an estimated $1.035 billion in ad sales. Do the simple math. NBC dominates ratings, produces results for their Beijing Games advertisers makes money doing so – that’s Olympic gold

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – Liu Xiang the other side of Michael Phelps

2008-08-19T00:07:00.000-04:00

Olympic athletes live the lives of one of the most noted quotes of all time: “In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.” It happens once every four years – the world pays attention to runners, swimmers, jumpers, fencers, badminton players – the athletes who compete in the Summer Olympics. Once a generation, an athlete accomplishes what Michael Phelps managed to get done in Beijing. Phelps’ 15 minutes of fame will stretch for many years but for Olympians like Liu Xiang, sadly, it’s what have you done for me lately?

For many Chinese, Liu Xiang became the face of the Beijing Olympics. More than Yao Ming, more than the Chinese gymnists, more than the Chinese gold medal winning weight lifters. More than any other athlete in Beijing, Liu Xiang meant the world to the Chinese people and to the sports industries biggest sponsor Nike. All one has to do is to look back at Liu Xiang’s story to appreciate what could have been but now will never be – and how that will impact Nike.

Liu Xiang; born July 13, 1983 in Shanghai, China, is a Chinese 110 meter hurdler. Liu won Olympic gold at the 2004 Athens Games and won the 110m hurdles at the 2007 World Champion. His 2004 Olympic gold medal was China's first in the men's track and field event. He is the first Chinese athlete to achieve the "triple crown" of athletics (World Record Holder, World Champion and Olympic Champion). When the Beijing Games track completion began Friday Xiang was one of the few gold medalists the Chinese believed their athletes would win during the Games weeklong track and field events.

In May 2004 at an IAAF race in Osaka, Japan, Liu managed to beat American Allen Johnson with an Asian and personal best record time of 13.06 seconds. Liu had become his hero's (Johnson’s) rival just before the Athens Olympic Games.

Liu won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in the 110 metre hurdles event, equaling Colin Jackson's 1993 world record of 12.91 seconds. This was also the first time an athlete of non-African descent had gone under 13 seconds for the 110 metre hurdles.

Liu also became the sixth man to post a time under 13 seconds for this event. The ecstatic Liu at once fulfilled the great promise he had shown in setting a world junior record two years earlier and raised the hopes of his compatriots for a repeat victory at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Liu said that his performance, which brought China its first men's Olympic gold medal in track and field, "changes the opinion that Asian countries don't get good results in sprint races. I want to prove to all the world that Asians can run very fast."

In his comments, Liu gave voice to his country's cultural stereotype, which judging from editorial comments in Chinese newspapers; he was not alone in believing. "I am a Chinese," he said, "and considering the physiology of the Chinese people, it is something unbelievable."

Liu, a 21-year-old student at East China Normal University at the time of his Athens victory, became the object of a bidding war between commercial sponsors. The Chinese Track and Field Association restricted him to four such deals. It’s a pretty good bet that in the years leading up to the Beijing Games Liu was the hottest and most marketable athlete scheduled to compete in Beijing. He may have been scheduled to compete in only one event but that one event represented a great deal to China’s 1.3 billion people.

To suggest Liu faced more pressure and scrutiny than any other athlete competing in the Beijing Games wouldn’t be an understatement. His event was one of the most anticipated in China, and indeed, his showdown with Cuban Dayron Robles was the event during the Beijing Olympics.

And then fate dealt a cruel blow to 1.4 billion people. In the biggest upset of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for host country China, Xiang stumbled at the start of his qualifying heat in round one of the Men's 110m Hurdles on Monday morning. He later withdrew entirely from the event.

After Marcel van der Westen of the Netherlands in lane five made a false start, Liu then slipped off the blocks himself. When the athletes gathered at the start to get set a second time, Liu was conspicuously absent.

"A 110m Hurdles race without Liu is such a pity," Al-Thawadi said after the race. "I really wanted to be just next to Liu's lane because he's such a big champion. It's a great pity I lost an occasion to race with him. I hope he will come back soon."

At a press conference following the event, Liu's coach confirmed that the star's withdrawal was as a result of an injury to his right take-off foot, which has been affecting him for about six years. Liu reported on his own website Sunday that he was suffering from a sore Achilles tendon.

Liu's showdown with Dayron Robles, the Cuban who took away his world record earlier this summer, was one of the most eagerly-anticipated events of the Games.

Feng Shuyong, head coach of the Chinese Athletics team, said that he was very upset about Liu Xiang's withdrawal from the Olympic Men's 110m Hurdles on Monday morning.

The hurdler did not show up in the press conference after the race.

"After the Athens Olympics, the only target of Liu was to defend his title. He has worked very hard for achieving this goal," said Feng.

Feng remarked that Liu's injury "was old but controlled very well. That's the reason why Liu performed very well in competitions in the past years."

According to the coach, the injury to Liu's foot flared up last Saturday during training. "He was still confident of sprinting," said Feng.

In remarks to the press, Feng commended the star athlete, "He has strong mentality and has never given up in any case."

"Liu was very, very upset about the result. Liu said he would never give up as long as he can run," said Feng.

Nike one of Liu’s four key corporate partners told CNBC’s Darren Rovell (Rovell is in Beijing covering the Games for NBC) they would continue their plans to promote their association with the injured hurdler.

And as Rovell pointed out “This is the type of thing that makes Nike a leader in sports marketing. When the other sponsors privately cringe at the thought of one of their top guys going down, the folks at the Swoosh actually think, "How do we spend on this and turn it into a great human moment that appeals to people?"

The print ad, which will appear in The China Daily and a few local papers here in Beijing, will have Liu Xiang's face and will contain the following copy (in Mandarin):

Love competition.

Love risking your pride.

Love winning it back.

Love giving it everything you've got.

Love the glory. Love the pain.

Love sport even when it breaks your heart.

Just Do It.

Nike company spokesman, Derek Kent asked whether Liu's advertising value had declined, Kent said, "He's an icon here in China. He has a very bright future."

There are those however who believe Nike is making the best of what has become a lost leader for the sports shoe and apparel giant.

"If anybody takes a hit from it, it's certainly Nike, simply because they're all about performance, whereas the others are about brand image," Chris Renner said. "Nike's all about, you don't win silver, you lose gold. With that attitude, it's much tougher for them, because he was certainly the cornerstone for their program."

Tom Doctoroff, the North Asia chief executive of WPP Group's JWT ad agency, told The Wall Street Journal. Liu's withdrawal is a "big problem" for the brands that invested in him.

"Liu Xiang is an icon, and that icon did not come through," said Mr. Doctoroff, whose agency has made ads featuring Mr. Liu for Yili, the milk brand. "For one man to carry the burden of a nation, from a brand perspective, was never a smart thing to do."

Sponsoring an individual athlete is "like you are highly leveraged on one stock," said Marcus John, the managing director for sports-marketing company IMG Consulting in Asia.

Coca-Cola, Visa and China Mobile are Liu’s other major sponsors. According to an Associated Press report Liu's endorsements have made him one of China's richest athletes, bringing in 163 million yuan (US$23.8 million) last year, according to Forbes magazine. He ranked No. 2 on its list of China's most powerful celebrities, behind basketball star Yao Ming.

Remember Michael Phelps’ nine sponsors paid the Baltimore native an estimated $5 million last year – and Phelps won six gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games and no one was that surprised after Phelps won eight gold medals during the first week of the Beijing Games.

"His marketing value has been seriously diminished," said Chris Renner, president for China of sports marketing agency Helios Partners in an Associated Press report.

"If anybody takes a hit from it, it's certainly Nike, simply because they're all about performance, whereas the others are about brand image," he said. "Nike's all about, you don't win silver, you lose gold. With that attitude, it's much tougher for them, because he was certainly the cornerstone for their program."

Michael Phelps is leaving Beijing as the face of the Games as the most marketable athlete leaving the Games. Heading into the Games Liu represented that and a great deal more to Nike and his sponsors. Liu was a Chinese athlete, representing China, competing at the first Olympic Games being held in China who beat the Americans and the world at their own game(s).

“Liu Xiang represents the dreams of all the Chinese,” said Terry Rhoads, managing director at Zou Marketing, a Beijing sports marketing consultancy in a New York Times report. “He’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime athletes.”

“We started supporting him in 2003 and we’ll continue to support him. This won’t change anything,” said Kenth Kaerhoeg, a spokesman for Coca-Cola.

Visa issued a similar statement late Monday, saying: “This is extraordinarily disappointing for Liu Xiang. We have great sympathy for him and wish him a speedy recovery. Nothing will ever take away his performance in Athens. He will always remain a great Chinese icon and a friend of Visa.”

Be honest what else would anyone expect Nike, Coca-Cola and Visa to say in the hours after the world’s most populated country dealt with the pain and suffering of Liu Xiang.

“Liu Xiang’s dropping out aroused wide sympathy; it was quite moving,” says Zheng Suhui, who works at the brand institute at the Communication University of China in Beijing in a New York Times report. “I think the public will understand him and respect him. So in this sense, his sponsors won’t stop his advertisement campaigns. Nike, Coca-Cola, these big brands must be smart enough to hold him for at least several months because Liu Xiang’s commercial value is still there. He is presenting the image of the great hero, who sacrifices himself for the nation.”

Again what Suhui is saying makes perfect sense but at the end of the day is it reasonable to expect Nike, Coca-Cola and Visa to continue investing tens of millions of dollars in an athlete who due to an injury didn’t deliver in Beijing?

It may have been the prudent decision the three companies made Monday but in the months and years to come watch for that money to find its way to Michael Phelps.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: CNBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – Michael Phelps the Beijing Games Marketing Machine – his lasting legacy

2008-08-18T00:05:00.001-04:00

The months and days that led to the Games opening ceremonies on August 8 positioned the Games of the 29th Olympiad as one that would be plagued by story lines that would take the focus away from the athletes. Media censorship, pollution, a global torch relay that was plagued by protests and arrests in many world capitals and failed human rights promises made by the Chinese government in the years took the focus far away from athletic achievement.

There was a real possibility the Beijing Games were going to turn into a political circus. There was a real possibility the Beijing Games were going to embarrass the International Olympic Committee. There was a real possibility the Beijing Games were going to have a tremendous negative impact on how the IOC conducted their business affairs for many years. There was a real possibility the Beijing Games were going to hurt the image of the IOC’s major sponsors for many years to come.

All that changed in the space of seven days when Michael Phelps stunned the world by winning eight gold medals in Beijing. All that changed when a Baltimore, Maryland native showed the world the Olympic Games stand as a platform to athletic achievement. There are other athletes that have and athletes that accomplish a great deal in Beijing but none will come close to having the lasting legacy Michael Phelps will have on the Games of the 29th Olympiad and on the Olympic movement. It’s not far fetched to suggest Michael Phelps saved the Olympics from implosion.

Phelps currently generates in excess of $5 million annually in endorsements. Octagon that have represented Phelps since he turned professional when he was 16 positioned most of Phelps current sponsor agreements to either end in the next 12 months. An Octagon spokesman said his sponsors were credit card company Visa Inc., Speedo, watch maker Omega, AT&T Wireless, energy food company PowerBar. Kellogg's, Rosetta Stone, and PureSport.

Noticeably missing from Phelps list – Nike. There has been a great deal of focus throughout the Beijing Games on Nike vs. Adidas and how the two have faced off throughout the Beijing Games in terms of receiving bang for their sponsorship buck. Speedo focus on swimwear and swimwear apparel. Nike remains an athletic shoe and sportswear brand.

Would Nike love to have Michael Phelps join their stable of athletes – there’s no doubt Nike is going to offer Michael Phelps tens of millions of dollars to entice him to move from Speedo to Nike. But what choice does Speedo have but to offer Phelps tens of millions of dollars more than Nike will offer Phelps. Michael Phelps is the biggest brand in swimming history. For Speedo to let Michael Phelps sign with Nike will be a sign for Speedo to wave the white flag and surrender to Nike. Is Michael Phelps worth tens of millions of dollars to Speedo? Would it make sense for Speedo to invest tens of millions of dollars in Michael Phelps? The answer to both questions is a resounding no. Michael Phelps is worth millions of dollars to Speedo, but Michael Phelps has positioned himself to generate tens of millions of dollars from his sportswear apparel agreement because of what he has accomplished. Case closed!!

There are many industry insiders who do not believe Michael Phelps will generate anywhere close to the dollars he will generate.

"There will be a rapid descent in interest," said Paul Swangard, head of the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center in a Chicago Tribune report. "Within a few weeks, we'll have the NFL and college football and the homestretch of baseball."

What Swangard fails to point out – Peyton Manning has tremendous brand recognition in the United States but Michael Phelps is a global brand. Manning will earn much more money in the United States but Phelps overall endorsements will top Manning globally.

"Olympic athletes by and large have very short cycles in which they can generate revenues as sponsors," said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp, a Chicago-based consulting firm.

Again a fair point but consider this gem from a Los Angeles Times report: it's been 24 years since Mary Lou Retton's golden moment at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, yet 75% of Americans still recognize her name, according to Davie Brown Talent, a division of Marketing Arm, a Dallas-based promotions agency. In contrast, only 10% recognize Carly Patterson, who won the all-around gold in 2004 at Athens. Phelps has Mary Lou Retton brand power and a great deal more.

Ganis – understands Michael Phelps is your average Olympian.

"He's reached a level that no Olympic athlete has ever achieved," Ganis told The Denver Post. "I could see over four years him making $40 to $50 million. Those are big, big numbers."

"He's not going to just fall into a black hole" after Beijing, said Scott Sanford, an executive with Marketing Arm. "I think after the Games you'll see him have sustainability. And don't forget, he'll be competing in London in 2012."

Michael Phelps works on so many levels important levels when it comes to selling and marketing an athlete. Success and the image and feel of an All-American kid.

"The image of (Phelps) cheering the relay? I think it did more for him than any single moment," said Steve Sander, of Sander Marketing Group in Denver. "His individual accomplishments stand on their own, but that human side of him is most appealing.

"Just the idea of cheering so hard for his teammates transcends what sports are all about. It transcends that he's not only a great competitor but a great teammate."

And best of all – just ask Michael Phelps how he feels about making money from his fame. He made that clear a few days ago in Beijing.

"I'm not in it for the money," he said. "I'm in it because I love what I do. It was something I dreamed of as soon as I started swimming: winning an Olympic gold medal. And in Athens I was able to do that. I've been able to surpass my goals.

"I'm having fun at what I do, and I do it because I love it. I'm living sort of a dream world. Sometimes you have to pinch yourself to see if it's really real.

"And I'm just happy I'm in the real world."

That not to suggest Michael Phelps isn’t paying attention. In the moments leading up to winning his gold medal in Friday’s men’s 100m butterfly NBC’s cameras picked up iPod earphones dangling from the 23-year old ears.

"Obviously, the guy's perfect for iPod; it's always in his ear," said Bob Dorfman, executive creative director of San Francisco's Baker Street Partners. "Any kind of video games; I hear he's a big video game player. Something automotive – he really hasn't delved into that. Vitaminwater. Any type of energy drink seems to be a nice fit, anything water-based that way. Obviously fast food: The guy's got this incredible appetite, I don't know if you've seen what he eats. He eats, like, a dozen eggs a day – just being the spokesperson for, you know, the Egg Board makes a lot of sense.

"If anyone can keep the momentum going, in 2009, and '10, and '11," he said, "it would be Phelps."

But it’s that All-American boy next door that will push Phelps earning power to between $50 million and $100 million during the next four years leading up to the 2012 London Games.

"He's good-looking, healthy, vital, pure. It's sort of a cliché of what America is about," said Eli Portnoy, Los Angeles-based chief brand strategist for The Portnoy Group. "In that sense, he represents a gold mine to marketers ... this guy kind of comes out of the blue and sort of says, when we were an innocent land, and things were simpler and less complex – this is the image America had. Beyond being an athlete, he conveys the possibility that America can be that kind of place again."

One group that must be sad to realize Phelps won’t be swimming again in Beijing – NBC. Saturday night as he did every night he swam for Olympic gold, Phelps delivered both in the pool and with tremendous ratings numbers for NBC.

NBC's broadcast of the Olympics last night was the most viewed Saturday night program (31.1 million) on NBC since 1990, when Michael Phelps was four years old. On the night when Phelps, now considered the greatest Olympian of all-time, won his unprecedented eighth gold medal of these Games and record 14th career Olympic gold medal, the audience peaked at nearly 40 million viewers in the 11:00 p.m. half-hour during the Men's 4x100 medley relay.

"The mystery of China combined with the unbelievable phenomenon of Michael Phelps, the terrific performances by gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson and defending Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh at beach volleyball have captivated the imagination of the country," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics and Executive Producer of NBC's Olympic coverage.

NBC's 31.1 million viewers for last night's broadcast represents the best Saturday night viewership of a program on the network since Michael Phelps was four-years-old. The "Golden Girls" spin-off "Empty Nest" starring Richard Mulligan drew 31.4 million viewers on Feb. 24, 1990.

Through nine days NBCU has reached 191 million total viewers, 14 million more than the first nine days for Athens (177 million) and 5 million more than the Atlanta Games (186 million), which was the most viewed television event in U.S. history. The nine-day total for these Games now surpasses the final overall 17-day viewership totals for the Salt Lake City (187 million) and Sydney (185 million).

NBC's Beijing Olympic nine-day average primetime viewership is 30.1 million, 15 percent ahead of Athens in 2004 (26.2 million). NBC's average of 17.4 rating/30 share is the best through the second Saturday for a Summer Olympics outside the U.S. since Barcelona in 1992 (18.6/35) and is a 10 percent jump from Athens in 2004 (15.8/28).

Saturday night garnered 70 million total viewers in primetime and 31.1 million average viewers, a 38 percent gain from the comparable night in Athens (22.5). The night earned a 17.6 rating/32 share, which represents a 29 percent increase (13.6/26).

THE PHELPS PHENOMENON: Michael Phelps, over the last nine days has become the most decorated Olympian in history and the biggest star in the Beijing Games to date. NBC's broadcast peaked last night with 39.9 million viewers during the 11:00 p.m. half hour, as the U.S. team won the 4x100m medley relay, giving Phelps his eighth gold medal of the games. Below is what NBC's Bob Costas, Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines have said about Phelps:

COSTAS: "What Phelps provided in Beijing was more than just sustained excellence. He provided the kind of theater that none of us will soon, if ever, forget."

HICKS: "That is the kind of feat that just may never be surpassed and certainly one of the greatest feats of sports history."

GAINES: "The sport of swimming will never be the same. The name Michael Phelps will be synonymous with perfection."

Building a $100 million endorsement potential will in part be helped by the United States Olympic Committee who Sunday made it clear – they’re at the head of the Phelps Phan club.

Statement from U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth: "An extraordinary chapter in Olympic history has been written here in Beijing by one of the greatest athletes of all time. We could not be more proud of Michael, in the manner by which he competed, represented our country, and represented the Olympic Movement. The fact that his eighth medal was won in a team relay signifies Michael's commitment not only to his own quest, but to the importance of teamwork and representing his country."

Statement from U.S. Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Jim Scherr: "It is fitting that at one of the most significant events of our generation, we have witnessed one of the greatest performances in Olympic history. Michael's record-breaking performance during these Games will inspire millions of people around the world to reach for their goals and aspire to greatness. He is an example of the very best values of the Olympic Movement and our country."

And yes a grateful President Bush called Phelps soon after he won his eighth gold medal.

The White House says Bush told Phelps: "If you can handle eight gold medals, you can handle anything."

Bush called Phelps on Sunday morning from his Texas ranch. A white House spokesman says Bush told Phelps that he and first lady Laura Bush were proud of the swimmer's achievements and that he handled himself with "humility."

And the president told Phelps to give his mom a big hug for him.

Phelps mother Debbie was front and center throughout his date with destiny – something that wasn’t lost on one of the USOC’s sponsors.

As part of the JOHNSON'S(R) Olympic Games campaign, "Thanks, Mom," the company has designated Debbie Phelps, mother of 15-time Olympic medalist and 13-time Olympic gold medalist, Michael Phelps, its official "JOHNSON'S(R) Baby Mom of the Olympic Games."

To celebrate this honor, JOHNSON'S(R) will donate money in Ms. Phelps's name to a group of its global children's charities and earthquake relief projects (www.babycause.com).

"Behind every champion there's a mother and what better way to honor moms everywhere than to name Debbie Phelps 'JOHNSON'S(R) Baby Mom of the Olympic Games'," said Bridgette Heller, Global President of JOHNSON'S(R) Babycare. "Debbie represents every mother that has helped her child to succeed whether in simply learning how to take those first steps or winning Olympic gold. We are thrilled to partner with her to celebrate and thank moms around the world."

"It is a wonderful honor to be named 'JOHNSON'S(R) Baby Mom of the Olympic Games'," said Debbie Phelps. "As I look back, one of the hardest things I had to do with raising my son and both my two daughters was to trust they would be okay without me always by their side as they grew older. Like all mothers, we just want our children to be happy, safe and to excel in what they enjoy most. And as a mom, we do everything we can to make that possible."

This special recognition builds on a comprehensive campaign, which is part of Johnson & Johnson's company-wide Beijing 2008 Olympic Games sponsorship. Currently, JOHNSON'S(R) is running a series of national television advertising showcasing 2008 U.S. Olympians including recent Olympic champion Cullen Jones, who played an instrumental role in helping to secure a gold medal in the men's 4 x 100 relay team. The spots celebrate the special relationship the athletes have with their mothers, providing viewers with an unscripted peek into a personal side of their lives that they rarely witness. Longer versions of the TV spots run online at www.baby.com/thanksmom or youtube.com/baby.

How much might Michael Phelps eight gold medals be worth in terms of dollars? As much as $1 billion, likely somewhere near $500 million.

In the next quadrennial Phelps should generate between $150 million and $200 million (the key will be Nike and Speedo creating a bidding war for Phelps). Assuming he competes in the London Games and wins five to eight gold medals he’ll likely realize an additional $200 million in the following four years.

Factoring in the $20 million to $25 million he’s made since he turned professional as a 16-year old and Phelps will have earned more than $400 million by the time the 2016 Games arrive. If Phelps decides to compete in the 2016 Games (he’ll be 31) and those Games are awarded to Chicago – Michael Phelps could come close to becoming the first Olympian to earn $1 billion as a result of his success in the Olympic Games.

Michael Phelps is a once in a life-in-a generation athlete. Michael Phelps is a once-in-a lifetime athlete. Enjoy Michael Phelps while you can – his likeness isn’t likely going to come this way again. Michael Phelps the very best of what we can be as an athlete. Michael Phelps the greatest Olympian ever!!!!

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Toronto Star and The Denver Post

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – Michael Phelps the Beijing Games Marketing Machine – the legacy

2008-08-17T00:13:00.000-04:00

Michael Phelps date with destiny arrived Saturday night (Sunday morning technically) in Beijing. Phelps won his eighth Olympic Gold medal in the men’s 4x100 relay. Over the last seven days Michael Phelps has made the impossible happen – winning eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games. In winning the eight gold medals, Phelps was either set or was part of seven new world records.

He has now won 14 gold medals in the last two Summer Olympic Games. Phelps will turn 27 when the 2012 London Games take place. By the time London comes calling Michael Phelps could easily top 20 career Olympic gold medals. Indeed when it comes to Michael Phelps all that glitters is gold and he’s created his own stairway to heaven.

In winning his eighth gold medal in one Olympic Games Speedo paid Phelps a $1 million bonus for toping the record of seven gold medals won in one Olympic Games first set my Mark Spitz at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Phelps tied that record Friday night when he won the men’s 100M butterfly in stunning, unbelievable, remarkable fashion.

Phelps was seventh at the turn (the race is only two laps of the pool), more than six-10ths of a second behind Serbia's Milorad Cavic. He was half a body length behind with 25 meters to go. He was still in midair when Cavic was at the finish.

And yet somehow, Phelps got his hand on the wall first to win by a hundredth of a second, setting an Olympic record (50.58), equaling the standard for most victories at one Games, which countryman Mark Spitz set in 1972 in Munich, and picking up a $1 million bonus from sponsor Speedo.

"When I took that last stroke, I thought I lost the race there, but it turns out that was the difference," said Phelps. "I'm at a loss for words."

Michael Phelps may be a loss for words but the nine companies who invested in Phelps will have a lot to say (with Phelps) in the coming days and weeks. Phelps has agreements with nine corporate partners. Currently the face of the 2008 Summer Games generates more than $5 million annually in sponsorship and endorsement opportunities. His biggest contract (with Speedo) is up for renewal next year. Time for Michael Phelps to cash in his chips – there is no way Speedo will allow the worlds most recognizable swimmer and the biggest name to emerge from the Beijing Games to sign a swimwear contract with any other manufacturer.

Phil de Picciotto the president of Octagon, the sports marketing firm that has represented Phelps since he became a professional athlete shortly after the 2000 Sydney Games when he turned 16, knows it will be important for Octagon to capitalize on Michael Phelps success right now.

"The partnerships that are established during that short window of their athletic performance excellence can be sustained over decades if the relationships are maintained and if the business works for both sides. So without being able to put a number on it, over time it's certainly possible that this will go from the tens of millions into the hundreds millions."

One issue de Picciotto and the gang at Octagon are going to have to consider in looking at Phelps in the corporate marketplace – over exposure. With nine current sponsors does Phelps run the risk of having to many products he endorses?

"The way that Michael's partnerships are taken into the public--the audiences for purchasing the services and products that Michael is supporting -- are very different...

"So we're very careful not only about the quantity, but also of the delivery into the marketplace.”

An Octagon spokesman said his sponsors were credit card company Visa Inc., Speedo, watch maker Omega, AT&T Wireless, energy food company PowerBar. Kellogg's, Rosetta Stone, and PureSport.

Of course, whether Michael Phelps -- now the face of the 2008 Olympics -- becomes the next Tiger Woods in the lucrative world of sports marketing may require a true Olympian effort.....because as big as Phelps is now, he's a superstar in a sport that captures the world's attention only every four years.

There are those industry insiders (present company included) who believe Michael Phelps may indeed become the first billion dollar Olympian.

"He's the greatest Olympian in the world and he'll be able to earn money everywhere as he's an international brand," Australia-based celebrity agent Max Markson told Reuters.

"He's a billion dollar man. He won't have to get a job ever. He can live off this for 50 years."

That will be the key – Phelps being positioned as an international brand. He’ll have tremendous earning power in the United States, more than any other American Olympian has ever enjoyed but in the United States he’ll be competing with Tiger Woods and athletes with bigger platforms (Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning and Alex Rodriguez among others).

Eli Portnoy, chief brand strategist at the Portnoy Group, a U.S. consultancy specialized in branding, told Reuters he doubted Phelps -- or any Olympian -- would match the earning power of Woods who is estimated to become the first billionaire athlete by 2010. Those sentiments aside – Portnoy did suggest Phelps would earn more than $30 million (at least short term) as a result of his unbelievable accomplishments in Beijing.

"In the heat and intensity of this event it may seem that his earning power is limitless, but you have to pull back and look at someone like Tiger Woods who has performed at a top level for years and years in front of the world," he said.

"The Olympics is only held once every four years. After a year to so Americans forget about the Olympics and move to stars they see more. Kids want someone else on their Wheeties box."

One of the best examples in recent memory of a sponsor and the athlete they endorse working together was the commercial spot Visa ran moments after Phelps won his fourth gold medal in Beijing. Halfway to his date with destiny – Phelps fourth Beijing gold represented the 10th gold medal of his Olympic career – more career Olympic gold medals than any other Olympian in history. During NBC’s first commercial break after Phelps won his 10th gold Visa ran a 30 second commercial spot congratulating Phelps on his accomplishment.

"You need to be out there early and establish your affiliation with the property, Michael Phelps," said Michael Lynch, head of global sponsorship management at Visa whose relationship with Phelps dates back to 2002.

"His performance here will benefit us as it will add to the visibility we will get through this affiliation ... and his earning ability will increase, there's no question of that."

The key as was noted earlier – ensuring that Phelps doesn’t saturate the marketplace.

"In the short term, he is a gold mine because he represents everything that is pure, young, strong and visionary about America. We haven't had anyone of this significance since Mark Spitz," said Portnoy.

"Guaranteed there will be marketers wanting a piece of him that make no sense and it will interesting to see how his handlers cope with this and if they get greedy because the Olympics has a narrow avenue of marketability."

Nonetheless along with Octagon renegotiating with Phelps on a current agreement in the next few months – there are several interesting sponsorship categories that Phelps currently doesn’t have any affiliation with.

Months after he returned home from the Athens Games, in November 2004 Phelps was arrested on a DUI change and later pleaded guilty to driving while impaired; got 18 months probation.

The biggest sports category sponsorship remains beer companies. Would Anheuser-Busch (the biggest of the beer company sports sponsors) consider an endorsement agreement with Michael Phelps – again an athlete convicted of a DUI charge?

"Obviously, we would look at the total picture--the total character," Tony Ponturo, Anheuser-Busch's vice president of sports marketing told CNBC’s Darren Rovell earlier this week. "His determination, inspiration, what he's doing, you know you would put all the into that decision making."

When Rovell pressed him again if he'd seriously consider Phelps he said, "You have to consider it. He's a tremendous talent and one little incident should not overshadow what he is an individual."

One opportunity Phelps won’t be able to enjoy after the Games – a post Olympic tour featuring his athletic ability being showcased.

Olympic gymnists Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Chellsie Memmel And Paul Hamm Plus The Men And Women Of Team USA To Unite After Beijing For The 2008 Tour Of Gymnastics Superstars

Just back from China, the country’s most celebrated gymnasts including reigning World Champion Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin winner of the woman’s overall in China, and 2005 All-Around World Champion Chellsie Memmel, will join Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, Shannon Miller, Blaine Wilson and the U.S. gymnastics team for The 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars. A nationally televised special airing on MyNetwork TV on September 19th from 8:00-10:00pm (EST) will kick off the two month trek across the United States bringing world class gymnastics and music from Disney’s hottest young recording artists.

The 34 city tour begins September 7 in Reno and ends November 16 in Kansas City.

Following most Winter Olympic Games similar tours feature figure skaters. Speedo is expected to showcase Phelps during a multi-city goodwill speaking tour, but if Americans want to see Phelps at his very best (in a swimming pool) the 2009 World Championships in Rome or the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai.

Monday in the final part of our seven part look at the Beijing marketing machine that is Michael Phelps Sports Business News will take a look at the naysayers who despite his Olympic success Michael Phelps will not generate a great deal of post Beijing marketing success and how Michael Phelps may have saved the Beijing Olympics – from itself.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: CNBC’s Darren Rovell and Reuters.

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – Michael Phelps the Beijing Games Marketing Machine V

2008-08-16T00:10:00.001-04:00

All that glitters is gold when it comes to Michel Phelps and while he may not be buying a stairway to heaven, Michael Phelps future includes millions of dollars in endorsements. Today in part V of Sports Business News week long Michael Phelps series SBN will focus at Phelps relationship with Speedo as part of the look at the marketing machine that is Michael Phelps and take a look at the world wide interest in Michael Phelps.

Seven gold medals and counting. Michael Phelps date with destiny – winning eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games continued unabated Friday night (Saturday morning in Beijing) when America’s Golden Boy won his seventh gold medal of the Beijing Games in the stunning men’s 100M butterfly. Unless the unthinkable happens the world will be celebrating the Greatest Olympian ever by 10:00 PM New York time Saturday when Phelps swims in his final event in Beijing the men’s 4x100 relay.

Much has been made of Speedo’s LZR RACER before the start of the Beijing Games. Announced on February 14, 2008 virtually every Beijing swimming medalist wore Speedo’s revolutionary designed swimsuit. When Speedo made their announcement on Valentine’s Day – their most important athlete was all over the company’s press release. Phelps was the only athlete quoted in the media release.

"When I hit the water, I feel like a rocket", says Michael Phelps, holder of six World records, who has been involved in the development and will be sporting the LZR RACER as he sets out to achieve a world record breaking 8 gold medals later in these Olympics. "I can' wait to race in it, this is going to take the sport of swimming to a new level"

His comments, echoed by other elite swimmers, are gratifying for Speedo's research and development team, Aqualab, who have spent more than three years in intensive research and development to create their most hydro-dynamically advanced swimsuit to date.
Speedo scanned the bodies of more than 400 elite swimmers and held technical tests involving more than 100 different fabrics and suit designs in the world's leading flume and test centres. Their quest to enable swimmers to swim faster than ever before, took them all over the world from the NASA Langley Research Centre to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Otago University in New Zealand and working with Ansys CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software, a technology used in F1 motor racing and Americas Cup yachting.

Phelps relationship with Speedo began before the 2004 Athens Games. As will be the case later today when Phelps date with destiny arrives at the 2008 Beijing Games, Speedo offered Phelps a $1 million bonus if he won eight gold medals at the 2004 Games. Again he’ll collect that overdue $1 million bonus later tonight.

And the $1 million bonus Speedo will be paying Phelps later tonight – unlike similar promotions which company’s often purchase insurance to help defray the costs, Speedo according to CNBC’s Darren Rovell wasn’t able to buy insurance.

Craig Brommers, Speedo's vice president of marketing, confirmed to CNBC Wednesday that the company doesn't have any insurance to cover the bonus.

Brommers said that in Athens, Speedo's bonus was insured so that if Phelps -- who eventually won six gold medals and two bronze medals -- did win seven gold medals, the company would have only forked over about $300,000.

But Phelps' performance since then has made it hard for any insurance company to see much of an upside in insuring the deal this time around.

"Unfortunately, due to Michael's performance at the Melbourne World Championships and the probability that he might reach that million dollar bonus, Speedo was unable to secure insurance this time around," Brommers said.

He said the company didn't exhaustively try to insure it, believing that the premium this time around would have been closer to 90 percent.

Phelps wore a new Speedo swimsuit for every single race (he swam in a total of 17) in Beijing.

Speedo realized how great Phelps would be after he won six gold medals in Athens. In March 2005 Brandweek’s Sandra O'Loughin offered a peak at how Speedo positioned Phelps in relationship to Phelps.

The 2005 apparel collection targets men and women ages 18-34 who shop at better department stores such as Marshall Field's, Robinsons-May and Nordstrom. Initial shipments include men's casual swimwear and performance underwear, with activewear and shoes to follow in the fall. The women's activewear collection is already in-store. As part of a $3 million print campaign, handled in-house, ads for the women's apparel recently launched starring Olympic gold medalist Amanda Beard.

Print for the men's collection will run in April and May issues of GQ and Men's Health. It features a buff-looking Phelps wearing casual board shorts instead of his more familiar competition-style Speedo swimsuit, staring intently at a comely bikini-clad model. Splashes of water across the ad serve as reminders of Speedo's aquatic heritage.

The campaign is the first by the brand, outside of its sports marketing efforts, in seven years. Additional advertising, possibly including billboards and grass roots marketing in key urban areas, is slated for the fall. Support includes in-store events and POP.

"We consider Axcelerate a fusion between fashion and sport, and we've taken something very authentic to the brand, which is Olympic hero Michael Phelps, and tied him into a more fashion-focused situation that consumers may find surprising," said Craig Brommers, Speedo vp-marketing. "It's authentic and aspirational. Fashion, sports and entertainment are melding like never before. It's an area we are continuing to explore."

Joyce Julius & Associates, which measures sponsorship values, estimates that more prime-time airtime has been devoted to Michael Phelps than any other single athlete competing in Beijing through the first week of the Games. Speedo logos on Phelps’ warm-up jacket, swim cap and bodysuit have landed the brand 2:24 of airtime and $3.6 million, while highlights of Phelps’ storied career have also led to TV time for adidas and Visa.

Saturday night the Baltimore Ravens will play an NFL preseason game at M&T Bank Stadium. Phelps nicknamed the Baltimore Bullet in some circles was born and raised in the Baltimore area.

The Ravens are encouraging ticket holders at M&T Bank Stadium to stay after the Ravens vs. Vikings game on Saturday and salute hometown hero Michael Phelps. NBC has allowed the Ravens to air Phelps’ final race of the Beijing Olympics on the stadium SmartVision boards.

Throughout the Ravens game, ticket holders will be encouraged to stay for the post-game and watch Phelps swim live on the SmartVision boards. At the conclusion of the football game, fans will be directed to Section 140, located in the West end zone of the lower seating bowl. Ravens staff will be stationed near Section 140 to assist fans in picking up copies of b, Baltimore's new free daily newspaper, which will contain a poster with words of encouragement for Phelps. Fans will be asked to hold up this salute to Phelps prior to his swim.

Phelps potentially could be swimming for his eighth gold medal of the Beijing Games, which would break the 36-year-old record of seven golds in a single Olympics, set by Mark Spitz. Phelps will swim for the record-tying seventh gold Friday night.

“All of us are excited about what Michael is accomplishing, and it will be fun to salute him in this way,” Gabrielle Dow, the Ravens’ vice president of marketing, said.

Before Saturday night's game, fans can also visit the BaltimoreRavens.com area on RavensWalk outside M&T Bank Stadium and record a video message to Michael Phelps. The well-wishes will appear on BaltimoreRavens.com before kickoff.

Crain’s New York Business Friday reported that New York literary agent Scott Waxman invited publishers last week to bid on a memoir by the 23-year-old world record breaking swimmer, who has become a global sensation in Beijing.

A two-page proposal from the agent promised “eight chapters for eight races,” according to a publishing executive. Mr. Phelps is aiming to come away from Beijing with eight gold medals, which would break Mark Spitz’s record of seven. The plan is to have the title out in time for Christmas.

The agent set a $1 million floor for the bidding, and wanted offers right away, which suggested to some publishers that he already had an offer.

Others questioned whether Mr. Waxman is actually representing Mr. Phelps or is just looking to make a deal that he could then bring to the swimmer. Publishers also wondered how much interest there would be in the book.

Mr. Phelps has already published a memoir, Michael Phelps: Beneath the Surface, written with Sports Illustrated veteran scribe Brian Cazeneuve. That title came out in 2005 and sold only 9,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 70% of the market.

“No books by great Olympians have done well, except for Greg Louganis’,” said an insider who decided not to bid on the new memoir.

An updated paperback edition of Michael Phelps: Beneath the Surface is listed on Amazon.com with a July 1, 2008 publication date. But a customer representative for the publisher, Sports Publishing, said the book is not available and no date has been set for when it will be.

Phelps along with James Bond and a handful of other ‘personalities’ has the designation of being an Omega Ambassador (there are a total of 13 and the list also includes retired Olympic gold medal swimmer Australian Ian Thorpe) Phelps relationship with Omega (one of the IOC’s 12 TOP sponsors) dates back to the 2004 Athens Games.

And Michael Phelps has become a global phenomenon.

Phelps' feats have drawn banner headlines across the world, including in regions and countries where swimming normally gets scant attention, with newspapers and commentators tripping over each other for superlatives and nicknames:

"The barracuda from Baltimore," said Chile's largest newspaper, El Mercurio.

"The New Olympic Legend," blared Egypt's El Badeel.

"The American dolphin," wrote Spain's El Pais.

"The God of Olympia," intoned France's Nouvel Nouvel Observateur.

"The water man from another planet," hailed Denmark's Berligske Tidende

"At a time when world records seemed to have hit the ceiling of what's physically possible to wrestle out of the human organism, Phelps has been the man who managed to push the limits with his magnificent performance," the Danish paper said.

According to a Reuters report: Chinese media have dubbed Phelps' the "flying fish" or the "American superfish." One editorial cartoon showed Phelps as a shark overtaking a torpedo. China's most popular sports newspaper, the Titan Weekly — which is running daily editions during the games — made Phelps one of its two front-page stories Thursday. It ran a large photo of a joyous Phelps under the headline "His Majesty Phelps."

The sports daily L'Equipe devoted an entire page to Phelps under the headline "Alone in the Pantheon." Le Parisien newspaper said, "There aren't enough superlatives" to describe Phelps.

The Times of London devoted three full pages to Phelps, including a sketch in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci's famous Vitruvian Man to highlight his physical attributes.

The British Broadcasting Corp. remained focused largely on its own country's rare successes and China's domination of the medal table, and some papers questioned whether Phelps was truly the "greatest Olympian" or just the greatest swimmer.

"The all-time No. 1 Olympian or just one of many such belt-holders?" Daily Mail columnist Paul Hayward wrote.

"The latter, is my conclusion, because numbers of golds won is only one criterion by which to weigh Olympic greatness — not least because of the sheer number of scarcely distinguishable events open to swimmers — though Phelps will move another giant step towards the all-time title on Sunday if he puts Spitz in the shade."

British bookmakers, meanwhile, are already listing Phelps as 5-6 (odds-on) to win five or more gold medals at the next Olympics in London in 2012.

"We couldn't care less whether he's the greatest Olympian ever," Ladbrokes spokesman David Williams said. "The truth is he's costing us a fortune and punters (bettors) just love him. If Phelps comes to London in 2012 there's a strong chance he could clean up again. Frankly, we're already dreading it."

Nowhere is swimming bigger than in Australia, and Phelps has eclipsed the country's own Ian Thorpe, the "Thorpedo" who won five Olympic gold medals, 11 world titles and set 13 world records before retiring in 2006.

The Australian, a national broadsheet, described Phelps in a front-page headline Thursday as "the champion who swims in his own galaxy."

"If Michael Phelps were a country he would be sitting fourth on the Games medal tally," the paper said.

A regional newspaper, The Newcastle Herald, lauded Phelps in an editorial.

"Every Olympiad produces its own titans: athletes whose performances galvanize the world's attention and whose names become synonymous in Olympic history with the cities and years.

Some estimates had as many as 4 billion people may have watched last Friday’s opening ceremonies. Sunday’s Dream Team (men’s USA Team basketball) against the host Chinese (featuring Yao Ming) might have attracted as many as 1 billion viewers world wide. How many will be watching Michael Phelps race with destiny tonight that may be uncertain but this is – more people will be watching swimming tonight than have watched any other swimming event – ever. The worldwide rating number will be a stunning tribute to how much Michael Phelps has meant to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The good news for NBC – they have one more evening of Michael Phelps magic to look forward too. The bad news – Phelps has set the bar as high as it has ever been for the network at an Olympic Games that wasn’t hosted on American soil.

The Networks of NBC Universal have reached 180 million total viewers, 30.6 million average viewers in primetime and a rating of 17.7 rating/30 share, each posting significant gains compared to Athens in 2004. Additionally NBC Universal's primetime delivery has dominated the competition for seven straight nights and Wednesday's TAMi reached 100.9 Million.

·Through seven days NBCU has attracted 180 million total viewers, 15 million more than the first seven days for Athens (165 million).

·NBC's primetime Olympics telecasts have towered over all competition, more than doubling the combined results of ABC, CBS and Fox in average viewers on each of the seven nights of Olympic coverage to date. For the seven nights of the Games to date, NBC's average of 30.6 million viewers beat the average combined totals of the other three networks by 171 percent: CBS (5.1 million), ABC (3.2 million) and Fox (3.0 million).

·Through Thursday night, NBC's primetime Olympics average viewership was out delivering the viewership of the next 14 top-scoring ad-supported English-language broadcast and cable networks combined.

·NBC's Beijing Olympic seven-day average primetime viewership is 30.6 million, more than 13 percent ahead of Athens in 2004 (27.0 million). The national rating average of 17.7/30 is the best primetime rating through the first Thursday for a Summer Olympics outside the U.S. since Barcelona in 1992 (19.0/35) and is a nine percent jump from Athens in 2004 (16.2/28).

·Thursday night garnered 76 million total viewers in primetime and 29.7 million average viewers, within two million of the comparable night in Athens (31.7). The night earned a 17.9 rating/31 share, which is a seven percent decline (19.3/32). The comparable night in 2004 was the highest rated night of the entire Athens Games, which saw Carly Patterson win the USA's first women's all-around gold medal since Mary Lou Retton in 1984.

Sunday we’ll focus on Michel Phelps lasting Olympian marketing legacy.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: CNBC, Reuters and Brandweek.

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – Michael Phelps the Beijing Games Marketing Machine IV

2008-08-15T00:22:00.000-04:00

All that glitters is gold when it comes to Michel Phelps and while he may not be buying a stairway to heaven, Michael Phelps future includes millions of dollars in endorsements. Today in part IV of Sports Business News Michael Phelps series, SBN will focus on how important Michael Phelps is to NBC’s Olympic efforts and his relationship with PowerBar as part of our week long look at the marketing machine that is Michael Phelps.

Six gold medals and counting. Michael Phelps date with destiny – winning eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games continued unabated Thursday night (Friday morning in Beijing) when America’s Golden Boy won his sixth gold medal of the Beijing Games in the men’s 200IM. Up next for Phelps, Friday he’ll compete in the 100 butterfly and Saturday night he attempts (and all but certainly) become the first Olympian to ever win eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Unless the unthinkable happens the world will be celebrating the Greatest Olympian ever by 10:00 PM New York time Saturday.

You don’t have to read between any lines to appreciate how much Michael Phelps’ success in the pool has meant to NBC and their parent company General Electric. In just the first three business days of this week, NBC Universal has sold an additional $10 million in Olympic advertising on top of the more than $1 billion the network sold leading into the Beijing Games. The announcement was made yesterday by Seth Winter, SVP Sales & Marketing, NBC Sports & Olympics.

"From the buzz of the spectacular Opening Ceremony to a memorable first four days of competition, the Olympics have completely captivated the American public and further ignited our sales efforts," said Winter. "Americans are consuming our Olympic coverage in record numbers and in every way – through broadcast, cable, online and mobile. What's particularly encouraging to me is the strength in the young male demo, which has shown the largest increase of any age group."

Winter noted NBCU's strategy of holding back inventory to sell during the Games and cited a surge in interest in the movie, packaged goods and retail categories. Business has come from advertisers who had already bought Olympic time as well new advertisers. More than 100 companies have advertised during NBC's Olympic coverage.

Through five days, NBCU has attracted 168 million total viewers, nearly 15 million more than the first five days for Athens (153 million).

NBC's Beijing Olympic five-day average viewership is 31.3 million, almost five million more than Athens in 2004 (25.8 million). The national rating average of 17.8/31 is the best primetime rating through the first Tuesday for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics since Barcelona in 1992 (18.2/34) and is a 16 percent jump from Athens in 2004 (15.4/27).

All NBC advertising executives had to point at to potential Beijing advertisers – the ratings results Phelps produced Tuesday night when he won his fourth and fifth gold medals at the Beijing Games. NBC had its most viewed and highest rated night of the Olympics so far as Michael Phelps set the record for most Olympic gold medals ever won last night, reaching 82 million total viewers and posting a 19.9 rating, 34 shares.

Phelps won his sixth gold medal Thursday evening – Phelps date with destiny wasn’t part of NBC’s Olympic programming Wednesday evening and as The Los Angeles Times reported – the ratings results proved without a doubt Michael Phelps is driving NBC’s Olympic ratings.

With Phelps absent from Beijing Games swim finals on Wednesday night, NBC's prime-time broadcast for the first time dipped below numbers generated by the comparable 2004 Athens Games broadcast.

Wednesday night's broadcast drew an average of 27.7 million viewers, down from 28.4 million during the like broadcast in 2004, according to Nielsen Media Research data. The primetime rating was 16.7, down from 17.3.

Despite the one-night dip, NBC's average viewership of 30.8 million over six days is up from 26.2 million during the like period in 2004. The network's six-day national prime-time rating is 17.6, up from 15.7 during the comparable period four years ago.

"We know that the ratings spike when Michael appears," NBC Olympics President Gary Wurtzel said. "There's no question that Michael is an extraordinarily important driver."

"Without question, Michael Phelps is our biggest star," NBC marketing vice-president Mike McCarley told the Los Angeles Times.

A poll on NBCOlympics.com Wednesday asking, "Is Michael Phelps the greatest American athlete of all time?" (note the lack of the qualifier "Olympic" before "athlete") was answered in the affirmative by 72 per cent of participants.

That's only slightly lower than the 75 per cent of respondents who voted "yes" when the Baltimore Sun's website asked whether their hometown boy would win eight gold medals.

As would be expected, the Sun's site has a special section devoted to the Baltimore Bullet, including an archive of Phelps-related stories dating as far back as September 2004.

It would seem everyone is doing their best to cash in on Michel Phelps. The offices of Sports Business News received the following release Thursday: For more than a decade, Donruss has been providing sports cards collectors with autographs from the sports world, Hollywood, and beyond. Collectors never know who they’ll get in a pack, or what bright future may lay ahead for the celebrity. That is exactly what has happened to Michael Phelps.

In 2004, Donruss released a Michael Phelps signed trading card within Leaf Rookie and Stars Football. Phelps, a lifelong Baltimore Ravens fan, was one of six from the world of sports and entertainment to sign Fans of the Game inserts for the 2004 series.

Before the start of the 2008 Summer Games, Phelps’ card was booking for a modest $30 to $60. As he has continued to secure gold medals, culminating in his record breaking 11th gold medal, the value of his signed card has skyrocketed. Several Phelps autographed cards have already sold for over $350 – and he’s not done winning. The unsigned version has more than increased in price nearly 10-fold during the Games.

Here is some new pricing information from Beckett on the Donruss Michael Phelps autographed card.

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Autograph: $60 $150 $350
Regular Card: $2.50 $8 $20

The Johnny come lately’s aside – Powebar has been a part of Michael Phelps marketing machine for several years. In March Powerbar unveiled their latest Phelps advertising campaign.

Carrying the tagline Power To Push, the campaign is designed to offer a window into an athlete's mind as they battle both physical and emotional barriers to reach their goals. It will be executed via a comprehensive integrated marketing program throughout 2008 including television, print and online advertising, event marketing and consumer engagement opportunities.

The 30-second Phelps television spot, which was unveiled on Discovery Channel, creatively positions the world-famous swimmer against sharks in the water as a metaphor for his competition heading into the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. It will air on targeted sports programming through Fall 2008 including ESPN, TNT, and The Tour de
France on Versus.

"Michael is recognized as possibly the greatest swimmer in history, and it's no secret that every guy in the water sees him as the one to beat," said PowerBar Sports Marketing Manger Chad Comstock. "PowerBar has long been a part of Michael's training regimen so he's a natural fit to bring this 'Power To Push' campaign to life. As he prepares for the 2008 Games, PowerBar will be there to help push him through his grueling training sessions in an effort to help him achieve his goals."

Phelps first teamed with PowerBar on the eve of the 2004 Athens Games.

“Since I started swimming competitively, PowerBar Performance bars have been my go-to energy source to gear up for intense workouts and to recharge afterwards,” said Phelps. “On average, I’m in the water about five hours a day and burn through about 2-3,000 calories. Proper nutrition is an essential contributor to my athletic performance and I’m psyched to have PowerBar on my team as a nutritional partner as I prepare for Athens.”

“Over the years, we’ve had more than 200 U.S. Olympic hopefuls use PowerBar products in training and competition,” said PowerBar Marketing Manager Stephanie Brendel. “Elite athletes like Michael require an incredible amount of energy for optimal performance, and we’re proud to provide the nutritional tools they need to help them reach their Olympic goals.”

After the 2004 Athens Olympics The Hollywood Reporter reported Disney signed Phelps -- then coming off a performance that earned six gold medals -- to a multicity swimming tour. He also became a celebrity spokesman for Hong Kong electronics maker Matsunichi, inking a four-year deal worth about $4 million.

Sports Business News offered an in-depth look at Phelps relationship with Visa in Thursday’s Insider Report. PowerBar like Visa is a longtime supporter of everything that is Michael Phelps.

"You need to be out there early and establish your affiliation with the property, Michael Phelps," said Michael Lynch, head of global sponsorship management at Visa whose relationship with Phelps dates back to 2002 in a Reuters report.

"His performance here will benefit us as it will add to the visibility we will get through this affiliation ... and his earning ability will increase, there's no question of that."

Portnoy said Phelps's youth and composure under pressure made him a marketer's dream. The only blotch on his record was an arrest for drinking and driving in 2004 for which he apologized.

"In the short term, he is a gold mine because he represents everything that is pure, young, strong and visionary about America. We haven't had anyone of this significance since Mark Spitz," said Portnoy.

"Guaranteed there will be marketers wanting a piece of him that make no sense and it will interesting to see how his handlers cope with this and if they get greedy because the Olympics has a narrow avenue of marketability."

Phelps is doing his best to make sure that Chinese fans have access to information about him. He had his personal Web site, Michaelphelps.com, built in just two languages—English and simplified Chinese.

Phelps march towards eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games continues tonight (Saturday morning in Beijing ) when he wins the men’s 100m butterfly Saturday Sports Business News will look at Phelps relationship with Adidas (he’ll swim for a $1 billion bonus that day) and Sunday we’ll focus on Michel Phelps lasting Olympian marketing legacy.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The Los Angeles Times and Reuters

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – Michael Phelps (The Beijing Games Marketing Machine III

2008-08-14T00:02:00.000-04:00

All that glitters is gold when it comes to Michel Phelps and while he may not be buying a stairway to heaven, Michael Phelps future includes millions of dollars in endorsements. Today in part III of our Michael Phelps series SBN will take the second of a two part look at the marketing machine that is Michael Phelps.

Five gold medals and counting. Michael Phelps date with destiny – winning eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games continued unabated Tuesday night (Wednesday morning in Beijing) when America’s Golden Boy won his fourth and fifth gold medals of the Beijing Games. Up next for Phelps Thursday night’s men’s 200IM, Friday he’ll compete in the 100 butterfly and Saturday night he attempts (and all but certainly) become the first Olympian to ever win eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Unless the unthinkable happens the world will be celebrating the Greatest Olympian ever by 10:00 PM New York time Saturday.

Phelps continues to be ratings gold for anyone connected to this marketing machine. Late Wednesday Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc. the sports and entertainment industry leader in accurate measurement and evaluation of sponsorships and promotional programs released a report that looked at the value Phelps sponsors have enjoyed as a result of their association with Phelps thus far at the Beijing Games.

According to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc. — which specializes in measuring the impact of sponsorships across all forms of media — adidas, Nike, Speedo and Visa logos have combined for six minutes of on-screen time exclusively from apparel worn by Phelps during NBC’s coverage, beginning Saturday night and running through Tuesday night’s double-gold triumph. One way Joyce Julius determines exposure value is by comparing the in-broadcast time the brands garner to the estimated cost of a commercial spot during the telecasts.

A warm-up jacket worn by Phelps during each of his medal ceremonies accounted for all of Nike’s time with the swimmer, as the familiar swoosh has been monitored for three minutes, 33 seconds (3:33), leading to an exposure value of $5.3 million.

Speedo logos on Phelps’ warm-up jacket, swim cap and bodysuit have landed the brand 2:24 of airtime and $3.6 million, while highlights of Phelps’ storied career have also led to TV time for adidas and Visa.

Thus far Phelps has accounted for 72% of Nike’s swimming-related exposure during NBC’s nighttime coverage, as well as 18% of Speedo’s on-screen time and value.

Tuesday night moments after Phelps won the men’s 200 butterfly in world record time Visa released their latest commercial spot honoring Phelps accomplishment. While Phelps and his fellow Americans smashed another world record in Beijing when they won the men’s 4x200 freestyle relay Phelps 11th Olympic Gold medal an hour later, in winning his tenth gold medal Michael Phelps established a new mark for total gold medals won in Olympic Games history by one Olympic athlete, passing among others Americans Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis.

Visa Inc., a Worldwide Olympic Partner for more than two decades, today released a special edition commercial commemorating U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps' historic achievement of winning ten Olympic gold medals, setting the all-time record for most career Olympic gold medals. The spot, entitled "Congratulations Phelps," aired on US host broadcaster NBC during the first commercial break following his win in the men's 200m butterfly final in world record pace at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

"Congratulations Phelps" marks the latest extension of Visa Inc's U.S. advertising campaign "Go World and follows the same creative treatment as previous spots, using striking sepia tones combined with dramatic still photography. The spot closes with an already memorable image of Phelps celebrating the U.S. team's gold medal performance in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay from earlier in the Beijing Olympic Games competition.

"Michael Phelps truly embodies the spirit of our 'Go World' campaign that celebrates memorable Olympic moments and the extraordinary athletes who achieve them," said Kevin Burke, head of global consumer marketing of Visa Inc. "We congratulate Michael on this momentous achievement and wish him the best as he continues his march towards Olympic history."

The US campaign evokes the emotion and memories of unforgettable moments in Olympic history and features current Olympic and Paralympic athletes and Olympic legends. The integrated campaign includes national television commercials, print and online advertisements, and an online microsite.

That ladies and gentlemen is how a company invests in an athlete and then leverages their sponsorship effectively. All too often companies sponsor an athlete or a team and then decide for some explicable reason to not invest in selling the relationship they have paid for. It makes no sense for a company to invest in an athlete or in an event and then decide to not put further resources behind their investment.

Visa’s relationship with Phelps dates back to before the 2004 Athens Olympics. One of the IOC’s TOP sponsors (there are 12 world wide during the current Olympic quadrennial) have long believed Michael Phelps as a key their Olympic strategy.

"For Visa, our Olympic marketing has always been about aligning with the athletes that represent the Olympic spirit," said Joe Carberry, vice president of corporate relations for Visa USA in an August 2004 interview shortly after the Athens Games. "Michael Phelps embodies that spirit."

More than a year ago on April 9, 2007 Visa announced Phelps would be the face of their Beijing advertising efforts.

In their continual effort to grow the sport of swimming internationally, Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff anchor the "Visa Friendship Lanes Tour" of goodwill, friendship and cultural experience through a series of events that will celebrate the dreams of people of all abilities and cultures. The athletes visit to China , also supported by Speedo, represents their support of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing .

The "Visa Friendship Lanes Tour," will promote Special Olympics and take place April 9th - 13th with events scheduled in both Beijing and Shanghai including a swimming clinic with Special Olympics athletes, a Speedo swimming clinic with Chinese Junior swimmers, ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Special Olympics World Summer Games, and a mentoring session with several Team Visa athletes who are training to make the Chinese Olympic Team in 2008.

"The 'Visa Friendship Lanes Tour' provides these athletes with the ability to connect with another culture while at the same time promote their sport in a way that has never been done before," said Mr. Peter Carlisle, Octagon Managing Director of Olympics & Action Sports. "Between the Special Olympics World Games and the Beijing Olympics, it's an exciting time for China and our athletes want to be a true part of the entire cultural experience."

"Visa's Olympic marketing programs are designed to show the public the journey that our Olympic athletes and hopefuls follow to reach their goals and dreams. We're very proud of our long partnership we have with Michael and Katie," said Mr. Michael Lynch, Senior Vice President of Partnership Marketing, Visa USA . "With the 'Visa Friendship Lanes Tour', we see an opportunity to help these great athletes inspire others and hopefully make a positive impact on the global Olympic Movement."

In an effort to further provide people of all abilities the opportunity to chase their dreams, Phelps and Hoff, joined by fellow Olympians Ryan Lochte and Megan Jendrick (formerly Quann), will donate $8,808.00 (USD) to Special Olympics China and the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games. ( US VERSION ONLY: The athletes' contribution reflects the symbolic date to the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games.)

"When world renowned athletes like Michael, Katie, Ryan, and Megan stand side by side with our Special Olympics athletes they bring recognition, respect, understanding and most important, acceptance among the general public," said Mr. Timothy Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics. "Their participation in the events this week in Beijing and Shanghai especially two special school visits and Special Olympics China swimming clinic encourage a call to action to society to support the more than 2.2 million Special Olympics athletes around the world."

"We are grateful to the U.S. Olympic swimmers for their generous support of Special Olympics China and the global movement--especially, with the 2007 World Summer Games only six months away," said Mr. Zhang Tan Lian, Vice National Chairman, Special Olympics China. "We thank these Champions for not only making a donation to our program but also for sharing their talents with Special Olympics China athletes in and out of the pool."

As part of the ongoing partnership with its athletes, Visa is helping Phelps and Hoff launch their Mandarin-based web pages that will allow the people of China to track their progress in preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games. The Mandarin-based pages can be accessed via www.swimroom.com, a newly launched social networking website devoted entirely to the sport of swimming.

"One of my biggest career goals is to promote and raise the sport of swimming and its profile both in the U.S. and around the world," said Mr. Michael Phelps, an eight-time Olympic Medalist and 17-time World Champion. "With the support of Visa, Speedo and Special Olympics, I am honored to be a part of the "Visa Friendship Lanes Tour" and am really looking forward to sharing my passion for swimming with a country that is excited to host the World Games and Olympic Games."

Phelps' partnership with Visa began shortly after the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney , Australia . Since then, he has appeared in Visa's national television commercial "Lap" prior to the Athens Olympic Games.

In early February Visa brought 15 Olympic and Paralympic Hopefuls to Inspire Communities and Preview Beijing Marketing Programs to New York City . Once again Michael Phelps was front and center for the credit card company.

Visa, a Worldwide Olympic Partner for more than two decades, today introduced its team of athletes for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the Visa Olympic Media Summit in New York City . During the event, Visa and its family of athletes extended their ongoing commitment to the Partnership for Play Every Day - an effort to raise national awareness and support for increasing and improving the spaces where America 's youth can play. Visa also unveiled its integrated marketing campaign in support of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

"For America 's kids, the time to play is today," said Olympic and World Champion swimmer Michael Phelps. "We need everyone's help in providing all kids with access to safe and well-equipped spaces where they can exercise, have fun and maybe even pursue their own Olympic dreams."

The Partnership for Play Every Day is bringing together organizations including nonprofits, businesses and government agencies to ensure that all children get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day. Federal funding for local parks, playgrounds, trails and open spaces has decreased in recent years, and one of the partnership's objectives is to increase the number of settings where kids can engage in physical activity.

"As a longtime Olympic sponsor, we're committed to empowering current and future Olympic team hopefuls to reach for and achieve their dreams," said Michael Lynch, head of global sponsorship marketing, Visa Inc. "We believe in the Play Every Day call to action and saw an opportunity to involve our Olympic family in an initiative that addresses a growing health issue and will get more kids participating in Olympic sports."

And as it turns out Michael Phelps and Team Visa are the perfect marriage between an athlete and a corporate partner. Eight years of standing by Michael Phelps is about to pay huge dividends for Visa – a classic example of how to manage a sports sponsorship.

Phelps march towards eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games continues tonight (Friday morning in Beijing ) when he wins the men’s 200IM. Friday in part IV of SBN’s week long series on Michael Phelps we’ll look at Phelps relationship with PowerBar and his other sponsors. Saturday we’ll look at Phelps relationship with Adidas (he’ll swim for a $1 billion bonus that day) and Sunday we’ll focus on Michel Phelps lasting Olympian marketing legacy.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom.

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – Michael Phelps (Beijing Games Marketing Machine) II

2008-08-13T11:03:00.000-04:00

All that glitters is gold when it comes to Michel Phelps and while he may not be buying a stairway to heaven, Michael Phelps future includes millions of dollars in endorsements. Today in part II of our Michael Phelps series SBN will take the first of a two part look at the marketing machine that is Michael Phelps.

Five gold medals and counting. Phelps Beijing gold medal total after winning three gold medals (this morning in Beijing) five and counting. Phelps gold medal parades takes today off before his seemingly date with destiny – eight gold medals at one Olympic Games and the title of greatest Olympian of all time.

Leading the way among name recognition, as he has in much of the pre-Olympic coverage, is U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps. With three gold medals -- and one world record -- down, and six more to go, Phelps was the most-mentioned athlete among those being tracked by Dow Jones Insight in both traditional (print and online) and social (blogs and boards) media sources.

Of the 11,131 total mentions in traditional media sources between July 28 and August 10, Phelps had 26 percent, or 2,904, of those athletes tracked. His percentage of social media mentions was even larger with 37 percent, or 796 of 2,149 total mentions of athletes during the same time period. In second behind Phelps in both traditional and social media sources was basketball player Yao Ming, who is a superstar both in the U.S. and in his native China. Ming had a 16 percent share in traditional media and a 17 percent share in social media.

Australian swimmer Grant Hackett was third in traditional media mentions, with 1,182, or 11 percent of those tracked. U.S. gymnast Paul Hamm and U.S. swimmer Dara Torres followed Hackett, each with 8 percent of mentions in traditional media. American Tyson Gay and Jamaican Asafa Powell, who are expected to battle each other and world-record holder Usain Bolt for the gold in the men's 100 meters, followed with 806 and 741 mentions, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 athletes were Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, with 677 mentions, or 6 percent, Australian swimmer Libby Lenton, with 631 mentions, or 6 percent, and British marathoner Paula Radcliffe, with 581 mentions, or 5 percent.

In social media sources, Hamm was third behind Phelps and Yao with 239 mentions, or 11 percent. Torres was fourth, with 215 mentions for 10 percent. Gay, Liu Xiang and U.S. women's gymnast Shawn Johnson each had 5 percent of the total mentions. Rounding out the top 10 were Radcliffe, Powell and U.S. women's gymnast Nastia Liukin, each with 3 percent of the total mentions.

The Beijing Games are quickly becoming a platform not only for Phelps but for the companies who had the foresight to invest millions of dollars in the Maryland born athlete in the years leading up to Beijing.

On March 10, 2005 Matsunichi Communication Holdings, the Hong Kong-based company that produces electronic equipment signed Phelps to what was the biggest sponsorship agreement ever signed by a traditional Olympic athlete.

"Based on all of our research, I don't think there's a more lucrative individual endorsement deal that's ever been done by a traditional Olympic athlete - outside the major sports," said Peter Carlisle, Phelps' agent and director of Olympic sports for Octagon, which has represented Olympic athletes since the early 1980s in a Baltimore Sun report from March 11, 2005.

"[Figure skater] Michelle Kwan has had some excellent deals, [Australian swimmer] Ian Thorpe has had some excellent deals, but I don't think any of them are as strong as this one in terms of guaranteed compensation."

Ryan Schinman, who hires athletes to represent corporations as president of Platinum Rye Entertainment, said that Phelps is at the top among contemporary Olympic stars.

"Can you name someone bigger, especially a U.S. athlete?" asked Schinman

Now those comments where made more than three years ago. Marrying a 23 year old athlete to a company that produces MP3 players – insightful on the part of Phelps’ agents and Matsunichi.

"You can't discount that he has a real connection to the product," said Howe Burch, president of Baltimore-based Twelve Sports Marketing & Communications. "Music is a big part of his life and a big part of his motivation and inspiration."

"But for him to endorse an MP3 player that teenaged kids and young adults use makes a lot of sense," Burch said. "And I think it makes sense for the brand, which is a little bit off the radar screen, to attach themselves to a guy as highly visible as Michael."

Four years ago, a few months after winning six gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics Phelps faced a tremendous challenge – a test that had nothing whatsoever to do with his success in the pool. Now 23, but on November 9, 2004 Phelps was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

"I made a mistake," the Towson High School graduate said in a telephone call to The Baltimore Sun. "Getting into a car with anything to drink is wrong, dangerous and unacceptable. I'm 19, but no matter how old you are, you should take responsibility for your actions, which I will do. I'm extremely sorry for the mistake that I made."

Schinman, president of the Platinum Rye Entertainment consulting firm (who 16 months later expressed nothing but admiration for Phelps, told the Sun at the time of the arrest is "a huge blow," even if Phelps is never convicted.
"He made a name for himself not only in the pool, but with his squeaky-clean image, which is hard for corporate America to come by these days," said Schinman, who consults for Fortune 500 companies.

Mark Lepselter, president of New Jersey-based Maxximum Marketing, said at the time of the arrest the long-term impact will be minimal so long as Phelps doesn't have future problems. For now, Lepselter said, "I don't think this is going to be a major blow to his career ... . I don't think there are many people who have not made some mistake along those lines when they were 19."

Within days of his arrest the companies who where ‘banking on Phelps’ stood by their athlete as the Baltimore Sun reported at the time.

At PowerBar in Berkeley, Calif., spokeswoman Vanessa Wagar said she expects Phelps to continue as one of the company's sponsored athletes.

"Part of athletic sponsorship is celebrating highs with athletes as well as working through their difficult times," she said.

Visa issued a statement saying that Phelps, who has apologized for his behavior, has represented the company and the country "with great honor and dignity."

He pleaded guilty to driving while impaired; got 18 months probation and the Baltimore Sun reported had autograph seekers waiting for him in the parking lot after he left the courtroom. He spoke to classrooms full of kids about the dangers of alcohol. His sponsors stuck by him. Four years later, the incident remains one of his least favorite subjects.

Ask him to name the dumbest thing he's ever done and you'll get an interesting answer.

"I think I've had stupid things that I've done, but I've been able to learn from all of them," Phelps says. "You learn the most from mistakes you make. They all may not be good, but I think I've learned from every mistake I've made. In that respect, I don't think I've done any stupid things."

One sponsor who didn’t come out with a ringing endorsement after Phelps 2004 arrest – AT&T.

Phelps' initial sponsorship agreement with AT&T Wireless, ran through the end of 2004, was part of the package deal when the company was bought by Cingular Wireless that fall, said company spokesman Mark Siegel. That contract, like all other marketing contracts for AT&T and Cingular, will be evaluated as part of the changing company.

Four years later – Phelps is front and center as part of AT&T’s NBC Beijing commercial campaign. Leading up to and during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, Telecom Company AT&T launched several ad campaigns, created by BBDO New York and BBDO Atlanta, for its various business divisions.

During the week of July 28, it debuted a spot called “Phelps Phan,” featuring a fan of swimmer Michael Phelps who missed a call letting her know Phelps was in town because of poor cell phone coverage on a competing phone. The ad promotes the “best coverage” claim of AT&T Wireless service.

"What's important is the aspiration," said Mark Siegel, a spokesman for AT&T Wireless, the telecommunications company that uses Phelps in several advertisements in an April Baltimore Sun report. "It's not always about the number of medals, but the journey to get there."

Thursday’s look at All that Glitters is Gold – SBN’s Michael Phelps series will focus on his current and past sponsorships with Adidas, Powerbar and Visa. Clearly when it comes to Michael Phelps and the tremendous success he’s enjoying at the Beijing Games – his golden success in the pool will lead to a lifetime of opportunity outside of the pool.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The Baltimore Sun

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – Michael Phelps (King of the Beijing Games) I

2008-08-12T00:12:00.000-04:00

All that glitters is gold when it comes to Michel Phelps and while he may not be buying a stairway to heaven, Michael Phelps future includes millions of dollars in endorsements.

The Olympic Gods (in this case NBC) must be smiling on the Water Cube, the venue for the 2008 Beijing Summer Games swimming events. After winning his third Beijing Gold medal earlier today (Beijing time) Monday night New York time American Michael Phelps has now equaled Carl Lewis (and three other Olympians) for gold medals won in a summer Olympian. Phelps has a chance to win two gold medals tonight should be looking at Lewis in his rearview mirror by late tonight.

When the swimming competition ends Saturday evening (Sunday morning in Beijing) Phelps will likely have won eight gold medals in Beijing. And for NBC – Michael Phelps is pure ratings gold.

Money talked when it came to the scheduling of some Olympic events. The twelve hour time difference between New York and Beijing has meant most of NBC’s coverage has been shown on a tape delay basis. As far back as October 2006 the IOC knew what they had to do when it came to Phelps and the swimming events.

The IOC confirmed on October 26, 2004 that the IOC Executive Board has agreed to the competition schedule for the Beijing Games. Hein Verbruggen noted that, “After a thorough consultation process, the IOC Executive Board has approved a final version of the competition schedule which sees a spread of events throughout the day, with some finals in the morning, and some in the evening. There can never be a perfect ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution which suits each and every stakeholder equally, but the IOC decision has endeavored to find the best balance for the Olympic Movement as a whole.”

USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus made it clear when the IOC made their announcement he was fully onboard with the decision: “This is a great opportunity for our sport to be showcased to the nearly one billion people in the potential television audience of the Americas during the first nine days of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The live prime time exposure is something that can only benefit the sport of swimming, and enhance the public profile of our sport’s top athletes.

The IOC’s decision to announce this nearly two years prior to the Olympic Games ensures a level playing field for all athletes. No matter what the schedule, our athletes will be ready to swim their best when their best is needed.”

On the eve of the Beijing Games (as Wieglus noted the dramatic changes to the Olympic schedule where announced two years ago) Australian Olympic swimming coach Alan Thompson told The Australian made it clear he wasn’t happy about the swim times in Beijing.

"My problem with the schedule change was that money bought tradition in the sport," he said.

"Whether the heats or the final are in the morning and the afternoon does not matter to us in terms of performance.

"I think in this day and age I think that loyalty is very lacking in sport and I think that often money talks too loudly.

"I just think when it comes to issues like that, there is certain traditions that need to be followed."

Those comments aside – NBC knew heading into Beijing, Phelps would be their Beijing Ticket. Among the promotional material NBC published in advance of the start of the Games -- 8 reasons to watch Michael Phelps in Beijing on August 6

NBC Sports & Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol successfully lobbied to have the start times for key events in swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball start live in U.S. primetime, which hasn't happened since Atlanta hosted the 1996 Games.

"That's the first time that three of the five biggest sports in the Summer Olympics are essentially all happening simultaneously on American television," Ebersol told The Hollywood Reporter ten days ago.

"It's almost like divine intervention that it worked out that way," Ebersol said. "And when you add to that our women's gymnastics team is the best we've ever sent to a Games and they are rivaled by the Chinese, it's going to be a fierce fight."

Brad Adgate, head of research for New York-based ad buyer Horizon Media, told CNBC the proof will be in the gold.

"A lot of it is going to be how well the athletes perform," he said. "Michael Phelps, the gymnastics team, basketball. A lot of it is the live sports. It's really the world's greatest reality show."

Sunday nights (Monday morning in Beijing) 4x100 men’s freestyle relay may be the destined to become the definitive moment for the Beijing Games. Heading into the last 50 meters of the race (Phelps swam the first leg of the race). Phelps's leg was 47.51 seconds. On paper, that looks to be the second-slowest on the U.S. team. Garrett Weber-Gale followed with a solid 47.02, Cullen Jones struggled to a 47.65, and Jason Lezak brought it back with an astounding 46.06 to overtake Frenchman Alain Bernard, who entered the day as the world record holder in the 100 free.

NBC’s overnight ratings – stunning: NBC earned a 21.3 overnight rating, topping by 16 per cent the overnight prime time rating for Athens four years ago.

A difference between the two telecasts was, of course, that the Athens programming was taped, while NBC was live on Sunday. But it was the men’s 4x100 swimming event that not only delivered ratings but set the table for Phelps attempt to win a total of eight gold medals in Beijing. Phelps has become must-see TV for Americans – just what NBC ordered when they agreed to pay the IOC $844 million for TV rights to the Beijing Games.

"It was certainly the greatest Olympic relay race I have ever seen. I have been trying to think about another race that I got more excited about and I can't think of one." NBC swim analyst offered in a Monday morning press conference in Beijing

In a classic example of ‘seeing the bigger picture’ at least in terms of what his bosses at NBC wanted him to say, Tom Hicks who is calling the swimming events for NBC offered this gem Monday on Phelps’ place in the athletic world: “"He is right there with Tiger Woods. I called Michael Phelps 'Tiger Woods in a Speedo' the other night. There are just so many uncanny ways that Phelps reminds me of Tiger, it's just scary. They just remind me of each other so much. If Tiger is over a putt and he has to make it, I watched him at the U.S. Open and he made it. When Phelps needs to have some sort of magical touch to win a gold medal and get it done, he does the same thing. It is really kind of eerie, how much those two guys remind me of each other."

For many broadcasters the Olympics are a once in a lifetime opportunity – a broadcasters dream and Sunday evening proved to be that and a great deal more for Hicks: "That race is why we get into the business of sports broadcasting. It was just absolute excitement, shock, and the utmost of wattage. It was just so unexpected. It was so clear that Bernard was going to win this race and in those last meters, it was like a switch was flipped and all of a sudden Lezak pulled it out. I think it has been clear throughout the Games that we are certainly not rooting for the Americans. The excitement that we had was just simply about an unbelievable piece of drama in the pool."

Gaines an Olympian believes the toughest challenge Phelps faces in his quest for eight gold medals will come Friday night (Saturday morning in Beijing) when he tries to win the men’s 100 meter butterfly: "I don't want to jinx him, I just don't see the challenge out there. The 100m is such a tricky event because it is short.

“That is the one that going in six months ago, everybody said was going to be the one that was really going to be the toughest one and I still think it is going to be very difficult. By then, that will be the seventh gold medal that he would be gunning for. He might be on such a roll that he would be unstoppable, but Ian Crocker and the rest of the world has gotten real fast in that event, so it's going to be a tough one."

One athlete appears to have risen above the other 10,000 plus athletes competing Beijing – Michael Phelps. Hicks’ comparisons to Tiger Woods aside, as CNBC’s Darren Rovell noted the world can’t seem to get enough of Michael Phelps: On Friday, the day of the Opening Ceremony, Phelps reached the limit on his facebook page of 5,000 friends. More than 1,600 come from the University of Michigan, where Phelps goes to school, almost 200 come from New York and about 170 friends come from Baltimore, his hometown.

As a young teenager, Phelps trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, under coach Bob Bowman. At the age of 15, Phelps competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, becoming the youngest American male swimmer at an Olympic Games in 68 years. While he did not win a medal, he was fifth in the 200 m Butterfly. Phelps proceeded to make a name for himself in swimming shortly thereafter.

Five months after the Sydney Olympics, Phelps broke the world record in the 200 m butterfly to become, at 15 years and 9 months, the youngest man ever to set a swimming world record. He then broke his own record again at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan (1:54.58). At the 2002 Summer Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, Phelps also broke the world record for the 400 m individual medley and set American marks in the 100 m butterfly and the 200 m individual medley.

In 2003, Phelps broke his own world record in the 400 m individual medley (4:09.09) and in June, he broke the world record in the 200 m individual medley (1:56.04). Then on July 7, 2004, Phelps broke his own world record again in the 400 m individual medley (4:08.41) during the U.S. trials for the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In 2004, Phelps left North Baltimore Aquatic Club with Bob Bowman to train at the University of Michigan for Club Wolverine.

Phelps' dominance has brought comparisons to former swimming great Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals in the 1972 Summer Olympics, a world record. Phelps tied Mark Spitz's record of four gold medals won in individual events. Phelps had the chance to break Spitz's record of 7 total gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics by competing in eight swimming events (5 of which were individual events): the 200 m freestyle, the 100 m butterfly, the 200 m butterfly, the 200 m individual medley, the 400 m individual medley, the 4x100 m freestyle relay, 4x200 m freestyle relay, and the 4x100 m medley relay.

The American 4x100 m freestyle relay team only won the bronze medal in Athens, and he personally placed for bronze in the 200 m freestyle. Thus, he fell short of Spitz's record. However, he did win eight medals in one Olympics, a feat only achieved by Alexander Dityatin, a gymnast, in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

Had he won seven golds, he would have been eligible for a US$1 million bonus from his sponsor, Speedo.[8] Phelps does, however, have another chance at this $1 million should he win seven or more golds at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

After the 2004 Games in Athens, Phelps participated in a 14-city post-Olympic tour with fellow Olympic teammates Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg in an effort to raise the profile of the sport of swimming

Phelps moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan following the 2004 Olympics when his longtime coach at the North Baltimore Athletic Club, Bob Bowman, became head coach of the University of Michigan swimming team. Phelps served as a volunteer assistant coach, but did not swim for the university's team in NCAA competition because of his loss of amateur status, having accepted endorsement money from his sponsors Speedo, Visa, Omega, and PowerBar.

Instead, he trained with and competed for Club Wolverine, a USA Swimming club affiliated with the university, between 2004 and 2008. The Baltimore Sun said in August 2008 that Phelps earns $5 million annually in endorsements.

At the 2007 Worlds, Phelps won 7 gold medals, tying the record, and broke 5 world records. He co-founded the "Swim with the Stars" program, along with Ian Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg, a program which promotes swimming and conducts camps for swimmers of all ages.

Wednesday’s Insider will look at Phelps current sponsors, what many of those sponsors did with Michael leading up to the Games and what the Michael Phelps world might look at following the Beijing Games.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: CNBC and Wikipedia

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – All Hail Kobe

2008-08-11T00:21:00.000-04:00

Sunday’s featured Olympic event was billed as the most watched basketball game in history. More than 1 billion people across the globe reportedly watched part of the United States Men’s basketball team opening game against the host Chinese. In what didn’t come as a surprise to anyone the “Dream Team” throttled the Chinese 101-70. The games real stars, Yao Ming, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. That said – by all appearances Kobe will be one of the real stars to emerge from the Beijing Games. Kobe who four short years ago had the world in the palm of his hand, only to lose it all, regain much of what he had lost appears poised to reap a financial windfall from the Beijing Olympics.

Kobe Bryant the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player rakes in some $17 million through his deals with Nike, Sony and Coca-Cola's Vitamin Water, in addition to his seven-year, $136.4 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Several weekend published media reports suggested Kobe so enamored by how well he’s been received at the Beijing Games will seriously consider signing a contract with a European based professional basketball team once his current NBA contract ends.

Kobe’s current Lakers contact has one more year remaining. Saturday, Bryant told The Boston Globe there are $50 million very good reasons he’ll seriously look at taking his basketball to Europe in a years time.

"I'd probably go," said Bryant, who will be a free agent next summer. "Like Milan or something like that, where I grew up or something like that."

What Bryant would "probably go" for is a deal paying about $50 million a season. ESPN.com reported last week that LeBron James would strongly consider playing overseas if offered a salary of "around $50 million a year." ESPN also reported that CSKA Moscow and Olympiakos have already contacted James, though nothing has been discussed monetarily.

"Because I grew up in Italy, it has more significance to me because I'm more familiar with it, I've been there, and I still have friends there," said Bryant, explaining why he'd consider Italy to The Boston Globe. "I'm thinking about buying a house out there. It would be nothing to me to be able to do that."

Josh Childress of the Atlanta Hawks signed a three-year, $20 million deal with Olympiakos of Greece. Several other good NBA players, including Carlos Delfino and Juan Carlos Navarro, left the NBA for multi-million dollar European offers.

“Childress, Delfino, and all these other offers start coming up and all of a sudden you start hearing the talk circulating from teams over there and what they’re willing to do,” Bryant told Yahoo.com. “As athletes, you have to listen to that. That’s the least you can do.”

Even so, Bryant told Yahoo.com that it would be “Almost impossible … very difficult …” to leave the Lakers, who are primed to make a run at multiple championships over the next several years.

“But,” he said cryptically, “it is what it is.”

Kobe if nothing else at least realizes the big picture. The world is very big – and the Beijing Games can serves as the perfect platform for an athlete of his stature.

“The whole field is covered with the greatest athletes in the world,” he said. “There’s no greater place on earth. I’ve never been part of something this big before.”

Suggesting Kobe is looking at the bigger picture means that Kobe understands he’s never going to regain what he lost after allegations he raped a woman in Eagle, Colorado. All one needs to realize is what Kobe’s experienced in the last four years to appreciate Kobe might be heading across the pond not for fame and fortune but for the respect he believes he’s lost and will never experience again.

Did time really stand still for Kobe Bryant on July 4, 2003? For many NBA fans, particularly those who cheered for Kobe, the end of the innocence began a little more then five years ago when Bryant, then 24, was arrested and charged with Felony Sexual Assault in Eagle Creek, Colorado. (The alleged assault took place on June 30, Bryant was charged five days later).

Two year ago it looked as if Kobe had managed to recoup what he had lost – that may not be the case as it turns out.

Two years ago Kobe appeared on the cover of NBA '07 for PlayStation(R)2 and PlayStation Portable.

As strange as it may seem, Kobe Bryant then positioned as the next great NBA player, following in the legacy of Bird, Jordan and Magic, experienced his own personal version of a Greek Tragedy may indeed be the marketing force most believed he would be, until that fateful day when Kobe was accused of raping a woman. That was two years ago, but after being selected as the NBA’s MVP in April – American companies are again avoiding Kobe.

Kobe was drafted when he was 17, the son of the former N.B.A. journeyman Joe (Jelly Bean) Bryant. Kobe’s father played professional basketball overseas and for eight seasons in the N.B.A. before retiring in 1983.

Kobe became the youngest player in the history of the NBA in 1996. Overnight he became an NBA star and worked to develop a perfect imagine. At 24, Kobe was thought to have it all, the perfect wife (his high school sweetheart Vanessa Laine), and a young father who would stand as an example to the African-American community. At 23, Kobe had three NBA titles to his name, more then any other 23-year old in NBA history.

It took Kobe Bryant seven NBA seasons to rise, and one terrible night to fall. Sonny Vaccaro, Adidas director of sports development in 2003, brought Kobe and adidas together signing Kobe to his first multi-million dollar endorsement contract.

''This is what we do at this level; we ordain them early,'' Vaccaro told the New York Times five summers ago. ''We identify them sometimes in seventh or eighth grade, so the myth starts building.''

A month before the ‘events’ of June 30, 2003, Bryant signed a $45 million shoe contract with Nike. At the time Kobe Bryant was also the face of McDonald’s and Sprite’s corporate NBA partnerships.

Robert Tuchman, the president of TSE Sports and Entertainment, a marketing firm based in Manhattan, told The New York Times’ Mike Wise in July 2003 he believed that even if Bryant is cleared of the charge, his reputation may suffer.

''Obviously, you'd be hard-pressed to find any company to stick with him if he's convicted,'' Tuchman said. ''You'd have so many rights groups coming out against the companies. If this thing does blow over, I don't think there will be a huge stigma against him. Still, he was the model endorser: young, energetic, great smile. Somebody might be sitting in a brand office at Kraft a couple years from now, thinking, 'Wait, didn't something happen to him?' ''

Five years ago everyone with an opinion tried to paint the picture as to why they believed Kobe Bryant’s life of respect turned to ridicule overnight.

''Adolescence is really about identity representation,'' said Dr. Ronald Kamm, president of the International Society for Sport Psychiatry, based in Oakhurst, N.J. ''It really gets affected by this level of fame, the way a Jennifer Capriati or LeBron James might get affected.''

''We think because athletes are so physically gifted, we tend to think they are gifted in other ways, morally and intellectually,'' Kamm said. ''I'm not saying some don't live up to that standard, but we should emulate their work ethic and the fact that they practice so hard and perform under the most intense pressure. In that way, they are realistic role models. But to think that they are moral or character role models, they may be and they may not.''

''There's a lot of talk now about Kobe Bryant and how that is going to affect the brands with which he's associated. Once someone is strongly associated with a product or service,'' Kathy Feakins, senior partner at Lippincott Mercer, a design and brand strategy agency in New York told The New York Times, “what happens to their image can have an impact on the product.''

Nutella, the maker of a chocolate-hazelnut topping ended their agreement with Kobe soon after he was accused of sexual assault. His other sponsors stayed out of sight at least as far as their association with Kobe Bryant were concerned.

Nike took the first big step three summers ago, featuring Kobe in a two page Sports Illustrated advertising spread. The return of Bryant features him staring at a long list of insults that have been leveled at him over the past two years: "Selfish … Uncoachable … Prima Donna … Not a leader … Not a Team Player."

"I think some people were surprised at the speed of Kobe's comeback. But, the way the way the situation was resolved, I don't think anyone doubted that he'd resume being a marketable personality," Doug Drotman, head of the New York-based sports public relations firm Drotman Communications told the Associated Press.

"What you will see is that Kobe will be marketed a little differently. That's inevitable. Because a change in public perception is something that can't be denied or avoided."

Kobe did the rest, capturing everyone’s attention collecting 81 points in a remarkable one man performance against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006. The tour de force marked the second highest single scoring total in one game, second only to Wilt Chamberlain biblical 100 point game, more myth and legend at times then reality. Kobe’s 81 point masterpiece came in the age of instant communications – overnight Kobe Bryant was back.

"We were all on our e-mails during the second half of the game to make sure it would go up on the Internet quickly," said Brenda Spoonemore, the senior vice president for interactive services at NBA Entertainment. At a moment like Kobe 81, she said: "Our fans have the expectation to see it, own it, watch it. It feels like one of those turning points in the sports industry."

Wilt’s 100 point game wasn’t televised, happened in 1962 and much to those who believe they were at the game, would have had to have been in Hershey, Pennsylvania. An urban myth has Wilt’s 100 point game played at Madison Square Garden.

The NBA did what any major league does in 2006 – they made Kobe’s 81 point game available on the internet selling for $3.95 a download on the Google Video Store hours after the game ended. You have to admire the NBA and Kobe’s timing – the NBA announced their internet streaming agreement with Google the week of Kobe’s 81 point game.

Just as many had offered their opinions two and half years earlier when Kobe ran into his issues in Eagle Creek, Colorado, everyone with a pulpit and an association to the sports industry had their opinion as to how Kobe’s 81 point game would impact his marketability.

Henry Schafer, the executive vice president of Marketing Evaluations, the Q Scores Company, told the New York Times Richard Sandomir he for one didn’t believe Kobe’s marketability would improve after his 81 point game against the Raptors.

"He's not doing anything outside the game that would mitigate the negative reaction significantly," he said. "You don't see remorse. Those who do show it bounce back quickly."

"From a brand perspective, Kobe's no more compelling than before the game," Jeff Chown, president of Davie-Brown Talent offered in The New York Times report. "When a celebrity has a transgression, three things help: time, winning and rehabilitating his image. Time is helping; he's winning, but it's individually, and he's done nothing to rehabilitate his image."

Clearly whatever some so-called experts believed Nike was determined to ensure their $45 million investment in Kobe Bryant paid for itself. Nike followed up their Sports Illustrated July 2005 two-page advertising spread, unveiling the Zoom Kobe I, on Christmas Day, when the Lakers met the Miami Heat on ABC in a nationally televised game.

Kobe’s Nike campaign was created by Wieden and Kennedy, the world-renowned ad agency who built their reputation on their successful Nike ad campaigns.

Was it really possible the world had forgotten what Kobe was accused of doing on June 30, 2003? Those charges where dropped in September 2004 when Kobe’s accuser refused to testify. Kobe and his alleged victim settled their civil suit in May 2005. Kobe Bryant has never been proven to be guilty of anything, expect he remains guilty as charged in the court of public opinion.

Paul Swangard of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon told CNNmoney.com Bryant has rehabilitated his image enough for an athletic shoe and equipment company like Nike to profit from using him, but that most general product advertisers would be nervous about putting him in an ad.

"(The criminal charge) is an important issue for a lot of people who will not let it go," said Swangard.

"If there is a firestorm of press, Nike will absorb that," said Tom George, senior marketing officer of Octagon, a leading sports marketing and representation firm. "It will make it easier for someone else to do something afterwards, because they won't be first."

Just as it appeared the Rise and Fall of Kobe Bryant was about to be completed with the Rise of Kobe – took a bizarre turn in June 2007.

In an ever increasing world where everyone is protecting what’s theirs, a group of unknown people claim to have a video of Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant where the Lakers star offers what is allegedly a profanity laced tirade slamming the Lakers. In the five second teaser available on their website thekobevideo.com (the url long ago died) an African American male wearing a red T Shirt and sunglasses offers Kobe uttering five words “man this fuck d up position.

The creators of the website first tried to sell the video for $100,000. After falling flat on their faces whoever was behind the alleged video released the video for free on the Internet. Kobe asked the Lakers to trade him before the start of the 2007-08 NBA season. It seemed as if Bryant who worked tiressly at repairing his image watched as his actions once again proved to be his downfall.

"I think some people were surprised at the speed of Kobe 's comeback. But, the way the way the situation was resolved, I don't think anyone doubted that he'd resume being a marketable personality," Doug Drotman, head of the New York-based sports public relations firm Drotman Communications told the Associated Press.

"What you will see is that Kobe will be marketed a little differently. That's inevitable. Because a change in public perception is something that can't be denied or avoided."

Last summer Kobe signed a multi-year agreement with Sony, one worth millions of dollars to Kobe Bryant.

"Kobe Bryant has distinguished himself as one of the truly elite players in the NBA and we are thrilled to have him represent NBA '07 as our newest cover athlete," said Sharon Shapiro, senior director, promotions and sports product marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "With his explosive game and storied rise to the top of the NBA's ranks, Bryant is a great ambassador for NBA '07 and its unique gameplay-driven story mode 'The Life: Vol. 2.'"

It may not make sense for Kobe to seriously consider playing professional basketball in Europe but you don’t have to read between the lines to appreciate when told Lakers fans where upset with Kobe after remarks suggested an Olympic gold medal would mean more to him than an NBA title he’s more than a little upset with Lakers fans and their attitude.

“So what,” he sniffed. “So what.” If they can’t understand that, they don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s that simple. You’re playing for your country. There’s nobody in L.A. that wants to win more than me. If they want to take that as disrespectful, that’s silly. Everybody knows in L.A. that I’m the most competitive person – ever. Nobody wants to win a championship for the Lakers more than I do. Nobody. But playing for your country is something entirely different.”

Kobe may not be appreciated in Los Angeles but as teammate Chris Bosh told the Globe and Mail – Kobe indeed is number one in the heart of many Chinese.

"I don't know what it was like with the Beatles, but from what I've seen on TV, it's very close," Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh, a member of the U.S. team, said of the receptions for Bryant. "People's reactions to Kobe alone are pretty crazy. I have to walk the other way. It's sheer excitement. I saw a guy, Kobe gave him an autograph, and he took off running and laughing and jumping. That must have been pretty special to him. He went to go tell his friends about it."

The number one selling NBA jersey in China – Bryant’s number 24 Lakers jersey.

After Sunday’s United States teams’ first game against the Chinese Olympic men’s basketball team Bryant made it clear – he’s having a great time in Beijing.

“I am fortunate enough to have played in four NBA finals and numerous big games but it was just different. You felt like there was so much more support because it's the USA and obviously how proud the fans are here of their country.

"You just understood that there was something that was bigger than the game, it wasn't just a finals game or a seventh game, it was bigger than that."

"It was a great feeling, he basically came up to us and said I'm here to support you, our country supports you, so go out there and kick some butt," said Bryant, who later said he had been echoing comments President Bush who was in attendance made after the game..

"To hear that, it puts things in perspective. You look in the crowd, you see other U.S.A athletes, you see them here supporting you and we go to their events and we support them. It's like a brotherhood."

If nothing else Kobe Bryant is getting the respect he believes he’s earned. Kobe realizes he may have been his own worst enemy but he also wants the respect he believes he’s earned off the court. Only issue with that – we live in a world where its ‘what have you done for me lately.”

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: Yahoo.com and Reuters

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – Burning Business Issues

2008-08-10T01:10:00.000-04:00

The Games of the 29th Olympiad begin their second major day of competition today (given the time difference(s) unless your reading this in Beijing) Sunday’s second full day of the Beijing Games will be completed when you read this. Two weeks from today it will all be over. Seemingly in the blink of an eye the $43 billion the Chinese have invested in hosting the 16 days of the 2008 Beijing Olympics will either be deemed a great investment in China’s future (likely) or the worst decision the IOC has every made (a real possibility)

There are several major matters (many serious) the International Olympic Committee will face in the next two weeks. These issues could have a lasting impact on the IOC’s future and will certainly impact the legacy of the Beijing Games

Political Gamesmanship

Last Friday (July 25, 2008), Chinese President Hu Jintao met with the media in Beijing, offering his perspective on how the leader of the world’s most populated nation feels about the upcoming Beijing Games.

"We hope that foreign reporters while in China will respect our laws and rules, report objectively, help communication and understanding between China and the peoples of the world," Hu said.

"The determining factor in securing the success of the Olympic Games is to work vigorously to promote the Olympic spirit featuring friendship, solidarity and peace," Hu said. "The key is to ensure that athletes from all countries will have a level playing field to compete fairly."

"We need to ensure that our friends from the five continents can further enhance their mutual understanding and deepen their friendship during the games," Hu said.

Since Hu met with the media the actions of the Chinese government in direct relationship to their hosting of the Beijing Games have been anything but non-political. All one needs do is consider the litany of terrible decisions made by the ruling the Communist government – the People's Republic of China.

Media censorship: after assuring the world media when the PRC successfully bid for the right to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, a cornerstone of their bid included assurances there would be no media censorship. A few days before the start of the Games the PRC and the IOC attempted to broker an agreement that would end the PRC’s decision to block several websites that looked at human rights issues in China.

Additionally reports emanated from major Australian media that emails between journalists and their home offices had been blocked.

Cheek Barred from Beijing: Tuesday, Team Darfur an athletic based advocacy group founded by 2006 Olympic Gold medal winner American Joey Cheek announced Cheek’s visa to visit Beijing had been rescinded – Cheek Banned from Beijing headlines screamed in many American papers. For his part give Joey Cheek credit – his reaction was composed and professional.

“I am saddened not to be able to attend the Games. The Olympic Games represent something powerful: that people can come together from around the world and do things that no one thought were possible. However, the denial of my visa is a part of a systemic effort by the Chinese government to coerce and threaten athletes who are speaking out on behalf of the innocent people of Darfur. Team Darfur’s main efforts have been to advocate for an Olympic Truce for Darfur, and to raise awareness about the crisis and ask for lasting peace on behalf of the children of Darfur.

“The Olympic Truce captures the spirit of the Olympics: around the Games, the world should come together to work for peace and speak out against conflict. The Chinese government’s efforts to suppress athletes, even those who are competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, who speak about essential human rights issues, is a violation of that core Olympic spirit.

“I still remained convinced of the great role the Olympics can play as a force for promoting peace around the world, including the still raging crisis in Darfur. Yet, despite the fact that I’ve always spoken positively of the Olympic ideal, and never called for a boycott or asked an athlete to break an IOC rule, my visa was revoked less than 24 hours before my scheduled departure.”

When contacted by the media, the media attaché at the Chinese embassy in Washington when asked about the decision to ban Cheek from Beijing essentially suggested it was none of anyone’s business what the Chinese Government did or how they did it or why they did it -- the Chinese government official who called Cheek stated simply that he was “not required to give a reason” for revoking visas.

Let the Truth set you free: Friday’s Opening Ceremony which cost more than $100 million proved again that a totalitarian government can and will do whatever they want when it comes to spinning a message. The Olympic Opening Ceremony ended when former Olympic gold medal winner gymnast Li Ning, took hold of the final torch in the 80,000 mile relay, was hoisted high above the crowd on a wire and 'ran' a lap around the rim of the stadium. As he ran his lap high above the stadium images of the Olympic Torch relay followed Li. The images were a classic ‘trick of the tail’ or revisionist history.

The Olympic Torch relay was an embarrassment to International Olympic Committee and at one point led too many nations seriously considering boycotting the Beijing Games. Telling half truths may indeed be how the Chinese conduct their affairs but telling half truths isn’t part of a real democracy.

It has been said before and it will be said again – if you’re drinking the IOC’s Beijing Kool-Aid the Games of the 29th Olympiad will be judged on how the Games where managed by the Chinese, how the facilities held up and other issues directly related to the hosting of the 29th Olympiad. But only someone who is naïve and doesn’t see the big picture would really believe that politics won’t be synonymous with the legacy from the Beijing Games.

And the image left over from the political gamesmanship in Beijing will certainly have a tremendous impact on how the IOC is able to conduct business for many years to come.

Sponsors – Bang for their buck

12 sponsor members of what some would call the most prestigious (others called it the most odorous) group in Olympic corporate history, the 12 companies who comprise the International Olympic Committee’s TOP program. These 12 companies have a great deal invested in the Beijing Games (and the 2006 Torino Games), collectively more than $866 million in cash and goods and services they have agreed to provide.

Most of the companies are American based global companies: General Electric (which owns NBC), Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonald's, Kodak, and Johnson & Johnson. (The others are Canadian-based Manulife Financial; Lenovo, the Chinese personal computer maker; the French information technology services company Atos Origin; the Swiss watch manufacturer Omega; Panasonic; and Samsung)

These 12 global brands are in essence partners with the IOC and the Chinese government in presenting the Games of the 29th Olympiad in Beijing. Over the last ten days, Sports Business News has offered an inside preview of the political, media and business issues relating to what likely will be the most controversial Olympics since the 1936 Nazi Games. These 12 companies are putting their moral, ethical and philosophical ideology on the line in the belief not in the Olympic Games but in being able to connect to what was the world’s largest untapped market. In fact, before the IOC awarded the 2008 Games to Beijing on July 13, 2001 over Toronto, China was a country few Western based companies had access to.

Two major long-term IOC TOP sponsors (Samsung and Coca-cola) invested heavily in the ill-fated Olympic Torch Relay along with TOP sponsor Lenovo, the Chinese personal computer maker who has already announced their Olympic TOP sponsorship will be one quadrennial and done at the end of the Beijing Games.

“This is a global sponsor’s worst nightmare,” said Nicholas Didow, professor of marketing at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School in an April Los Angeles Times report when asked about sponsoring the Olympic Torch relay. “At this point, it is as if you are sponsoring political and social conflict, rather than celebrating peace and unification.”

It remains to be seen what will take place in the next two weeks that could have a lasting impact on the companies who have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the opportunity to sponsor the Beijing Games – but before the Games end wanting the ‘keys to the China cabinet’ may be a great deal more expensive to the IOC major sponsors than they had ever imagined it would be.

The Tape Delay Games

NBC (General Electric) paid the International Olympic Committee $844 million for the American broadcast rights for the Beijing Games. When you realize that represents more than 50 percent of the world-wide total rights fees ($1.44 billion) the IOC generated from the Beijing Games how NBC manages their Beijing efforts will have a tremendous long-term impact on the long-term viability of the IOC generating billions of dollars from television rights fees.
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NBC has long had a philosophy that offering the Games on a tape delayed basis would best suit their needs. The 1996 Atlanta Games where televised live for the most part but those where Olympics held on American soil in the Eastern time zone. The last three Summer Games (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008) were all hosted in countries with different time zones.

Friday NBC reported Olympic advertising sales in excess of $1 billion for the Beijing Games. After production costs of around $100 million NBC is looking at a profitable Beijing experience. Overnight ratings from Friday night’s opening ceremonies had to please NBC officials.

In the nearly 50 years of televised Olympics, NBC's coverage of the Opening Ceremony in Beijing was the MOST VIEWED EVER for a non-U.S. Summer Olympics with nearly 70 million total viewers, 14 million more than Athens (56 million).

The Opening Ceremony on NBC earned an 18.6/33 national rating for an increase of 27 percent over Athens in 2004 (14.6/27), and averaged 34.2 million viewers, nearly nine million more than Athens (25.4 million). NBC's Opening Ceremony 18.6/33 household rating is the highest rated Opening Ceremony for a non-domestic Summer Olympics ever, surpassing the 1960 Rome Games on CBS that delivered an 18.1/36, a record that stood for 48 years, according to Nielsen Media Research.

"The Olympic Opening Ceremony captivated the American public in unprecedented numbers for a non-U.S. Olympics," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. "It was a magical and memorable spectacle and a great way to start the Beijing Olympics."

Additionally, NBCOlympics.com saw its most traffic ever on Friday with 70 million page views, 10 times more than the seven million page views on the opening day of the Athens Games. The overnight rating for the Opening Ceremony was a 19 percent increase over Athens in 2004 and 16 percent higher than Sydney in 2000, according to Nielsen Media Research data released Saturday.

The 29th Olympiad has already been called “The Digital Olympics” by many media pundits. NBC Universal are offering Americans the single most ambitious digital event coverage ever including 2,200 hours of live competition encompassing 25 sports on NBCOlympics.com, with thousands more available on demand. NBCOlympics.com will serve as the Olympic fan's hub for every aspect of the 2008 Beijing Games experience.

NBC Olympics Mobile will present the most comprehensive sporting event coverage ever delivered on mobile, providing Olympic fans with the best in news and video coverage. From live mobile TV broadcasts to breaking news to text and video alerts, NBC Olympics Mobile will be the "on-the-go" destination for Olympic fans.

The ‘burning issue’ that won’t be answered until media insiders dissect the ratings – will Americans watch the Games on tape delay? And will Olympic fans head to the Internet and what long-term impact could The Digital Games have on the IOC’s ability to generate rights fees.

Athletes – drugs and endorsements

The Olympic motto is the hendiatris Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger". The motto was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin on the creation of the International Olympic Committee in 1894. De Coubertin borrowed it from his friend Henri Didon, a Dominican priest who, amongst other things, was an athletics enthusiast. The motto was introduced in 1924 at the Olympic Games in Paris.

84 years after De Coubertin the founder of the modern Olympic Games athletes might be Faster, Higher and Stronger but how they become Faster, Higher and Stronger is another matter altogether.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge predicted there will be "30 to 40" positive doping tests at the 2008 Olympics.

Meanwhile, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency says cheats who think they can escape detection today could find themselves unmasked and stripped of medals when new technologies are used in the future to retest frozen samples.

In two news conferences on the eve of the Beijing Games, Rogge and WADA chairman John Fahey said cheating will always be a blight on sport, but they are stepping up the fight.

The expected increase in positive tests will partly arise because the IOC is boosting the number of tests to 4,500 at Beijing and partly because the tests for human growth hormone and the blood-booster EPO are more sophisticated.

There are many reasons – many directly related to endorsement opportunities that small window of opportunity Olympians enjoy after years of working towards their Olympic Dreams.

Two weeks from tonight the Games of the 29th Olympiad will come to an end; the Olympic Cauldron containing the Olympic flame will be extinguished. In the next 15 days watch for these and other burning issues to leave a lasting imprint on the business of the International Olympic Committee and the future of the Olympic movement.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The Globe and Mail.

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – let the political/business pageantry begin

2008-08-09T01:01:00.000-04:00

The Games of the 29th Olympiad began Friday with a lavish opening ceremony. The four and a half hour presentation was capped off by the lighting of the Olympic torch. Steeped in controversy as it worked it’s was around the world – the moment in time when the torch was finally lit will forever stand as a sad testament to what the Beijing Olympics will be about – the Chinese government spending whatever it takes to deliver the biggest (and in their minds) best Olympics ever, while paying little if any attention to the truth!

How was the flame finally lit Friday evening a Beijing’s Bird Nest Stadium? This from The London Telegraph offers a pretty good overview: Former champion gymnast Li Ning, took hold of the final torch in the 80,000 mile relay, was hoisted high above the crowd on a wire and 'ran' a lap around the rim of the stadium .

Lighting a giant fuse, he ignited the colossal torch, which had been hidden from view and lowered into place just moments before, as the four hour ceremony reached its climax.

He was chosen for the honor ahead of other candidates such as Liu Xiang, current Olympic 110m hurdles champion, and He Zhenliang, China's foremost Olympic dignitary.

Li became China's favourite Olympian after captivating his countrymen in winning three gymnastics gold medals at the Los Angeles games in 1984.

Having earned the accolade "prince of gymnastics" he went on to launch a sportswear company bearing his name, which is rapidly catching up more well-known international brands.

But while Li, 44, is regarded as a hero in China he is rather less popular with Adidas since being selected to lift the curtain on the 29th Olympiad, which the German company is sponsoring to the tune of £50 million.

A source at a leading sportswear brand said: "I can't imagine Adidas will be too happy at paying all that money to sponsor the games, only to see a rival stepping up to light the Olympic flame."

Li was the last of a number of former Chinese Olympians to receive the torch in the stadium. In a dramatic climax, Li, was hoisted high above the stadium on wires.

In slow-motion, he simulated racing around the rim before setting the giant Olympic cauldron ablaze. As Li appeared to be racing around the upper reaches of the stadium images of the Olympic torch relay appeared in the background – the 2008 Olympic torch relay that may have been a good idea but didn’t quite turnout the way the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese Olympic Organizing had hoped it would.

The 2008 Summer Olympics Torch Relay ran until August 8, 2008, prior to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Plans for the relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing,

The relay, with the theme "Journey of Harmony", is expected[2] to last 129 days and carry the torch 137,000 km (85,000 mi) — the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the National Socialist German Workers' Party (the Nazis’) started the tradition at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

After being lit at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece on March 24, the torch traveled to the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, and then to Beijing, arriving on March 31. From Beijing, the plan was for the torch to follow a route that would see the torch pass through six continents. The torch was to visit many cities along the Silk Road, symbolizing ancient links between China and the rest of the world. The relay also included an ascent with the flame to the top of Mount Everest on the border of Nepal and Tibet, China from the Chinese side, which was closed specially for the event.

In many cities along the route, the torch relay was met by protesters representing a range of political issues, particularly those related to China's human rights record, the recent unrest in Tibet, the war in Darfur, China's support to regimes in Myanmar and Zimbabwe, North Korean defectors, territorial disputes over the Spratly and Paracel Islands with Vietnam, Falun Gong persecution and the political status of Taiwan, resulting in violence at various locations.

The protests, which ranged from tens of thousands of people in San Francisco, to effectively none in Pyongyang, finally forced the path of the torch relay to be changed or shortened on a number of occasions. The torch was extinguished by Chinese security officials several times during the Paris leg for security reasons.

The protests in Europe were described as "despicable" by the Chinese government, condemning them as "deliberate disruptions...who gave no thought to the Olympic spirit or the laws of Britain and France" and who "tarnish the lofty Olympic spirit", and vowed they would continue with the relay and not allow the protests to "impede the Olympic spirit". Large-scale counter-protests by overseas Chinese and foreign-based Chinese nationals became prevalent in later segments of the relay.

Prompted by the chaotic torch relays in Europe and North America, the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge described the situation as a "crisis" for the organization and stated that any athletes displaying Tibetan flags at Olympic venues could be expelled from the games, though he stopped short of cancelling the relay altogether despite calls to do so by some IOC members.

The Chinese told the story the way they wanted to Friday night. In the climax to their $100,000 Olympic Opening Ceremonies Chinese officials choose to highlight the torch relay – the parts of the torch relay the Chinese government wanted to share with the world. The Chinese government seemingly decided they had the right to rewrite history.

In June 2008, the Beijing Games' Organizing Committee announced that the planned international torch relay for the Paralympic Games had been cancelled. The Committee stated that the relay was being cancelled to enable the Chinese government to "focus on the rescue and relief work" following the Sichuan earthquake.

The International Olympic Committee announced earlier this week it will review its procedures for the Olympic torch relay after a series of protests marred the Beijing flame's worldwide journey.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said Tuesday the tradition of lighting the Olympic flame in Ancient Olympia and starting the torch relay in Greece will continue. But he said the IOC's executive board could limit future torch relays to within the borders of the Olympic host nation.

Angry and sometimes violent protests of China's human rights record took place as the flame traveled through San Francisco, London and Paris.

In his opening speech at the three-day IOC session on the eve of the Beijing Games, Rogge said that his organization respect protests and freedom of expression, but violence is against the Olympic spirit.

“We will have to reflect with calmness and tranquility on the future of the Olympic torch relay," Rogge said in his opening speech at the three-day IOC session on the eve of the Beijing Games.

"We respect protests and freedom of expression, but violence is against the Olympic spirit," Rogge said. "We believe in the strong symbolism of the torch relay."

Rogge added the relay was also disrupted in Italy before the 2006 Winter Games in Turin by anti-globalization demonstrators and protesters opposed to road construction projects in the region.

"It is illusory to think the simple elimination of the international relay will make all the problems disappear," Rogge said. "The torch relay attracts the media, and the media attracts the protesters. To make it only a national relay will not solve all the problems."

Senior Chinese IOC member He Zhenliang said he was "very disappointed" by the anti-China protests, adding the Olympic flame was a powerful symbol to unite the world's youth to compete in peace and harmony.

"After these incidents, we are convinced more than ever that we need to cherish and preserve the flame," he said. "We must make all efforts to make sure these incidents are never repeated again. It is a hope. I don't know if it will become a reality."

Here is just a taste of what wasn’t shown at the end of Friday’s Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies.

The torch relay's North American leg occurred in San Francisco, California on April 9. On the day of the relay officials diverted the torch run to an unannounced route. The start was at McCovey Cove (adjacent to the home of the San Francisco Giants) , where Norman Bellingham of the U.S. Olympic Committee gave the torch to the first torchbearer, Chinese 1992 Olympic champion swimmer Lin Li.[78]

The planned closing ceremony at Justin Herman Plaza was cancelled and instead, a ceremony was held at San Francisco International Airport, where the torch was to leave for Buenos Aires.

The route changes allowed the run to avoid large numbers of China supporters and protesters against China. As people found out there would be no closing ceremony at Justin Herman Plaza, there were angry reactions.

One demonstrator was quoted as saying that the route changes were an effort to "thwart any organized protest that had been planned.San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, a critic of Mayor Gavin Newsom, said that it was a "cynical plan to please the Bush State Department and the Chinese government because of the incredible influence of money. Newsom, on the other hand, said he felt it was in "everyone's best interest" and that he believed people had been "afforded the right to protest and support the torch" despite the route changes.

Peter Ueberroth, head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, praised the route changes, saying, "The city of San Francisco, from a global perspective, will be applauded."

People who saw the torch were surprised and cheered as shown from live video of CBS and NBC. The cost to the city for hosting the event was reported to be USD $726,400, nearly half of which has been recovered by private fundraising. Mayor Gavin Newsom said that "exponential" costs associated with mass arrests were avoided by his decision to change the route in consultation with police chief Heather Fong.

The torch relay leg in Paris, held on April 7, began on the first level of the Eiffel Tower and finished at the Stade Charléty. The relay was initially supposed to cover 28 km, but it was shortened at the demand of Chinese officials following widespread protests by pro-Tibet and human rights activists, who repeatedly attempted to disrupt, hinder or halt the procession.

A scheduled ceremony at the town hall was cancelled at the request of the Chinese authorities, and, also at the request of Chinese authorities, the torch finished the relay by bus instead of being carried by athletes

Members from Reporters Without Borders turned out in large numbers to protest. When the torch arrived in Paris, An estimated 3,000 French police protected the Olympic torch relay as it departed from the Eiffel Tower and crisscrossed Paris amid threat of protests.

Widespread pro-Tibet protests, including an attempt by more than one demonstrator to extinguish the flame with water or fire extinguishers, prompted relay authorities to put out the flame five times (according to the police authorities in Paris) and load the torch onto a bus,[56] at the demand of Chinese officials. This was later denied by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, despite video footage broadcast by French television network France 2 which showed Chinese flame attendants extinguishing the torch. Backup flames are with the relay at all times to relight the torch

The torch relay leg held in London on April 6 began at Wembley Stadium, passed through the City of London, and eventually ended at O2 Arena in the eastern part of the city.

The 48 km (31 mi) leg took a total of seven and a half hours to complete, and attracted protests by pro-Tibetan independence and pro-Human Rights supporters, prompting changes to the planned route and an unscheduled move onto a bus which then briefly halted by protestors.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has officially complained to Beijing Organizing Committee about the conduct of the tracksuit-clad Chinese security guards. The Chinese officials, seen manhandling protesters, were described by both the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and chairman of the London Olympic Committee Lord Coe as "thugs".

A Metropolitan police briefing paper revealed that security for the torch relay cost $1.5 million and the participation of the Chinese security team had been agreed in advance, despite the Mayor stating, "We did not know beforehand these thugs were from the security services. Had I known so, we would have said no."

The torch relay also included a stop Seoul, which hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics, on April 27. Intended torchbearers Choi Seung-kook and Park Won-sun boycotted the event to protest against the Chinese government's crackdown in Tibet.

More than 8,000 riot police were deployed to guard the 15-mile route, which began at Olympic Park, which was built when Seoul hosted the 1988 Games. On the day of the torch relay in Seoul, Chinese students clashed with protesters, throwing rocks, bottles, and punches.

A North Korean defector whose brother defected to China but was captured and executed by the DPRK, attempted to set himself on fire in protest of China's treatment of North Korean refugees. He poured gasoline on himself but police quickly surrounded him and carried him away.

Two other demonstrators tried to storm the torch but failed. Fighting broke out near the beginning of the relay between a group of 500 Chinese supporters and approximately 50 protesters who carried a banner that read: "Free North Korean refugees in China." The students threw stones and water bottles as approximately 2,500 police tried to keep the groups separated. Police said they arrested five people, including a Chinese student who was arrested for allegedly throwing rocks.

Thousands of Chinese followed the torch on its 4.5 hour journey, some chanting, "Go China, go Olympics!" By the end of the relay, Chinese students became violent, and it was reported in Korean media that they were "lynching" everyone who was disagreeing with them. One police man was also rushed to hospital after being attacked by Chinese students.

And two before all this began, on April 26, 2006 – one of the IOC’s biggest sponsors, sang the praise as to how much they believed in the Olympic torch relay. This from the release Samsung sent out what will forever remain a day in infamy for the electronic supplier.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) announced today that Samsung Electronics has signed on as the Presenting Partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay at the China Millennium Monument. BOCOG also unveiled torch designs, planed Route for the Torch Relays leading up to the grand opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 8, 2008.

Today, Samsung Electronics and BOCOG signed the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay sponsorship contract.

"Samsung is thrilled to be the Presenting Partner of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay," said Mr. Gyehyun Kwon, Vice President of Samsung Electronics in charge of worldwide sports marketing. "We are extremely proud of the diverse group that will have the honor of carrying the Olympic flame at this historic event. The torchbearers reflect what is best in all of us and also Samsung's corporate values of harmony and shared humanity. In particular, the Torch Relay in China will enhance the understanding and friendship between Samsung and the Chinese people."

As the Presenting Partner of Torch Relay, Samsung has the rights to select 1,500 torchbearers, use torch relay logos, and hold Torch-related marketing events. Samsung Electronics has been involved in the international torch relay in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

Samsung Electronics will host a series of public events in cities along the torch relay route with a variety of programs and promotional events surrounding its wireless telecommunication products.

Concurrently, Samsung Electronics plans to stage a formal launching of the Olympic marketing campaigns throughout China. In June, Samsung Electronics will kick off the Beijing Olympic Campaign and hold a public concert.

The Samsung Electronics brand has made its presence known in all corners of the world through its sponsorship of the Olympic torch relays. Torch relay sponsorship, together with the Wireless Olympics Works (WOW) and the Samsung OR@S are viewed as the best marketing approaches that fully capture the Olympics theme.

Samsung Electronics has increased its brand value through sponsoring Olympic torch relays. Samsung has selected torchbearers for relays through 34 cities in 27 countries for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. During the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Olympic torches were carried by torchbearers selected by Samsung through 567 cities in Italy, where the brand of Samsung has been ever remembered by each street and alleys in Italy.

Samsung wasn’t the only major Olympic sponsor burned by the Olympic torch relay. Froi the six time in the last twelve years Coca-Cola played a major role in sponsoring the Olympic torch relay.

"The Olympic Torch Relay is truly a magnificent event, and Coca-Cola is proud to be involved again for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games," said David G. Brooks, General Manager, 2008 Olympic Project Group, Coca-Cola (China) Beverages Ltd on April 26m 2007 a full year before the actual relay began "The Torch Relay builds awareness and anticipation for the upcoming Olympic Games, and it has become a symbol of optimism that connects people across different cultures."

This event marks the sixth time Coca-Cola has served as a presenting partner of the Olympic Torch Relay. Coca-Cola also presented the Atlanta 1996, Nagano 1998, Salt Lake 2002, Athens 2004 and Torino 2006 Olympic Torch Relays.

Coca-Cola’s first official involvement with the Olympic Torch Relay occurred with the introduction of the International Olympic Torchbearers Program, sponsored by Coca-Cola, for the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. The program - developed in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee, the Barcelona Olympic Organizing Committee and various National Olympic Committees - was a turning point in modern-day Torch Relay tradition: it marked the first time that people from other countries were invited to participate in the Torch Relay in the host country of the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Torchbearers Program has been repeated several times since 1992, including the Lillehammer 1994 Olympic Winter Games.

Coca-Cola has been continuously associated with the Olympic Games since 1928 - longer than any other corporate sponsor. In August 2005, The Coca-Cola Company and the International Olympic Committee announced the renewal of their historic partnership for an unprecedented 12 years, from 2009 through 2020.

“This is a global sponsor’s worst nightmare,” said Nicholas Didow, professor of marketing at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. “At this point, it is as if you are sponsoring political and social conflict, rather than celebrating peace and unification.”

It is unclear whether Samsung’s text-message promotion had been wounded by anti-China demonstrations that have also disrupted the torch’s tour through Athens, London and Paris. Executives with the Seoul-based company didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Neither did representatives of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co., another corporate sponsor of the Olympic torch relay.

A spokeswoman for the third sponsor, Lenovo Group of China, issued a statement via e-mail: “Lenovo is proud to play a role in spreading the important values the Olympic Games embody – unity, peace, and sponsorship.”

The spokeswoman added, “Understandably, we are disappointed by attempts to disrupt the relay.”

According to a Los Angeles Times report The International Campaign for Tibet and 140 other advocacy groups recently sent a letter to Coca-Cola, asking the company to use its influence to keep the torch from passing through Tibet. Campaign spokesman Ben Carrdus said the group feared there would be more bloodshed.

Carrdus said the torch relay’s three corporate sponsors and the dozens of companies that sponsor the Games are naive to believe that they can separate sports from politics.

“The Olympics don’t exist in a vacuum. You can’t just cherry pick the profitable parts.”

Sponsors are smart to emphasize that they’re supporting athletes and the competitive spirit, and to steer clear of the human rights controversy, said David Carter, a sports marketing consultant and executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute.

“They need to position themselves as part of the solution,” he said.

A spokeswoman for General Electric Co., a sponsor of the Summer Games, said that although the concerns raised by protesters are valid, “the Olympics should not be used as a platform for political issues.”

Companies could change their tunes if protesters call for a boycott of sponsors’ products, said Sergio Zyman, a former Coca-Cola chief marketing officer and founder of marketing consulting firm Zyman Group.

Friday as the Beijing Olympic Ceremonies ended – the Chinese attempted to rewrite history. Shame on the everyone who attempted to retell the truth. A simple oversight to include selected images of the torch relay or a deliberate attempt to change history. Half truths, promises made and never kept – those have to be included in whatever lasting legacy the Games of the 29th Olympiad leave behind.

And if as the Chinese have suggested they want the Beijing Games to remain free of politics they’d be well advised to start telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth when it comes to the Games of the 29th Olympiad.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The London Telegraph, The Los Angeles Times and Wikipedia

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics – how China and the IOC arrived at today

2008-08-08T02:08:00.002-04:00

The Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Games have taken place. Over the next 16 days the costliest Olympic Games in history will unfold in a country that first participated in their first Olympic Games at the 1932 Los Angeles Games.

The Chinese have spent more than $43 billion both on direct and infrastructure costs related to hosting the Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee’s 12 global corporate sponsors have invested $866 million in the Beijing Games. Worldwide television rights fees have topped $1.44 billion. The costs of Friday’s Opening Ceremonies alone will top $100 million – on every conceivable level the 2008 Beijing Olympics defy any rational economic thinking process.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be defined not by the enormity of nearly $45 billion that has been invested in what amounts to an 18-day party, but by the lasting image the Chinese government will leave on the world in the next two and a half weeks. And the early barometer – come hell or high water, the Chinese are ready to clamp down on anyone who might ‘rain on their Olympic parade.’

It’s well worth looking at China’s Olympic history as the Games get underway today.

In 1908 the Olympic Games were first mentioned in a Chinese magazine. Already in 1922 Wang Zhengting became the first Chinese member of the IOC, in 1928 China delegated the first observer to the Games in Amsterdam. When rumors spread in 1932 that the government of the Japanese Mandschuko had plans to participate in the Games in Los Angeles, a delegation of five- one of them a participating athlete- was quickly put together. The Chinese sprinter Liu Changchun entered the 100m as well as the 200m run but could not qualify for the final runs.

The 11th Olympic Games in Berlin were attended by a Chinese team of 69 members but could not win a medal. The next Olympic Games took place in London in 1948 as the Games in 1940 and 1944 had been cancelled due to World War II. There was a Chinese team taking part in the Olympic Games in London in 1948 but the team did not get any financial support from the government and therefore could hardly afford the journey home.
After the foundation of the People's Republic and the flight of the government of the Republic of China under Jiang Kaishek to Taiwan both Chinese states wanted to take part in the Olympic Games as the official representative of China. In 1952 the PRC sent a delegation of 40 to the Games in Helsinki while no Taiwanese athlete participated in the Games to protest against the invitation of the PRC.

In 1956 the first severe boycott happened in the history of the Games. While some Western states like Spain, the Netherlands or Switzerland rejected a participation because of the invasion of the USSR in Hungary and Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt did not take part due to the Suez crisis, the PRC boycotted the Games reportedly because of the presence of Taiwanese athletes and the recognition of the National Olympic Committee of Taiwan by the IOC.

In 1958 the PRC ended their relationship with the IOC because Taiwan was seen as a part of China and from the PRC's point of view the recognition of two Olympic Committees for one country was a violation of the Olympic Charter. The Summer and Winter Games of 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 didn’t include the world’s most populated nation sending teams’.

China didn’t return to the Games until the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid of 1980. In the previous year during the IOC meeting in Nagoja the IOC under the presidency of the English Lord Killian acknowledged the Olympic Committee representing the PRC (60 in favor, 17 nays and 2 abstentions).

Since then Taiwan competes in the Olympics using the name "Chinese Taipei". .

The Games of Los Angeles in 1984 were the first to have athletes from Taiwan as well as athletes from the PRC participating in the Olympics at the same time. During these Games China won its first gold medal. Chinese athlete XU Haifeng won the gold medal in the men's sporting pistol shooting match. During these Games China won 15 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 9 bronze medals altogether with 225 competing Chinese athletes.

China and Beijing first bid for the 2000 Summer Games. This editorial published by China’s “People’s Daily” looked at Beijing’s failed bid for the 2000 Summer Games (and offers how the Chinese looked at their failed bid for the 2000 Games:

“Eight years had passed from 2:27 a.m. on September 24, 1993 to 22:08 p.m. on July 13, 2001! Beijing's Olympic bid had finally got out of the shadow of failure at Monte Carlo and welcomed in the laughter of victory in Moscow. Those were eight years in which the Chinese people raised their heads in expectation, eight years in which we endured all kinds of hardships in order to accomplish our cherished ambition, and eight years in which we were enthusiastic and pressed on all the time.

“As we recall the previous Olympic bid, we contemplate the present and recall the past with emotion when all sorts of feelings well up in our minds. In 1993, in line with the two kinds of the Monte Carlo voting result-either win or failure, Chinese news media prepared two "versions": Gain-not to get conceited because of victory; lose-not to be disheartened in case of defeat. Of the media, People's Daily prepared two commentaries: When win, it would publish the commentary entitled "Beijing Thanks the World"; when fail, it would publish another commentary titled "Unswervingly Advancing to the World". At that time, I was lucky enough to draft these two commentaries.

“Unfortunately, our previous Olympic bid failed, the commentary published was the latter one, which wrote: "We respect the choice of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and congratulate Sydney on its Olympic bid success. At the same time we are, as always, filled with gratitude to the IOC for its support of China's work of applying for hosting the Olympic Games and are, as always, filled with the sentiment of friendship for the whole world. In the future, China will all the more open its mind to welcome guests from all the four seas, and extensively make friends from the five continents and will unswervingly advance toward the world. the open China is expecting the Olympic Games, an open China is fully capable of hosting an Olympic Games successfully. Hosting the Olympic Games is the strong wishes of the Chinese people whether today or in the future." The commentary said in conclusion, "Not to get conceited because of victory, and not to be downhearted because of defeat, that is the demeanor and bearing the Chinese people should have. There are many years to come and we will certainly meet again someday. We believe in this oriental country with one-fifth of the world's population, a territory of 9.6 million km and a history of over 5,000-year civilization, the days when the Olympic five-ring flag flies high in the sky will not be far off. Compatriots, let's continue our efforts to greet the arrival of this day!"

“At 2:27' 40" a.m. on September 24, 1993, IOC President J.A. Samaranch announced that Sydney succeeded in its Olympic bid. Beijing lost the chance with only two votes less. After the news on Comrade Li Tieying's cable of solicitude to Beijing's Olympic Bid Delegation was broadcast by the CCTV Station, this commentary was broadcast time and again. This commentary was published with reluctance.

“The commentary we wanted very much to publish was "Beijing Thanks the World". This commentary wrote, "The public are expecting the Olympic Games, their dream has come true. Beijing thanks the world! The 27th Olympic Games is a grand gathering to be held at a time when we bid farewell to the 20th century and welcome in the 21st century, it is of a cross-century significance. It offers a very rare opportunity and is the focus of world attention. The IOC has made a historic choice and given China high honor and a valuable opportunity. The Chinese people will merit the great trust and go all out to hand in an answer sheet to the satisfaction of the world people." The commentary said in conclusion, "An open China is expecting the Olympic Games, an open China is fully capable of hosting an Olympic Games successfully. Compatriots, let's extend our two hands to welcome the 2000-a new Olympic horizon!"

“That commentary can only be kept as a historical material. When we often recall this, we feel deeply regret; when we often recall this, we are convinced that the Chinese people can certainly fulfill their Olympic Games dream.

“Beijing again filed an application for hosting the Olympic Games eight years later. In line with the two kinds of the Moscow voting result-win or failure, Chinese news media again prepared two kinds of "versions". "Flowers are similar every year, but people are different year after year". This time, the "version" presented by Chinese news media is about the people dancing for joy and the whole nation immersed in celebrations. On July 14, People's Daily, devoting an eye-catching position on the front page, to the ceremonious publication of an editorial entitled "Writing the Most Magnificent Chapter in the Olympic Games History", hailing Beijing's success in its bid for hosting the 29th Olympic Games in 2008. The editorial was drafted by staff members of the Commentary Department of People's Daily. I admire their opportunity and share their joy. That commentary prepared for failure in Beijing Olympic bid will never be published.

“Beijing's two Olympic bids went through eight years, the Chinese people had undergone "81 hurdles", they have finally crossed the "mountain of flame", ferried across the "Tongtian (direct access to heaven) River" and received their own honor. Eight years represent a process and a tempering. For the great cause of the motherland and a better future of the people, in the years ahead, the course of struggle will, like application for hosting the Olympic Games, be arduous yet magnificent. Compatriots, we still need to immerse ourselves in hard work, work hard and work hard again!”

There are those who believe the rejected China’s 1993 bid for the 2000 Games had more to do with their first bid coming only four years after the Tiananmen Square massacre than any other reason.

China and Beijing didn’t bid for the 2004 Olympic Games (hosted by Athens).Beijing successfully bid for the 2008 Games – a far different story from their failed 2000 bid.

Beijing was elected the host city on July 13, 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, beating Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka. Prior to the session, five other cities (Bangkok, Cairo, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and Seville) submitted bids to the IOC but failed to make the short list in 2000. After the first round of voting, Beijing held a significant lead over the other four candidates. Osaka received only 6 votes and was eliminated. In the second round, Beijing was supported by an absolute majority of voters, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds.[6]

After winning the bid, Li Lanqing, the vice premier of China, declared "The winning of the 2008 Olympic bid is an example of the international recognition of China's social stability, economic progress and the healthy life of the Chinese people." Previously, Beijing had bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. It led the voting over the first three rounds, but ultimately lost to Sydney in the final round in 1993.

The IOC evaluation commission classified the "political system" as "working for China" and declared: "The overall presence of strong governmental control and support is healthy...". Li Lan-Qing (2001-07-17, vice premier of the PRC): "The winning of the 2008 Olympic bid is an example of the international recognition of China's social stability, economic progress and the healthy life of the Chinese people."

While many nations praised the decision, opposing groups objected arguing that China's human rights issues made it unfit for the honor. The European Parliament issued a resolution[3] on Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games. To quell concerns over this, Beijing chose the motto of "New Beijing, Great Olympics" in order to emphasize the country's movement towards new ideals for the new millennium.

In its bid for the Olympic games made in 2001, the PRC made several promises to the IOC regarding improvements with human rights, press freedoms, and environmental concerns. It has been widely reported by western media sources that China has failed to live up to the guarantees it made in order to bolster its chances of winning the bid for the games.

Beijing Olympic bid chief Wang Wei stated in 2001: “We will give the media complete freedom to report when they come to China... We are confident that the Games coming to China not only promote our economy but also enhances all social conditions, including education, health and human rights."

Amnesty International released a statement marking the 10 day countdown to the Games on July 29 stating that: “The Chinese authorities have broken their promise to improve the country’s human rights situation and betrayed the core values of the Olympics. There has been no progress towards fulfilling these promises, only continued deterioration. Unless the authorities make a swift change of direction, the legacy of the Beijing Olympics will not be positive for human rights in China."

The PRC publicly claimed in their successful 2001 Olympic bid that it would improve human rights in China, Amnesty International stated earlier this year, "In the run-up to the Olympics, the Chinese authorities have locked up, put under house arrest and forcibly removed individuals they believe may threaten the image of “stability” and “harmony” they want to present to the world. They must release all imprisoned peaceful activists, allow foreign and national journalists to report freely and make further progress towards the elimination of the death penalty."

In late July, U.S. senator Sam Brownback announced that he had received evidence (in the form of an official memo from China's Public Security Bureau) that foreign-owned hotels in China had been ordered by the Chinese government to comply with electronic surveillance of guests by installing special equipment (called the Security Management System for Internet Access from Public Places), or face "severe retaliation."

On July 30 2008, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution by 419 votes to 1 that called for immediate action to stop the arrests of civil activists and Tibetans and to put pressure on China to stop supporting Burma and Sudan.

Despite initial guarantees of total press freedom by the PRC in 2001 (again as part of their successful 2008 Olympic bid), and assurances from the IOC in early 2008 that journalists would have unfettered access to the internet, the Beijing Organizing Committee announced in late July that China would allow only "convenient" access —still blocking web sites the PRC deemed inappropriate, particularly those critical of China's involvement in Tibet, Darfur, Burma, the 1989 protests at Tiananmen Square, and HIV/AIDS issues in China, as well as its crackdown on religious groups such as Falun Gong.

Chinese authorities have also blocked passports for foreign journalists. The government justified these action by claiming that these journalists were planning to report on political topics rather than the Olympics, and stated on July 31 that "The Chinese government won't allow the spread of any information that is forbidden by law or harms national interests on the Internet."

The NGO, Human Rights Watch has alleged that China has failed to keep its press freedom promise, and one IOC committee member commented anonymously that "Had the I.O.C....known seven years ago that there would be severe restrictions...then I seriously doubt whether Beijing would have been awarded the Olympics".

China pledged (as part of their 2001 Olympic bid) to "Deliver Clean Energy Towards a Harmonious World" and that by 2008, measurements of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide would meet World Health Organization standards and airborne particle density would be reduced to the level of major cities in developed countries.

The IOC stated that Beijing had so far met only WHO 2005 interim guidelines, which are significantly less restrictive, and that "Official data during the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Olympic period indicates air quality was actually worse in 2006 and 2007 than in 2000 and 2001."

An analysis of August 2007 data found that Beijing's air registered 123 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter, more than double the WHO guideline of 50 micrograms per cubic meter for short-term exposure.

China's failure to meet these standards has caused concern among some Olympics athletes, particularly long distance runners such as world marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie, considered the world's greatest long distance runner, who has said he will skip the long-distance running event in Beijing because of the city's poor air quality and fears his health could be damaged by running through the streets of the Chinese capital.

And that brings the world to today – the start of the 29th Olympiad – let the Games begin for better or for worse.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: Wikipedia and the People Daily (China’s daily paper)

Countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games – best ever Games, never, never, never

2008-08-07T00:39:00.000-04:00

The Games of the 29th Olympiad, the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies are less than 24 hours away. The Chinese have spent more than $43 billion both on direct and infrastructure costs related to hosting the Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee’s 12 global corporate sponsors have invested $866 million in the Beijing Games. Worldwide television rights fees have topped $1.44 billion. The costs of Friday’s Opening Ceremonies alone will top $100 million – on every conceivable level the 2008 Beijing Olympics defy any rational economic thinking process.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be defined not by the enormity of nearly $45 billion that has been invested in what amounts to an 18-day party, but by the lasting image the Chinese government will leave on the world in the next two and a half weeks. And the early barometer – come hell or high water, the Chinese are ready to clamp down on anyone who might ‘rain on their Olympic parade.’

In the last 48 hours alone, an honored Olympian who won both a gold and silver medal in the 2006 Torino Winter Games has been banned from China, two protestors have been arrested and allegedly vanished, and additional restrictions have been placed on the 20,000 journalists converging on Beijing for the start of the Olympic Games.

Tuesday, Team Darfur co-founder and Olympic Gold Medal winning speed skater (2006 Winter Games) Joey Cheek had his visa to China revoked. The Chinese embassy in Washington, DC today revoked his visa to travel to Beijing for the Olympic Games.

The Chinese government official who called Cheek stated simply that he was “not required to give a reason” for revoking visas. Cheek had planned to attend the Games to support the 72-plus athletes who will be competing in Beijing who have signed onto Team Darfur. Those athletes, along with hundreds of other former Olympians, have pledged to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, and what China and the international community can do to stop it.

“I am saddened not to be able to attend the Games. The Olympic Games represent something powerful: that people can come together from around the world and do things that no one thought were possible. However, the denial of my visa is a part of a systemic effort by the Chinese government to coerce and threaten athletes who are speaking out on behalf of the innocent people of Darfur. Team Darfur’s main efforts have been to advocate for an Olympic Truce for Darfur, and to raise awareness about the crisis and ask for lasting peace on behalf of the children of Darfur.

“The Olympic Truce captures the spirit of the Olympics: around the Games, the world should come together to work for peace and speak out against conflict. The Chinese government’s efforts to suppress athletes, even those who are competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, who speak about essential human rights issues, is a violation of that core Olympic spirit.

“I still remained convinced of the great role the Olympics can play as a force for promoting peace around the world, including the still raging crisis in Darfur. Yet, despite the fact that I’ve always spoken positively of the Olympic ideal, and never called for a boycott or asked an athlete to break an IOC rule, my visa was revoked less than 24 hours before my scheduled departure.”

Cheek is a U.S. citizen and won the gold medal in speed skating for the US at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi released the following statement calling on President Bush to secure Joey Cheek entry to Beijing:

“In the coming days, President Bush will arrive in Beijing. I call on President Bush to secure the entry of Joey Cheek and other U.S. citizens who have been barred from attending the Olympics because of their beliefs, advocacy for the people of Darfur and human rights in China and Tibet. It is essential that President Bush show leadership in promoting democracy, freedom, and human rights during his visit to China.

The Olympic Charter states that ‘Any form of discrimination with regard to a country of a person on the grounds of race, religion, politics, gender, or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.’ The International Olympic Committee is tolerating clear violations of both the Olympic ideals and the commitments the Chinese government made in order to host the Olympic Games."

The White House has also responded. Dana Perino, the current White House Press Secretary to George W. Bush, made the following statement aboard Air Force One:

"We were disturbed to learn that the Chinese had refused his visa. We are taking the matter very seriously. We have sent in our embassy in Beijing to démarche the Chinese. That is where we go in and we say we are concerned about this, and we want you to reconsider your actions. So we would hope that they would change their mind. And I'll hopefully have more for you later, but we had to also wait for Washington to wake up to take any further action."

China is the biggest country in the world, with one-quarter of the world’s population living within the borders of the communist country. There will be more than 20,000 journalists in Beijing covering the Olympics. Tuesday, the alleged treatment of two Japanese journalists sent a scary message to the 20,000 media people in China assigned to cover the 29th Olympiad.

According to a Reuters report: two Japanese reporters covering a bombing in China that took place Monday were beaten and then jailed by Chinese officials. The two men, one a photographer with the regional Chunichi Shimbun newspaper and the other a reporter for Nippon Television, were detained near the site of the attack in Kashgar in China's western Xinjiang region, which saw 16 police killed only four days before the Beijing Olympics begin, spokesmen for the two companies said on Tuesday.

The journalists were then taken to a police building where they were beaten, before being released about two hours later. Neither was seriously injured, the spokesmen said.

The death of 16 Chinese policemen is terrible, suggestions the attack may have been the work of terrorists on the eve of the Olympic Games in the host country makes this a major international news story.

The alleged beating and jailing of two reporters covering a breaking news story in China sends a chilling message to the 20,000 journalists in China for the Games -- you had better be careful where you step. It should send an even scarier message to the International Olympic Committee and the 12 major international companies that have invested in the Beijing Games. You too will be held accountable if the actions of the Chinese government bring shame and embarrassment to the Olympic movement.

And leave it to the Chinese to make it clear what message they want sent to the media. According to a Reuters report: the Beijing city government said on its Web site that Chinese and foreign journalists who want to report and film in Tiananmen "are advised to make advanced appointments by phone." It said that will help ensure orderly newsgathering amid what are expected to be large crowds in the square on each day of the games, which start Friday.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies told the media attempting to cover the Games the new arrangement didn't match the IOC’s “understanding” of access to Tiananmen. Just what the IOC and their hundred-million-dollar corporate partners needs to hear – alleged media beatings and more restrictions placed upon the more than 20,000 journalists in Beijing.

The Times of London offered further proof Wednesday that the Games of the 29th Olympiad if nothing else will be noted for their ‘intense’ political related content.

According to the published report: Two British graduates were at the heart of a pro-Tibetan protest today that caused China deep embarrassment as it prepared for the opening of the Olympic Games.

Iain Thom, 24, from Edinburgh, and Lucy Fairbrother, 23, a graduate of Bristol University and the daughter of the senior bursar at Trinity College, Cambridge, were arrested along with Phil Bartell, 34, from New Jersey, and Tirian Mink, 32, from Portland, Oregon. The Xinhua news agency said that the visas of all four had been revoked and that they would be deported.

Thom and Bartell climbed halfway up two 120 foot pylons as dawn broke over the Bird’s Nest stadium that will host the opening ceremony on Friday.

They unfurled Tibetan flags and two 140 square foot banners, one of which read, “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet” — mimicking the “One World, One Dream” official Games slogan. Another called for a “Free Tibet” in English and Chinese.

The two lighting poles are just outside the high-security zone around the stadium. Although the protesters did not have to climb a fence or negotiate the airport-style security gates while carrying ropes and banners, the entire zone is patrolled by police and military personnel through the night.

The role of Fairbrother and Mink was to ensure that the climbers’ equipment was working safely and to protect them from members of the public who might try to intervene.

Footage of the protest appeared to have been taken at some distance from the climbers and their supporters, but there were no reports of any further arrests.

The Chinese Government has deployed 110,000 security personnel across the capital, including 34,000 People’s Liberation Army troops. It has also installed tens of thousands of surveillance cameras in what has been described as the most sophisticated security system in Olympic history.

Former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch first coined the Olympic phrase for host city “best Games ever” at the end of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Samaranch used the phrase for each of the remaining Games during his presidency (the 2000 Sydney Games where his last and Samaranch used other words when he spoke about the 1996 Atlanta Games).

John Furlong, the head of Vancouver-Whistler's 2010 Olympic organizing committee (VANOC), made it clear to CanWest Global’s Can Cole as far as he is concerned – nothing will top what will begin to unfold in Beijing starting Friday. Furlong made it clear to Canada’s National Post he is one very impressed Canadian.

"There's no question that Beijing has proven that they are capable of anything. It's astonishing," said the head of Vancouver-Whistler's 2010 Olympic organizing committee (VANOC).

"I've been to Beijing six times, and seen six different cities. And it's all been in three years. You come down the street, and the trees that they've planted aren't six feet high, they're 60 feet high. Just coming in from the airport this time, we were asking: ‘Is this the road we came in on last time?' Last time was only four months ago."

The 2008 Beijing Games never had a budget. Cost overruns have always been a concern and a major issue at Olympic Games since the financially plagued 1976 Montreal Games. There’s nothing wrong with what Furlong is saying, but all the Chinese are about to prove is that if you throw enough money at something you can buy success.

"When you're trying to do this, you always want to be judged on the big picture and not have it broken down into small pockets. It's real easy to look at something and say, yeah, this is good, but what about that?" Furlong said. "They've certainly demonstrated, by any fair standard, that human beings are capable of amazing things.

"So I hope that what happens out of this is that they are given the benefit of a fair test, and that people really judge this for the execution of the event, and the sport. I have a person who's been driving me around and she tells me they estimate there will be one billion people tuned into the opening ceremonies on television. One billion people.

"And you want it to be good for them. On the street, you feel the sense that people are really hoping for a great, proud couple of weeks, and I hope they get it."

Furlong's belief is that Beijing will retire the crown of Best Ever as he told The Vancouver Sun.

"They've really thought it out, every little detail. And I really think that anyone who tried to replicate it ... there's no percentage in it. This is the best that there's ever been," Furlong said, "and we'll have to be great/different.

"We're in a city right now where the best men and women of all time have assembled -- these are the best athletes that have ever been born -- and they couldn't have built a more magnificent backdrop for them.

"I just sort of feel a spirit of wonder, because you're never going to see something like this again. There will be great Olympics, but it won't be like this. I think it will be fantastic to be able to look back and say I was here.

"I have no idea what people are going to feel [at the opening ceremony] on Friday night, but I bet there'll be people reaching for words to describe it."

Last Friday, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with the media in Beijing, offering his perspective on how the leader of the world’s most populated nation feels about the upcoming Beijing Games.

"We hope that foreign reporters while in China will respect our laws and rules, report objectively and help communication and understanding between China and the peoples of the world," Hu said.

"The determining factor in securing the success of the Olympic Games is to work vigorously to promote the Olympic spirit featuring friendship, solidarity and peace," Hu said. "The key is to ensure that athletes from all countries will have a level playing field to compete fairly."

"We need to ensure that our friends from the five continents can further enhance their mutual understanding and deepen their friendship during the games," Hu said.

Two dozen reporters were invited to the press conference and only questions submitted in advance were permitted. When Georg Blume of the German newspaper Die Zeit tried to pose a question at the end on human rights, Hu ignored him. Needless to say, freedom of the press isn’t a hallmark of Hu’s government.

“Since Beijing won the bid for the games on July 13, 2001, the Chinese government and the Chinese people have been working in earnest to honor the commitments made to the international community,” Hu said.

"That the Olympic Games will be held in China, a country that accounts for one fifth of humanity, shows the trust placed on China by the world and is itself a contribution by China to the world.

"The Beijing Olympic Games belongs to the Chinese people, and more importantly also belongs to the people from around the world.

"We pay close attention to raising the level of our people in terms of civility. We have launched a nationwide campaign among 400 million Chinese children and teenagers concerning the Olympic education.

"We work vigorously to encourage the Chinese people to be gracious, courteous, warm, friendly and hospitable hosts for the Games."

The question is “how will the Beijing Games be judged?” If they are judged strictly as a sporting event, with the barometer being facilities and athletic performance, the Beijing Games will be among the best ever. The Lords of the Rings (the International Olympic Committee) believe that is the only criteria that should be used for judging an Olympic Games. Even though he is not a member of the IOC, Furlong is very closely linked to the IOC and his comments aren’t out of line.

While Chinese President Hu may not want politics to play a role in the Beijing Games, in 2008, the world we live in begs to differ. The era of instant communications dictates that the Beijing Games will be judged both on how the Chinese manage the Olympic Games and on how the Chinese treat their politics in the next two and a half weeks. Judging by the past 48 hours – the Games of the 29th Olympics will be the most interesting and politically charged Games in many years.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The Times of London, Team Darfur

Countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games – the billon dollar sponsorship boondoggle

2008-08-06T00:12:00.000-04:00

The start of the Beijing Olympics are less than 48 hours away (the Games’ soccer competition began today) with what is being billed the most expensive Opening Ceremonies in Olympic history. The Chinese are sparing no expense in what is being billed as a look at the history of China at a cost in excess of $100 million. 12 sponsor members of what some would call the most prestigious (others called it the most odorous) group in Olympic corporate history, are the 12 companies who comprise the International Olympic Committee’s TOP program. These 12 companies have a great deal invested in the Beijing Games, collectively more than $866 million in cash and goods and services they have agreed to provide.

Most of the companies are American based global companies: General Electric (which owns NBC), Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonald's, Kodak, and Johnson & Johnson. (The others are Canadian-based Manulife Financial; Lenovo, the Chinese personal computer maker; the French information technology services company Atos Origin; the Swiss watch manufacturer Omega; Panasonic; and Samsung)

These 12 global brands are in essence partners with the IOC and the Chinese government in presenting the Games of the 29th Olympiad in Beijing . Over the last ten days, Sports Business News has offered an inside preview of the political, media and business issues relating to what likely will be the most controversial Olympics since the 1936 Nazi Games. These 12 companies are putting their moral, ethical and philosophical ideology on the line in the belief not in the Olympic Games but in being able to connect to what was the world’s largest untapped market. In fact, before the IOC awarded the 2008 Games to Beijing on July 13, 2001 over Toronto, China was a country few Western based companies had access to.

Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins in Beijing pointed out that by agreeing to become partners in the 2008 Beijing Games, the IOC’s major sponsors are at the very least showing the world they are willing to accept the media censorship the Communist government have imposed on the media in Beijing.

Jenkins elaborated in Tuesday’s Post: When these acquiesced to the Chinese government's crackdown, and effectively accepted the censorship of the press during these Games, they fell into a special category of profiteers that Franklin Delano Roosevelt described in his "Four Freedoms" speech.

"We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests," Roosevelt said.

It's plain to see that the Chinese people have worked mightily to create a beautiful Beijing Games, from the elegantly manicured gardens to the whisked-clean streets, and that they are a source of immense national pride. No one could wish to injure that pride, and every one wishes them a successful Games. But the Olympics are not solely about the host, they are about all the participating nations, and the common goal of "preservation of human dignity." The moment it became apparent that the Beijing Olympics was causing a crackdown, and that basic Olympic values were being constricted rather than expanded, these Olympic partners should have spoken out, and threatened to withdraw if abuses didn't halt. When they didn't, it cast a permanent pall over these Games. Like the air here, the Olympic movement is struggling for a clean breath.

Companies that sponsor events (let alone the Olympics) always have to ask themselves a number of questions. When it comes to the Beijing Games -- Are Olympic Sponsorships Worth It to be near the top of that list.

Of the 12 global sponsors for the Beijing Olympics, only eight have signed on for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and 2012 Summer Games in London . (The International Olympic Committee sells sponsorships in four-year increments to cover both Winter and Summer Games.). To no one’s surprise, the sponsorship of Chinese computer maker Lenovo will last only one four-year quadrennial. Kodak, one of the IOC’s long standing sponsors will end their Olympic sponsorship after the Beijing Games. Kodak’s Olympic sponsorship goes back to the 1896 Athens Games, the first so called modern Olympic Games.

Johnson & Johnson and Manulife Financial haven’t decided what their Olympic sponsorship future is. With the 2010 Winter Games set for Vancouver , British Columbia it’s likely Manulife Financial will continue their IOC involvement through the 2012 London Games.

The IOC’s TOP program generated $279 hundred million in 1993-1996 quadrennial, $579 hundred million during the 1997-2000 and $663 hundred million during 2001-2004. The $866 hundred million represents what the 12 TOP companies have invested in the current quadrennial, which also includes the 2006 Winter Games in Torino .

The 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games were the first to launch an international marketing program. Companies from 11 countries made contributions of goods and services ranging from food for the athletes to flowers for medalists.

The 1960 Rome Games included an extensive sponsor/supplier program with 46 companies that provided technical support and products such as perfume, chocolate, toothpaste and soap.

The Tokyo 1964 Games included 250 companies developing marketing relationships with the Games. The new “ Olympia ” cigarette brand generated more than US$1 million in revenue for the OCOG. (The tobacco sponsorship category was later banned) Seiko created quartz-timing technology, providing the most accurate timing system to date.

Montréal’s money losing 1976 Summer Games featured 628 sponsors/suppliers, and domestic sponsorship generated US$7 million for the OCOG.

The Sarajevo 1984 Winter Games OCOG signed 447 foreign and domestic sponsorship agreements.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games sponsorship program created a fundamental change in how the Olympic sponsorship program was managed. The Olympic movement stared into the abyss in 1979. Five years before the 1984, the only city remotely interested in hosting the 1984 Games was the city of Lost Angeles , who had previously hosted the 1932 Summer Games. Californians made it clear – the only way Lotus Land would even consider hosting the 1984 Games was if the Olympics wouldn’t produce a deficit taxpayers would be forced to deal with.

Frugal L.A. officials examined the mistakes made by previous hosts, including the costly 1976 Games in Montreal . They decided not to overextend their budget by building new state-of-the-art facilities specifically for the Olympics. The city also stipulated that new Olympics-related capital improvement projects would not be built unless they were fully funded by private sources.

The federal government donated $75 million to pay for the Games, and the city's Olympic Committee earned an additional $53 million from the sale of Olympic commemorative coins by the U.S. Mint. Los Angeles made an estimated profit of $250 million from the Games, the first time the Olympics had turned a profit since 1932. Four years later, the Summer Games in Seoul raked in nearly $300 million in profits.

At this time, Peter Ueberroth had stepped in as the head of the Games Organizing Committee. He was a prominent figure in the Games, receiving the Olympic Order in gold at its conclusion. Due to the success of the Games, he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1984.

Ueberroth developed the concept of fewer Olympic sponsors with category exclusivity as a key benefit to an Olympic sponsorship, the genesis to the present-day Olympic TOP program. Accordingly, American based companies (led by McDonald’s) bought into what Ueberroth was selling for the 1984 Games.

An IOC TOP sponsorship is the designation given to major sponsors who invest in an Olympic quadrennial, a four-year period that includes one Winter and one Summer Olympic Games. The practice began in 1984 and has been a cornerstone for Olympic sponsorships ever since.

The IOC created The Olympic Partners (TOP) worldwide sponsorship program, in coordination with the 1988 Seoul OCOG’s in Seoul and Calgary , as well as 159 NOC’s. TOP is based on the 1984 Los Angeles model of product category exclusivity. Prior to the establishment of the TOP program, fewer than 10 NOC’s in the world had a source of marketing revenue.

During the next quadrennial (1989 to 1992 Barcelona and 1994 Lillehammer ) TOP grew from nine to 12 partners in the program’s second generation. Broadcast and marketing programs generated more than US$500 million, breaking almost every major marketing record for an Olympic Winter Games. (The total for the current quadrennial is $866 from sponsorship revenues and $1.44 billion from broadcast rights, a total of $2.31 billion)

The 2000 Sydney-Atlanta OCOG developed the most financially successful domestic sponsorship program to date, generating more revenue (US$492 million) than the domestic sponsorship program of Atlanta 1996 in a host country marketplace 15 times smaller. A new standard for brand protection through education, legislation and advertising controls was created in the process.

The Olympic Properties of the United States (OPUS) sponsorship for 2002 broke records for both Winter and Summer Games. (A great indicator of why Chicago remains a front runner when it comes to hosting the 2016 Summer Games)

In the smallest country to host the Olympic Games to date, Athens 2004 achieved its sponsorship revenue target two years before the Games and ultimately generated revenue from national and torch relay sponsorship that was 50% higher than initial estimates.

Torino 2006 stands (before the Beijing Games) as the most lucrative and successful sponsorship program in Italian history. The program accounted for 6.14% of the total sponsorship spending in the market, which was significantly higher than previous Olympic Winter Games sponsorship programs and represented nearly 1% of the total advertising spent in the Italian market. (35 times greater than that of Salt Lake 2002)

The Beijing Games will take Olympic sponsorships to a new level – economically and their level of importance (as seen by the companies investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the Beijing Games)

“These Olympic Games are going to be more of a national celebration than any other Games that we have witnessed by far," says Alexandria Oikonomidou, director of Ogilvy Sports, the Olympic and sports marketing practice of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Beijing (WPP), who previously worked for ATHOC, the organizing committee for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in a Business Week report.

National pride, added Li Li Leung, managing director of Helios Partners China, an Atlanta-based sports marketing firm that counts Lenovo, BHP Billiton (BHP), and Snickers as clients, is "the most important value that the Olympic movement [has] for the Chinese people."

For multinationals, according to a May 2008 report in Business Week, latching onto China 's national pride is part of their localization strategy. "Chinese people like to make 'foreign friends.' This extends from a person to a nation. They are so proud of their country that they appreciate anybody or any nation that goes out of its way to be 'friends of China,'" Jing Wang, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of Brand New China: Advertising, Media, and Commercial Culture, wrote in an e-mail interview with Business Week.
China is the biggest country in the world, with one-quarter of the world’s population living within the borders of the communist country. There will be more than 20,000 journalists in Beijing covering the Olympics. Tuesday, the alleged treatment of two Japanese journalists sent a scary message to the 20,000 media people in China assigned to cover the 29th Olympiad.

According to a Reuters report: two Japanese reporters covering a bombing in China that took place Monday were beaten and then jailed by Chinese officials. The two men, one a photographer with the regional Chunichi Shimbun newspaper and the other a reporter for Nippon Television, were detained near the site of the attack in Kashgar in China 's western Xinjiang region, which saw 16 police killed only four days before the Beijing Olympics begin, spokesmen for the two companies said on Tuesday.

The journalists were then taken to a police building where they were beaten, before being released about two hours later. Neither was seriously injured, the spokesmen said.

The death of 16 Chinese policemen is terrible, suggestions the attack may have been the work of terrorists on the eve of the Olympic Games in the host country makes this a major international news story.

The alleged beating and jailing of two reporters covering a breaking news story in China sends a chilling message to the 20,000 journalists in China for the Games -- you had better be careful where you step. It should send an even scarier message to the International Olympic Committee and the 12 major international companies that have invested in the Beijing Games. You too will be held accountable if the actions of the Chinese government bring shame and embarrassment to the Olympic movement.

And leave it to the Chinese to make it clear what message they want sent to the media. According to a Reuters report: the Beijing city government said on its Web site that Chinese and foreign journalists who want to report and film in Tiananmen "are advised to make advanced appointments by phone." It said that will help ensure orderly newsgathering amid what are expected to be large crowds in the square on each day of the games, which start Friday.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies told the media attempting to cover the Games the new arrangement didn't match the IOC’s “understanding” of access to Tiananmen. Just what the IOC and their hundred million corporate partners needs to hear – alleged media beatings and more restrictions placed upon the more than 20,000 journalists in Beijing. Yes indeed – all for the glory and the all mighty dollar, a site to behold and embrace.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: Business Week, Reuters, The Washington Post and the International Olympic Committee

Countdown to Beijing – as the clock ticks -- surveys and athletes say

2008-08-05T00:30:00.000-04:00

With the start of the Beijing Games less than 72 hours away International Olympic Committee sponsors who invested a record $866 million in the IOC’s Olympic TOP program and an astounding $1.44 billion in global TV rights should be paying particular interest in the results Monday of a survey released by Harris Interactive/France 24/International Herald Tribune.

Harris Interactive/France 24/International Herald Tribune survey conducted online by Harris Interactive among a total of 6,620 adults aged 16 to 64 within France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, the United States, and adults aged 18 to 64 in Italy, between July 2 and 14, 2008 finds that:

Only a majority of Spaniards (55%) and half of Italians (49%) feel it is a good thing that the Olympics are taking place in China this summer. Half of French adults (49%) and 47 percent of Germans believe it is a bad thing. Two in five Americans (41%) believe it is a good thing while almost three in ten (28%) believe it is a bad thing and 31 percent are not sure. For Britons, the largest number are not sure (37%) followed by those who believe it is a bad thing (35%) and then a good thing (28%);
Majorities in all six countries (from 51% in Great Britain to 73% in France, Italy and the U.S.) believe that their country should not boycott the Olympics;
A relative majority of French adults (44%) believes their officials should boycott the opening ceremonies while a majority of adults in the U.S. (56%), Spain (55%) and Italy (53%) do not. Germans and British adults are more torn – three in ten Britons believe the ceremonies should be boycotted (30%) while just over that (31%) believe they should not be boycotted. In Germany, two in five believe they should not be boycotted (40%) while just under that (38%) believe they should be;
Majorities in the U.S (66%), Italy (66%), Germany (63%) and France (58%) as well as just under half of Spaniards (47%) and two in five (39%) Britons believe that politicians from their country should not be allowed to make statements against the Olympics at the games;
Half or more of adults in France (65%), Italy (62%), Germany (60%), Great Britain (50%) and Spain (50%) as well as 46 percent of Americans believe that athletes should be allowed to publicly express their position if they want, enforcing the idea that this is about the athletes; and,
Majorities in France (62%), Italy (52%) and Germany (51%) as well as a plurality of Spaniards (45%) and two in five Britons (39%) and Americans (38%) all say that their country should not attend the Olympics without any protests or boycotts.
So What?

This week athletes from around the world will convene in China for the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Looking at the current situation in China, including their involvement in Tibet, there are various things countries could do at the Olympics. Adults in the five largest European countries and the United States may disagree on exactly what should be done, but strong numbers in all six countries do believe that their country should not attend without some kind of protest or boycott.

The main consensus seems to be that if something is done, it should be done by the athletes – the Olympics seem to be perceived as “games” not a political event, so this would be the most appropriate type of response. For two weeks the eyes of the world will be focused on China – from the pageantry of the Opening Ceremonies though the individual sporting events, until the torch is passed to the next host country at the Closing Ceremonies - and how other countries, their politicians and their athletes react will be watched closely.

This Harris Interactive/France 24/International Herald Tribune study was conducted online by Harris Interactive among a total of 6,620 adults (aged 16-64) within France (1,073), Germany (992), Great Britain (1,075), Spain (1,014) and the United States (1,053) and adults (aged 18-64) in Italy (1,013) between July 2 and 14, 2008. Figures for age, sex, education, region and Internet usage were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

Fascinating is the belief that “if something is done, it should be done by the athletes”. The 1968 Olympics Black Power salute was a noted black nationalist protest and one of the most overtly political statements in the 110 year history of the modern Olympic Games. African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos performed their Power to the People salute at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

On the morning of October 16, 1968, American athlete Smith won the 200 metre race race in a then-world-record time of 19.83 seconds, with Australia's Peter Norman second with a time of 20.06 seconds, and American Carlos in third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to collect their medals at the podium. The two American athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride.

Carlos wore beads which he described "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage."

All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges, after Norman expressed sympathy with their ideals. Sociologist Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on October 16, 1968, were inspired by Edwards' arguments.

Both Americans intended on bringing black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. It was the Australian, Peter Norman, who suggested Carlos wore Smith's left-handed glove, this being the reason behind him raising his left hand, as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute.

When "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front page news around the world. As they left the podium they were booed by the crowd. Smith later said "If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight."

IOC president Avery Brundage deemed a domestic political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games was supposed to be. In an immediate response to their actions, he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the U.S. team and banned from the Olympic Village. When the US Olympic Committee refused, Avery threatened to ban the entire US track team. This threat led to the two athletes being expelled from the Games.

A spokesperson for the organization said it was “a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit.”

On the eve of the Beijing Games, Carlos offered these comments to the Associated Press, “I evaluated, researched and studied my moves in terms of why I thought it was necessary for me to make a statement in Mexico City,” Carlos said Friday at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials. “All I can say is any athlete, from whatever part of the world, they have to do the same. They have to evaluate, they have to study and then they have to go into their moral fabric and make their decision as to whether they're concerned about medals or whether they're concerned about humanity.”

There is every possibility, even a probability many of the athletes personal belief system will be tested throughout the Beijing Games on a new level not seen since Smith and Carlos delivered their message to the world at the 1968 Mexico City Games.

On July 29 a pro-Tibet group purchased a full-page ad in The New York Times urging Olympic athletes to use the Beijing Games as a platform to bring attention to the cause.

The ad, sponsored by Students for a Free Tibet, appeared in the front section of last Tuesday’s New York Times.

In large type, it reads, “At every Olympics, there is one athlete who ends up inspiring the world with their courage and character. We’re hoping that athlete is reading this.”

The ad referenced the web site www.AthleteWanted.org, which included suggested actions for athletes such as raising the Tibetan flag during a victory lap or shaving their heads to show solidarity with Tibetan monks and nuns.

“Olympic athletes have the platform and the power to inspire the world,” Tenzin Dorjee, deputy director of Students for a Free Tibet, said in a news release. “At the Beijing Games, we believe athletes have the opportunity to inspire not only with their athletic performances, but also by standing up for what is right by supporting human rights and freedom for Tibet.”

Ten days ago International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge announced that he wouldn’t speak in detail about human rights in China for diplomatic reasons.

“Of course I unquestionably value human rights,” he was quoted as saying in French sports weekly L’Equipe Magazine.

“Reasons of State (raison d’Etat) forbids me to express myself in detail on that subject,” he said in an interview two weeks before the start of the Beijing Games.

“I have to be careful about what I do and what I say. I am at the head of an organization. My duty is to make the Olympics a success and let the athletes express themselves freely. I am criticized. And I answer that I am ready to take blows in order to protect the athletes.

“In view of my responsibilities, I have lost some of my freedom of speech,” the Belgian said.

The results of the Harris Interactive shouldn’t have surprised anyone. Interest in the 2008 Beijing Games isn’t nearly what it was expected to be and that has little to do with the popularity of the Olympics and everything to do with where the Games are being held.

Bloomberg News reported the Olympics are less popular with Europeans than four years ago because of negative publicity surrounding Tibet, the Beijing Games torch-relay protests and pollution, according to a survey released Friday.
Sport + Markt AG's “Sponsoring 21” study found that interest in Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the U.K. had “decreased significantly.” Britain showed the biggest drop, with 36 percent of those surveyed declaring an interest in the Games, down from 52 percent in 2004, when the Olympics were held in Athens.

While historically interest usually rises during an Olympic year, protests along the torch-relay route following China's crackdown of protesters in Tibet and public discussion about Beijing's pollution led to a decline in 2008, Sport + Markt told Bloomberg media.

“Negative publicity regarding China and Tibet as well as the environmental issue and discussion on Beijing's air pollution did its job,” Gareth Moore, Sport + Markt's U.K. director, said in a statement.

Still, more than half of U.K. residents surveyed said they would follow the Games because London will host the next edition in 2012. Sixty-four percent of Britons are already looking forward to the London Games, when negative publicity is unlikely to dominate the media, Moore said.

This current drop in interest levels “shows the importance of the reputation and political situation of the host country,” he added.

Even the host nation is experiencing some apathy toward the Aug. 8-24 Games. A poll by the Ogilvy Group released yesterday showed that Beijing residents are less excited about the Olympics compared with eight months ago on concerns over crowds, traffic flow and possible terrorist attacks.

Ogilvy's Project 2008 Poll showed 69 percent of Beijing residents surveyed are “extremely excited” about the Games, down from 79 percent of those polled in January.

One Olympian who will be in Beijing (a gold medalist), didn’t believe he’d get a Visa that would allow him to enter China. Joey Cheek who won a gold medal at the 2006 Torino Games in speedskating will be a part of “Team Darfur”. Cheek, who won gold and silver medals at the 2006 Olympics in Torino , co-founded Team Darfur with UCLA water polo player Brad Greiner.

"As an athlete who has been to two Olympics, I think I can say that it's not the Olympics that are causing this problem, but it is the Olympics that can be part of this resolution," Cheek told ESPN.com. "On the whole, the Olympics provide a lot of good."

Cheeks told ESPN he understands why athletes get involved in politics -- and why they don't. It is part of the reason the Team Darfur Web site does not call for an Olympic boycott. It's also part of the reason some athletes show their sign of support for Team Darfur simply as "soccer player" instead of by actual name. In some countries where freedom of speech doesn't exist, athletes can't be as proactive as they can in the United States.

"Personally, I'd love to see more athletes involved in causes they believe in," Cheek said in the ESPN report. "You may not believe in the causes I believe in, but believe in something."

U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Jim Scherr told reporters during April’s USOC Olympic Summit in Chicago that athletes can do "what they want to do" so long as they don't interfere with Article 51 of the International Olympic Committee charter. Article 51 states that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

The British Olympic Committee ESPN reported attempted to quiet its athletes from making any political problems by making them sign contracts that would prevent them from speaking about China's human rights issues. The plan was thwarted almost immediately as it hit the media.

The most visible American athlete in Beijing will be swimmer Michael Phelps. Phelps will try and break the record of seven gold medals won in one games by American Mark Spitz set at the 1972 Munich Games. Phelps a swimmer will complete during the first week of the Games.

When questioned by the media if he believed he had an extra responsibility to be involved in world issues because of his high profile, Phelps told ESPN, "We're very aware of what's going on," and added that "being an Olympian was always a dream of mine as a kid. … That's what this year is about."

Phelps' focus on swimming is appreciated, even by Olympic activists like Cheek according to ESPN.

"Unquestionably in 2002, if you would have asked me if I would've done what I'm doing now, I would've looked at you like you had three heads," Cheek said. "I wish more people would become involved, but I'm not necessarily critical of people who don't. There are different pressures out there and that is your priority."

Phelps profile, visibility and is drive to set an Olympic record have made him the most marketable on the eve of the Beijing Games. The 2008 Games will likely not produce endorsement opportunities for many athletes and those like Phelps have a tough choice to make. Create their biggest potential bang for their buck by heading to Beijing strictly to compete or make a political statement and risk losing endorsement opportunities

The few athletes who did speak out, however, have attracted a great deal of interest from the media. Jessica Mendoza, for example, is an outfielder for the U.S. women's softball team. She's also a member of Team Darfur. A few weeks ago, she signed a letter calling for Sudan to follow the Olympic Truce.

At the April USOC summit, Mendoza's coach, Mike Candrea, joked with her about not making any headlines. Still, Mendoza felt free to use the summit as a political platform.

"As an athlete, I feel like I have some visibility," said Mendoza, who was on the 2004 Olympic team that captured gold in Athens in an ESPN report. "I'm a passionate person and when I talk about Darfur, I feel like there's nothing controversial. I'm talking about humanity. To me, this is why I truly love it. The Olympics has been a positive political platform.

"I really want to go [to Beijing] and make a difference."

During these Olympics, Mendoza told ESPN she is looking forward to sitting in the dining hall with other Olympians and discussing politics. One of her goals is educating others and becoming more educated through them. One of the highlights for any athlete who completes in an Olympic Games is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet other athletes from around the world in the Olympic Village.

She told ESPN she didn't get involved politically until she got to Stanford. A native of Camarillo, Calif., Mendoza pretty much spent her summers playing softball and hanging out at the beach. When she arrived at Stanford, she met friends who spent their summers providing medical care in Africa.

"I came into college at 17 and not having a clue," Mendoza said. "I began to feel so insignificant, and I wanted to change that."

According to ESPN she became an American studies major and spent a good chunk of her time taking history classes. As part of the Olympic team, she's done everything from leading political discussions on the team bus to encouraging her teammates to register to vote. She's traveled to Afghanistan and said she had planned to visit refugee camps near Darfur, but her family didn't want her to travel there.

"Nobody's ever tried to quiet me, but I've had many, many hints," Mendoza said. "The hardest thing for my coaches is my influence on my teammates. Right around the time of Chicago , people were getting nervous."

Perhaps the biggest detriment to athletes speaking out is the fear of financial repercussions. So many companies have a global presence in China, and they worry about signing endorsements with athletes who might speak out against the country. The shelf life for most Olympians is short, and opportunities to be financially rewarded are, too. Why say something that might jeopardize that?

Mendoza is aware of financial risks, and she took the initiative to contact her sponsors, mainly Nike and Louisville Slugger, before she went public with her political views. Both Nike and Louisville Slugger remain a part of Mendoza’s team.

"My own agent said, 'You get involved in this stuff and sponsors might not want to sign you,'" Mendoza said. “This is the world you're dealing with and they're not going to want to touch you with a 10-foot pole.'"

John Carlos – gone but always remembered when it comes to athletes having a consensus and standing for what they believe in.

"I'm concerned with humanity, the human race," the 63-year-old said. "I'm not concerned with medals. Medals will tarnish, but humanity will go on."

But he acknowledged the fallout was tremendous and lasted well after the Olympics ended.

"Bigots came out, racists came out," said Carlos, who's now counseling kids in California. "They didn't particularly like that I was a black man stepping up to the plate, saying I was concerned with humanity. ... My whole thing is that in order for healing to come about, you have to recognize what's happening in order to make tomorrow better than yesterday."

If companies have concerns about how athletes they sponsor might represent themselves in Beijing should these same companies not have similar concerns how the Chinese represent their values and how the actions of the Chinese government might reflect on those companies.

Clearly as the results of several major surveys released in the last few days indicate there is a great deal of awareness relating to the Beijing Games and more notably for the Games sponsors China’s politics and how they will impact the Beijing Games. Survey says – Olympic sponsors and broadcasters would be well advised to pay close attention.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: ESPN, the New York Times, the Associated Press and Wikipedia

Countdown to Beijing – the Dollars and lack of sense

2008-08-04T00:35:00.000-04:00

The most expensive sports event, and certainly the most costly Olympic Games will begin Friday. When all the bills are finally in (and yes they’ll all be paid), direct costs associated with hosting the Beijing Olympic Games will exceed $20 billion. Factoring in the additional infrastructure costs, final costs associated with the Beijing Games will top $40 billion. $40 billion to host the greatest excess in the history of mankind - $40 billion for what amounts to a two week ‘athletic festival.’

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services told Business Week they believe that Beijing is well-equipped to handle the costs associated with hosting the Olympic Games. They feel that the importance to China in terms of boosting its international standing is obvious, but the Chinese authorities appear to recognize that the Olympics isn't an end in itself. Indeed, their careful planning of this massive sporting event suggests the benefits of hosting the Games will continue long after the closing ceremony.

According to Business Week the cost of Beijing Olympics 2008 is considerable also compared with the 2012 Olympics, to be held in London. With the benefit of more updated construction material costs, London's estimated Olympic capital spending in late 2004 of $15.8 billion was only a little higher than Beijing's official estimates. This is despite the higher labor and other costs of building in London. Other candidate cities competing with London submitted lower estimates, with Madrid putting in the next highest bid at $11.6 billion.

Olympic Games costing a great deal of money, often producing billion dollar deficits date back to the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.

When Montreal was awarded the 1976 Summer Games in 1970, then Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau's infamous quote, “The Olympics can no more lose money than a man can have a baby.”

However, with rampant corruption, and lack of financial controls, Montreal did indeed lose money, over $2 billion dollars (US), when it was all said and done. In fact, the Quebec government — afraid the province would be humiliated internationally — stepped in at the eleventh hour and essentially put the entire municipal Olympic organizing effort under trusteeship. The facilities would likely not have been ready in time for the games had this not been happened, a reality trumpeted by the provincial government in a series of "Because of Quebec, we've done it all!" television commercials.

The Olympic movement stared into the abyss in 1979. Five years before the 1984, the only city remotely interested in hosting the 1984 Games was the city of Lost Angeles. Los Angeles had hosted the 1932 Summer Games. Californians made it clear – the only way Lotus Land would even consider hosting the 1984 Games was if the Olympics wouldn’t produce a deficit taxpayers would be forced to deal with.

Frugal L.A. officials examined the mistakes made by previous hosts, including the costly 1976 Games in Montreal. They decided not to overextend their budget by building new state-of-the-art facilities specifically for the Olympics. The city also stipulated that no new Olympics-related capital improvement projects would be built unless they were fully funded by private sources.

The federal government donated $75 million to pay for the Games, and the city's Olympic Committee earned an additional $53 million from the sale of Olympic commemorative coins by the U.S. Mint. Los Angeles made an estimated profit of $250 million from the Games, the first time the Olympics had turned a profit since 1932. Four years later, the Summer Games in Seoul raked in nearly $300 million in profits.

Peter Ueberroth stepped in as the head of the Games Organizing Committee. He was a prominent figure in the Games, receiving the Olympic Order in gold at its conclusion. Due to the success of the Games, he was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1984.

Ueberroth developed the concept of fewer Olympic sponsors with category exclusivity as a key benefit to an Olympic sponsorship, the genesis to the Olympic TOP program. American based companies (led by McDonald’s) bought into what Ueberroth was selling for the 1984 Games. The Montreal Olympics had more than 600 sponsors, the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games close to 350 sponsors. An IOC TOP sponsorship is the designation given to major sponsors who invest in an Olympic quadrennial, a four year period that includes one Winter and one Summer Olympic Games. The practice began in 1984 and has been a cornerstone for Olympic sponsorships since.

Business Week raised some very interesting points in looking back at the investment Barcelona made when the Spanish city hosted the 1992 Summer Olympic Games.

Money isn't the only way to measure success, and many host cities are willing to swallow the debt in hopes of achieving the "Barcelona effect." The Spanish city took on a $1.4 billion dollar deficit after hosting the 1992 Olympics, but it successfully carried through a large-scale restoration initiative and put itself on the map as a major tourist destination. The attention brought by the Games as well as the city's investment in projects such as improving public transportation helped Barcelona increase its European tourism; it now ranks among the most visited cities in the world.

One of the more maligned cities to ever host an Olympic Games was the city of Atlanta, which hosted the 1996 Summer Games. 1996 represented the Centennial of the first modern Olympic Games held in 1896 in Athens. Atlanta was selected ahead of sentimental favorite Athens and Toronto.

Business Week reported plans to revive and modernize the Southern city were in the works prior to the Olympic Games of 1996, but these renovations were accelerated once the U.S. won the bid. The federal government spent $609 million to prepare Atlanta for the Games, with the majority of these funds ($424 million) going toward highways, the MARTA mass transit system, and other infrastructure improvements. Security costs amounted to $96 million. Unlike many host cities, Atlanta managed to successfully reuse its $200 million Olympic Stadium by converting it into Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves. The Games were plagued with transportation issues with events held throughout the region as opposed to an Olympic hub (events held in close proximity to each other).

Economic impact studies as Business Week pointed out predicted that the millennial Olympics would have a positive effect on Sydney’s 2000 Summer Games. They were wrong. A 2002 report by the auditor-general of the state of New South Wales showed that the event cost around $6.4 billion, including government spending of over $2 billion. Sydney anticipated a tourism boom following the Games and predicted that newly constructed sporting venues would be put to long-term use, but the report found otherwise. There was no substantial increase in tourism, and the annual upkeep for the venues, many of which are not actively used, costs the government $11 million a year. Sydney created an Olympic hub, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Olympic facilities located 45 miles from downtown Sydney.

A GAO report (Government Accounting Office in this context) pegged the cost for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games at $1.3 billion (at least that’s what the 2002 Games cost American taxpayers). The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where the biggest and most expensive Winter Games ever (well at least until the 2006 Torino Games), featured 2,400 athletes and a price tag well in excess of $2 billion.

The 2004 Athens Games played like a classic Greek Tragedy. Originally budgeted at $5.7 billion, revised to $7.2 billion, final estimations for the Athens Games have costs ranging between $8.5 and $12 billion. Generations and generations of Greeks will be forced to pay for what was no more then a two week party.

The 2006 Torino Olympics were billions of dollars over budget. Stefano Bertone, a Torino lawyer and co-founder of the Turin Anti-Olympics Committee wasn’t surprised hosting the Olympic Games was an economic nightmare for the citizens of the Italian city.

"There is no intention from the promoters and the bidders and organizers to reduce the impact and dimensions of the Games, they want public funds handed to them to build and build," Bertone said. "It has nothing to do with sports and friendship or peace."

The Games were forecast in 1998 to cost $616 million US and ballooned to more than $3 billion US. What the final bill is and how long it'll take for taxpayers to erase the debt is anyone's guess. There has been no cost-benefit analysis or audit.

TOROC originally forecast 1.5 million spectators, a figure downgraded last year to 1 million. Organizers are scrambling to reach the 900,000 mark.

As the Business Week report suggested: it’s easy to understand why the Beijing Games require such a big investment. The new infrastructure includes some of the world's most impressive structures. The newly-opened passenger terminal at the Beijing Capital International Airport, for instance, has a floor area larger than all five terminal buildings at London Heathrow airport. The Beijing subway expansion plan also aims to make what was a two-line system into the world's most extensive underground network in less than a decade.

A number of the sports facilities built for the Olympics, including the National Stadium and the National Aquatics Centre, are also architectural marvels that are possible only with the use of recently developed technology. Moreover, all of these facilities have been built at breakneck speed.

China's capital city is a fast-growing metropolis—the population grew by almost 16% from 2000 to 2006, reaching 15.8 million. It is important to not only appreciate but understand many of the infrastructure costs where needed if Beijing was going to reach its full potential as a world city.

It’s really a matter of how you look at hosting an Olympic Games. If your Olympic hosting glass if half full you see the big picture. If your Olympic hosting glass is half empty you see little if anything to be gained by hosting an Olympic Games.

In September 2006, reports from Vancouver, the city set to host the 2010 Olympic Games, painted a very scary scenario for the residents of this British Columbia city.

B.C. Auditor General Arn van Iersel released a report last week stating the 2010 Olympics are going to cost $2.5 billion, and not the budgeted $600 million. The report, which sent reverberations throughout Vancouver, suggested British Columbia taxpayers better get ready to assume an additional $1.5 billion to pay for the Games.

"Our review of VANOC's venue capital cost estimates, however, indicates there are risks that may result in additional costs to the province," he said in his report. "There are still many pressures facing the capital budget for the Games and risks inherent in the operating budget as well."

Van Iersel included every potential Olympic related expense in his report. The auditor-general included the $775-million Sea-to-Sky Highway upgrade in his figures, as well as $41 million for the B.C. government's Olympic Secretariat and $20 million to build roads into the Callaghan Valley, the route to the 2010 Olympic Nordic Centre.

"The highway was included in the bid book in the first instance," van Iersel told The Province. "The purpose of the secretariat, as we understand it, is to help the province manage its Olympic commitment and we think that's a fair cost to include."

The Sea-to-Sky Highway is a classic example of how government’s position projects in hosting an Olympic Games. The current highway between Vancouver and Whistler (about 75 miles) is a treacherous two lane highway. If Whistler is going to become a world class ski resort, it will only do so if the highway between Vancouver and the ski resort makes Whistler more accessible. What Van Iersel seemed to forget when he released his report 23 months ago it was that the Sea-to-Sky Highway would inevitably be built. The Olympic Games might have been the catalyst, but the highway was going to happen.

"Way back when we were bidding for the Games . . . one of the things we looked at was the access to Whistler," John Furlong head of the Vancouver Organizing Committee told the media after the report was announced. "We had a conversation with the province about the road and the plans were to build it by 2012. The Games have triggered a timing change, that's all."

Chris Shaw of 2010 Watch, an outspoken critic of Olympic bookkeeping, said Van Iersel's report was a case of "I told you so."

"It's the Enron-style accounting we have been warning about since 2002," said Shaw. "The question is what are they going to do to make sure things don't get worse?"

While the Sea-to-Sky Highway expense makes sense, a number of other key items and mistakes made by Vancouver organizers fit more along the lines of other Olympics Games – bad planning and poor economic projections have only made a bad problem only a great deal worse.

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee had budgeted $470 million for facilities. That figure was revised to $580 million 23 months ago; a figure few observers believe is realistic.

"Whether the revised enhanced [$580 million] budget will be sufficient to deliver a venue package that meets [International Olympic Committee] satisfaction is questionable," warns the federal report by Pacific Liaicon, a subsidiary of construction powerhouse SNC-Lavalin Inc.

It’s interesting that while Furlong was quick to point out British Columbia had been in the planning stages for the Sea-to-Sky Highway, he could only spin the spiraling venue costs.

"This is a very, very complex project," said Furlong, who said last week the Olympics will come in under its $580 million construction budget. "I believe that we have the confidence of the people of the province.” Remember as the head of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Bid Committee, projected $470 million. Why anyone would have any faith in Furlong’s ability to deliver a revised facilities budget nearly 25% higher then his original budget makes no sense.

"It is . . . abundantly clear that VANOC is not far enough along on design, completion of Project Definition Reports, or tender and award of contracts for all their venues to be able to state unequivocally that they can deliver Olympic 2010 venues within the revised $580 million total budget," the report concludes.

Of greater concern are the suggestions that the facilities would be ready well before the Games, offering Canadian athletes a real competitive advantage at the 2010 Games and that isn’t going to happen.

"It should ... be noted that in the worst cast scenario, similar to Torino 2006, the venues could be delayed to just prior to the Olympic events," the federal report by Pacific Liaicon report says.

"This would ... result in Canadian athletes not being able to do practice runs on the actual Olympic venues as presently planned. In addition, another downside effect is that additional escalation that is presently not provided for in the $580-million [construction] budget would be incurred."

Their 2008 Beijing Games will be debated on many different levels. Politics and how they should or shouldn’t play a role in a city hosting an Olympic Games. Sponsorship and the value of investing hundreds of millions of dollars in an Olympic Games. Broadcast revenues and whether the Beijing Games will result in a return on the billions of dollars networks have paid for Olympic rights. And athletes and their use of performance enhancement drugs. Those are all issues that will be front and center in the next three weeks but one issue won’t be debated – the costs of the Beijing Games.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: Business Week.

Countdown to Beijing – the Olympics, business, politics just days away

2008-08-02T13:49:00.001-04:00

It’s now down to just a matter of days, the years of planning have come down to five days. The opening ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are just five days away and on the eve of the most important event The People's Republic of China are ready to open their doors to an unsuspecting world.

Sponsors have invested more than $866 million in the Beijing Games, broadcast revenues will exceed $1.44 billion. There is every likelihood that these Games will have little to do with athletic accomplishment and everything to do with the misguided beliefs The Lords of the Rings (The International Olympic Committee) corporate America and other Global companies turning their backs. Instead of standing by decency and morality, their investment instead is all mighty dollar and more than anything else an opportunity for the China’s Communist Government to promote their values, beliefs and lifestyles. The marriage of Olympic ideals are facing their toughest test since the Nazi Games held in Berlin in 1936.

Friday, Chinese President President Hu Jintao in Beijing met with the media, offering his perspective on how the leader of the world’s most populated nation feels about upcoming Beijing Games.

"We hope that foreign reporters while in China will respect our laws and rules, report objectively and help communication and understanding between China and the peoples of the world," Hu said.

According to a Reuters report: in his nearly six years as China's top leader, Hu has been interviewed by foreign media only a handful of times. Friday's meeting was designed to carry the same message Hu's government's hopes the Olympics will do for China — promote a friendlier face for the nation.

"The determining factor in securing the success of the Olympic Games is to work vigorously to promote the Olympic spirit featuring friendship, solidarity and peace," Hu said. "The key is to ensure that athletes from all countries will have a level playing field to compete fairly."

"We need to ensure that our friends from the five continents can further enhance their mutual understanding and deepen their friendship during the games," Hu said.

Two dozen reporters where invited to the press conference and only questions submitted in advance where permitted. When Georg Blume of the German newspaper Die Zeit tried to pose a question at the end on human rights, Hu ignored him. Needless to say freedom of the press isn’t a hallmark of Hu’s government.

``Since Beijing won the bid for the games on July 13, 2001, the Chinese government and the Chinese people have been working in earnest to honor the commitments made to the international community,'' Hu said.

"That the Olympic Games will be held in China, a country that accounts for one fifth of humanity, shows the trust placed on China by the world and is itself a contribution by China to the world.
"The Beijing Olympic Games belongs to the Chinese people, and more importantly also belongs to the people from around the world.
"We pay close attention to raising the level of our people in terms of civility. We have launched a nationwide campaign among 400 million Chinese children and teenagers concerning the Olympic education.
"We work vigorously to encourage the Chinese people to be gracious, courteous, warm, friendly and hospitable hosts for the Games."

If you believe in the tooth fairy – Hu assured the assembled 24 media members change is coming to China but the changes promised seven years ago when China was selected to host the 2008 Summer Olympics seven years, will only come after the Games have finished.

"At the same time as constantly deepening reform of the economic system and achieving sound and fast economic and social development, we will continue pursuing comprehensive reforms including reforms of the political system."
The government will "continue expanding socialist democracy and developing a state of socialist rule of law," Hu said, calling for a "lively, stable and harmonious political setting".
"The current dream of the Chinese people is to accelerate building a modern country, realize the great renaissance of the Chinese nation, and with the peoples of the world seek peaceful progress, amicable co-existence and harmonious development."

And after suggesting change will come after the Games – Hu offered this comment when asked about the political nature of the Beijing Games.

"It is only inevitable that people from different countries and regions may not see eye to eye with one another on some different issues.
"And I think in this context, we should enter into consultations on an equal footing to narrow our differences and expand our common ground on the basis of mutual respect.
"I don't think that politicizing the Olympic Games will do anything good to addressing any of the issues.
"And I think such an attempt also runs counter to the spirit of the Olympic Games and goes against the shared aspiration of people from across the world.
"At the end of the day, such an attempt will also undermine the Olympic movement."

What Hu seems to have forgotten (or never really cared about to begin with) (are) the promises made to the world media in Moscow on July 13, 2001 when the Chinese government promised a free and open media and press. Earlier in the week the International Olympic Committee acknowledged that the Chinese government was blocking several key human rights websites and reporters emails being sent from and received in China where be blocked as well.

Bloomberg Media reported Friday evening: the International Olympic Committee Friday denied it had struck a deal to allow Chinese authorities to censor the Internet, contradicting IOC official Kevin Gosper, who said this week that such an agreement had been reached. It said in a later statement that it was ``pleased that the issues are quickly being resolved.''

``This access has always been assured by BOCOG and the Chinese authorities and the IOC is pleased to see these are assurances being upheld,'' the IOC said.

Sophie Peer, China campaign coordinator for Amnesty International, said this was a rare case of the government changing policy over media issues.

``We certainly haven't seen much giving in in our work with this government,'' Peer said in an interview. ``This is one small positive step, but it's still not near enough.''

Web sites for organizations such as Free Tibet, which campaigns for an end to China's occupation of the Himalayan region, and Falungong, a religious movement banned in China, remained inaccessible at the main media center.

Web viewers in the media zone were able to see stories such as ``Dalai Lama says China lacks sincerity'' on the BBC's Chinese Web site. Amnesty's host page answered a question about whether China had fulfilled its promise to improve human rights before the Games with: ``Not when expressing your opinion in China can result in jail, torture or death.''

President Bush will travel to Beijing to attend the opening ceremonies. Bush attended the 2002 Salt Lake City Games in his role as leader of the host country. President Bush won’t be the only world leader attending the Opening Ceremonies sitting with Chinese President Hu.

Friday, United States House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter to President Bush, ahead of his trip to Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, urging him to make human rights and freedom of the press in China top priorities of his visit.

“On the eve of your trip to China to attend the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the human rights situation in China and Tibet is worsening and new restrictions are being imposed on international journalists as they attempt to cover the Olympic Games. I am writing to ask that you make human rights and freedom of the press top priorities of your visit.

“The Olympic Charter states that the goal of the Olympic Games should be to promote "a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." Sadly, the Chinese government has failed to create an atmosphere that honors the Olympic traditions of freedom and openness. In fact, human rights conditions have worsened in the time leading up to the Olympic Games as Chinese authorities have intensified efforts to detain and imprison people who have publicly spoken out about conditions in China and Tibet.

“In exchange for the privilege of hosting the Olympic Games, the Chinese government made commitments regarding freedom of the press, human rights, and the environment. Many of these commitments have been violated repeatedly and blatantly. Prominent human rights defenders have been arrested and imprisoned. International and Chinese journalists have been censored, threatened, and detained. Most recently, we have learned that international journalists are being blocked from accessing websites deemed offensive by the Chinese government. This action is in direct contradiction of Beijing's commitment to allow international media free access to cover the Olympics in China. (’’)

“The recent dialogue between the Chinese government and representatives of the Dalai Lama did not result in any progress. Thousands of peaceful Tibetans still languish in prisons in the aftermath of protests that began in March. Chinese authorities stepped up their so-called "patriotic education" campaigns that require Tibetan Buddhists -- regardless of their true thoughts, beliefs, and convictions -- to publicly denounce the Dalai Lama.

“On the international front, the Chinese government's policies of supporting the genocidal regime in Sudan and the military junta in Burma run counter to the interests of peace and stability in the world. It is my hope that you will persuade China to end its support for the human rights abuses in these countries.

“On July 30, the U.S. House of Representatives considered a resolution calling on the Chinese government to end abuses of human rights, cease its repression of Tibetan and Uighur citizens and end its support for the governments of Sudan and Burma. The resolution also calls on the President to make strong statements on human rights and meet with the families of jailed prisoners of conscience while in Beijing. It passed by a vote of 419-1.

“Your recent meetings with Chinese dissidents at the White House are to be commended. However, your participation at the opening ceremony of the Olympics will send a signal to the Chinese people and the international community that could be misperceived as your approval, and that of the American people, for the draconian policies of the Chinese government. Therefore, it is essential that you unambiguously speak out for human rights and meet with the families of jailed prisoners of conscience while you are in Beijing.”

In regard to the July 30 U.S. House of Representatives non-action (the ‘considered’ resolution) Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Liu Jianchao's remarks on the China-related Resolution Adopted by the US House offered these insightful comments: “In disregard of China's firm opposition, the US House insisted on adopting the resolution proposed by a handful of anti-China congressmen, which has fully exposed their ulterior motives to politicize, disrupt and sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games. This action itself is a blasphemy to the spirit of the Olympics and runs counter to the aspiration of people of all countries including the US. We have made solemn representations to the US Administration and legislature, urging the US side to stop the unprincipled deeds of a handful of anti-China Congressmen by concrete actions.

“To hold a successful Olympic Games is a century-cherished dream of the Chinese people, and also the shared aspiration of people all over the world. We are fully confident that we can make the Beijing Olympic Games a high-level sports event with distinguishing features under the joint efforts and support of the Olympic family. We urge a few anti-China forces in the US congress to make the right judgment and change their course to avoid further harming their images.”

The London Telegraph one of Britain’s bigger daily papers Friday published a story that looked at propaganda and the Beijing Games.

When the organizers advertised for volunteers according to the report to deal with baffled foreigners unused to local ways, a million people applied. Most of the 100,000 selected came from universities around the country, such as Wang Wenjia, a 21-year-old medical student who has trained eight hours a day for two weeks.

“First of all, it’s a great opportunity to be part of the Games,” he said, switching back and forth between Chinese and nervous but enthusiastic English, which he has been practising for this moment. “This is a once-in-a-hundred-year thing. Though I can’t compete in the field as an athlete, I can give my heart as a volunteer, give my passion. To offer my service to the spirit of the Olympics is very important.”

It didn’t take long for The Telegraph to find ‘journalists’ ready to sell the party line. Sima Nan, a television celebrity turned writer and blogger who blasted the few liberal newspapers in China for selling out to America. Sima believes that China is not ready for personal freedom, nor suited to one man, one vote. Liberals, he claims, want to do away with “Chineseness” and turn the country into a pale imitation of the West.

When asked about whether the Olympics were not supposed to represent universal values, he told The Telegraph its values were very different from those we have in mind.

“There is no contradiction between Chinese attitudes and the spirit of the Olympics,” he claimed, defining the spirit of the Olympics, very much as Wang Wenjia had done, as “peace, competition and unity” – in short, a global festival of mutual honour and indifference to one another’s political systems. Those who want to use the Games to push other agendas are, he says, like people who “talk dirty and smash the dishes when they are invited to a party”.

Susan Brownell, an American athlete, anthropologist and author of Beijing’s Games: What the Olympics Mean to China, told The Telegraph: “They are collective redemption for the national suffering of the past century.”

“The Cultural Revolution generation that is now in charge have a sense that they were not well educated,” she says. “They hope to use the Games to shape the next generation, so that they are better prepared to take up their role in the world community.”

Brownell a member of the International Olympic Committee's Selection Committee shared these thoughts on the relationship between the 2008 Olympics and Chinese politics with The Seattle Times’ Daniel Beekman.

“In general, I think the outside world doesn't realize that the 2008 Olympics are being used to press China's government to do things for the Chinese people. Change usually occurs slowly here, but the Games have sped Beijing's political process up. There has been a huge push to clean up the city, for example.

“There is a lot of inertia in Chinese government. A big reason for that is China's enormous population. The country is so big - it takes a lot of effort to accomplish anything. And the nature of Chinese politics contributes to that inertia as well. In Beijing, government consists entirely of guanxi wang ('webs of personal relations'). When you do something, as an official, you must consider how that something will affect everyone connected to you and everyone connected to them - ad infinitum. So political actions are like stones dropped into ponds. They send ripples moving outwards. No one particularly wants to make waves, and so only very slowly do things normally get done.

“Consequently, Chinese leaders have, for decades now, used big events to accelerate change and get things accomplished. This is not just true for the 2008 Olympics - it's been done for years and years. Foreign reporters keep making a big deal of Beijing's Olympics-related politeness and anti-spitting campaigns. But those campaigns are decades old. They were certainly around in the 1980s. I was here right before the United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 and at that time Beijing was doing similar things - there were campaigns to improve the politeness of taxi drivers, to curb spitting and to improve public health and hygiene. Just before the 1990 Asian Games, disposable chopsticks were finally adopted citywide in Beijing restaurants. In China, events are often agents for change. It's just that the Olympics are bigger.”

Offering Brownell the benefit of the doubt Beekham asked her if China's leaders are using the 2008 Olympics to get things done, what have been their objectives?

“The government has really pushed forward both environmental protection and Olympic education. In the context of Beijing, Olympic education has meant training China's next generation to be 'international.' Many young Chinese have been trained via Beijing's Olympic volunteer programs.

“But what does 'international' mean? Good question. 'Becoming more international' is a great all-encompassing slogan, but to realize it is a bit more of a problem. If you list what is being emphasized to these college students in Beijing, who account for most of the volunteers, the main thing is 'you need to learn to dare to talk to foreigners.' It's 'don't be afraid of them - go up to them - speak English with them - open your mouth.' The IOC pinpointed Chinese volunteers' English abilities as an area of concern a few months ago. But investigations here have showed that language isn't what's wrong. What's causing trouble is intimidation. Those volunteers observed by the IOC were afraid to open their mouths. In the end, young peoples' language abilities and attitudes are getting a lot of government attention.

“Besides 'internationalism,' the Olympic ideals most emphasized in China with respect to the 2008 Games have been friendship, understanding, unity and peace. Olympic education here has been aimed at two distinct groups - volunteer college students and schoolchildren. The government has invested a lot in the teaching of the Games in Beijing primary and secondary schools. Basically, the idea is to teach international friendship and world peace through the Olympic Games, while also preparing young Chinese people for the world. Here in Beijing, the history of the Olympics is taught in a way that emphasizes first the Games' western origins, then China's slow incorporation into the Olympic movement, and finally China's ascendance to its place as an equal partner in that movement with these 2008 Games. It's not only Olympic history - it's a narrative of China's relationship with the outside world as well.”

Clearly there are two sides to this coin. Those who believe the Chinese are up to no good, never where and the Beijing Games represent nothing more than an opportunity for the global companies to reach the world’s most populated country – politics, moral and ethical values be dammed. Media censorship and restricting email to and from China didn’t help those who believe the Red Menace is alive and well. How hollow where the words of Chinese President Hu Friday who suggested indeed change will come to China , after the Games are over?

On the other hand if respected scholars like Susan Brownell are to be believed the Chinese deserve the benefit of the doubt --- at least until the Games end of August 24, 2008. Again the actions the Chinese government took early this week won’t help Brownell’s case. Brownell has lived and studied in China and is an acknowledged and respected scholar without a political agenda.

Two very interesting sides of a coin that will play themselves out before more than 20,000 journalists and billions of people watching across the world (fragment). Unlike the 1936 Nazi Games the Chinese should be well aware in the era of instant communications (comma) one major miss-step could result in untold damage to Chinese reputation as a respected world power.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The Seattle Times, Bloomberg News, Reuters

Countdown to Beijing – Politics, Business and the Beijing Games

2008-08-01T15:40:00.000-04:00

The Beijing Games begin Friday and the world will be watching. The next three weeks promise to offer an orgy of Beijing Olympic related coverage. Will the Chinese be ready? Easiest question to answer, there is no budget for the Beijing Games. Say what you want about costs for the 2012 London Games approaching $20 billion or the more than $12 billion spent on the 2004 Athens Games.

You’ll be able to combine the outrageous totals for those two games, toss in the estimated $8 billion spent on the 2006 Turin Winter Games and you still won’t be able to top the more than $40 billion The People’s Republic of China have spent on the 2008 Games.

Much of the Games coverage over the last twelve months has focused on the politics of the Games. On February 13 film director Steven Spielberg resigned as artistic adviser to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, in protest at China's failure to distance itself from genocide and human rights abuses in Darfur.

The Oscar-winning director, who had been working since last year to help choreograph the Games' opening ceremony scheduled for next Friday, had previously warned Beijing that he would withdraw unless it did more to distance itself from the violence.

In a statement released when Spielberg delivered a message to Beijing organizers, the director said: "I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual. At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur."

The Olympic Torch relay was plagued by protests in nearly every country the torch visited before it touched down in China. The Dalai Lama had a dramatic impact on the Games. The New York Times summed up the terrible toll Tibetans have experienced at the hands of the Chinese

The Chinese took Tibet by force in 1951, and the region has been a source of tension ever since. Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama — who, much to Beijing’s fury, met President Bush at the White House last October — has urged greater religious and cultural freedom for Tibet. But talks with Beijing have gone nowhere.

Tuesday, Students for a Free Tibet paid $51,000 to purchase a full page ad in The New York Times. The ad reads in part, “At every Olympics, there is one athlete who ends up inspiring the world with their courage and character. We’re hoping that athlete is reading this.” The ad appeared in the Times today, July 29th, on page A9.

The New York Times ad was sponsored by Students for a Free Tibet, whose recent dramatic protests at Mt. Everest base camp, the Great Wall of China, and the Golden Gate Bridge have grabbed worldwide headlines. Listed at the bottom of the ad is the web address www.AthleteWanted.org, a website sponsored by Students for a Free Tibet and the International Tibet Support Network, a global coalition of over 150 Tibet support organizations.

Tibet groups in North America, Europe, India, and Australia have been reaching out to Olympic hopefuls and athletes from many participating nations, providing information and materials to encourage them to show support for Tibet while at the Games in August.

“Olympic athletes have the platform and the power to inspire the world,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “At the Beijing Games, we believe athletes have the opportunity to inspire not only with their athletic performances, but also by standing up for what is right by supporting human rights and freedom for Tibet.”

The website lists ideas and resources for showing support for Tibet in Beijing this summer. The website suggests raising a Tibetan Flag, wearing ‘Team Tibet’ clothing, and other creative, nonviolent statements of support.

“The Chinese government is using the Olympics as a pretext for an ongoing campaign of brutal repression targeting Tibetans,” said Han Shan, Olympics Campaign Coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet. “We are searching for an athlete to show the Chinese government the true Olympic principles of friendship, solidarity and fair play by standing up for Tibet at the Beijing Olympics.”

“At a time when Chinese authorities are ruthlessly silencing Tibetan voices, it means more than ever when free people speak up for Tibet,” said Yangchen Lhamo, a San Francisco Bay Area-based spokesperson for Students for a Free Tibet. “We believe many athletes compete in the Olympics not just for themselves and their countries, but because they believe in the values of liberty, justice, and human dignity that the Olympics represent. These are the ideals that Tibetans are struggling and dying for at this moment.”

When the Games start next Friday, the Games sharing the stage taking center stage together won’t be the first time politics and the Olympics have come together, as reported by the USA Today:

Berlin, 1936: German medal winners and many foreigners follow Adolf Hitler's lead and raise their right arms in the Nazi salute. Hitler's Aryan supremacist doctrine takes a public relations hit, however, when African-American sprinter Jesse Owens wins four gold medals.
Melbourne, 1956: Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon boycott to protest the attack on Egypt by Britain, France and Israel during the Suez Crisis. The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland boycott to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary.
Mexico City, 1968: U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise black-gloved fists in the air as a salute to black power during the medal ceremony for the 200 meters. They are suspended by the IOC and sent home by the USOC.
Munich, 1972: A pro-Palestinian group kills 11 members of the Israeli team after an assault in the Olympic Village. Competition is suspended for 34 hours and IOC President Avery Brundage is widely criticized for barely mentioning the Israeli athletes during a memorial service.
Montreal, 1976: African nations boycott to protest apartheid in South Africa. Taiwan withdraws after Canada's government says it cannot use the name Republic of China.
Moscow, 1980: The USA leads a boycott with 64 other countries to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Los Angeles, 1984: The Soviets retaliate with their own boycott with 13 other countries, citing security concerns.
Lillehammer, 1994: IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch makes an emotional call for an Olympic truce in the war-torn Balkans, 10 years after Sarajevo hosted the Winter Games. Norwegian speedskater Johann Olav Koss, winner of three gold medals, donates $30,000 in bonuses to aid for Sarajevo.

The International Olympic Committee awarded the Games to Beijing on Friday, July 13, 2001. Beijing received 56 votes three more than the required majority and 34 votes ahead of second-placed Toronto.

The reaction seven years ago – interesting to say the least.

Following the decision, then Chinese President Jiang Zemin made an unannounced appearance and gave the exuberant crowd his "warmest congratulations."

"Comrades! We express our deep thanks to all our friends around the world and to the IOC for helping to make Beijing successful in its Olympic bid," Jiang shouted to the crowd.

"I hope the whole nation works hard along with residents of the capital city to stage successful 2008 Olympic Games. I also welcome our friends around the world to visit Beijing in 2008."

''Like all countries, China has certain areas where something is left to be desired,'' Yuan Weimin, the country's minister of sport, said at the time. As China further opens to the world in preparation for the Olympics and for its expected entry into the World Trade Organization, Mr. Yuan said, economic progress ''will bring along advances in culture, health, education, sport and, not least of all, corresponding progress in human rights causes.''

Juan Antonio Samaranch, in his last act as president of the I.O.C., said when the Games where awarded to Beijing the awarding of the 2008 Games could open ''a new era for China.'' Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, an auxiliary member of the I.O.C., said, ''I think this is a very important step in the evolution of China's relation with the world.

''I think it will have a major impact in China, and on the whole, a positive impact, in the sense of giving them a high incentive for moderate conduct both internationally and domestically in the years ahead,'' said Dr. Kissinger, who was not eligible to participate in the voting.

"For the industrial and commercial sector, it's like buying an insurance policy that (China) will not invade Taiwan for seven years," the Chinese mass circulation United Daily News reported.

In New Delhi, the Dalai Lama's Tibetan government-in-exile slammed the choice, saying it would encourage repression in China.

As Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama runs a government-in-exile from the Indian Himalayan foothills town of Dharamsala. He fled Tibet nine years after Chinese troops marched into their homeland in 1950.

"We deeply regret that Beijing is awarded the 2008 Olympic Games," spokesman for the India-based Central Tibetan Administration Kalon T.C. Tethong said in a statement.

"This will put the stamp of international approval on Beijing's human rights abuses and will encourage China to escalate its repression," he said.

According to a CNN report published on July 14, 2001 the United States urged China to show a "modern" face when it hosts the Olympic Games in 2008 after it won its bid despite worldwide concern over its human rights record.

"The president believes that the Olympics are a sporting event, not a political event. But having said that, this now is an opportunity for China to showcase itself as a modern nation," then White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said at the time.

Reaction from France (Paris also bid for the 2008 Games) made it clear the French weren’t pleased with the decision.

Francois Loncle, then the head of parliament's foreign affairs committee, saw parallels with the decision to hold the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.

"The decision by the IOC goes towards justifying a repressive political system that each day flouts freedom and violates human rights," said Loncle, a member of French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Socialist party.

"Following the example of Nazi Germany in 1936 and the Soviet Union in 1980, Communist China will use (the games) as a powerful propaganda instrument destined to consolidate its hold on power," Loncle said in a statement.

In Germany, then German Interior Minister Otto Schily told CNN the decision should help promote democracy in China. "I am convinced that the Olympic Games will have a positive effect on China's democratic development," he said in a statement.

''There is a feeling that the Olympic Games promote world peace and humanitarian causes and can impact social change immediately,'' Kevin Wamsley, a history professor and director of the International Center for Olympic Studies at the University of Western Ontario told The New York Times. ''History shows the Games have not done these kinds of things. I don't think we saw any less racism in the U.S. because the Olympics were in Atlanta.''

''We're disappointed the I.O.C. didn't get guarantees from the Chinese government on human rights issues before giving the Games away,'' said Sidney Jones, Asia director for the Human Rights Watch, based in New York in a New York Times report at the time. ''Now the burden is going to be on corporate sponsors and governments fielding teams to ensure that human rights abuses don't take place in direct association with the Games. I don't think the Games will change things on their own.''

The awarding of the 2008 Olympic Games never had anything to do about improving human rights or making China a more open society. There is only one way for that to take place and unfortunately as history has shown moving a society from socialism to democracy doesn’t happen with “promises of good intentions”.

The 2008 Olympic Games are all about (at least from the IOC’s perspective) offering Olympic sponsors a gateway into China, a country with a quarter of the world’s population that had closed its doors to corporations for decades. Yes, the 2008 Olympic Games are all about the mighty dollar (the American one no less).

The Masters of the Rings made their momentous decision six years ago awarding the Games to Beijing – it represented in July 2001 what it does today, what it will in two years, the single greatest marketing opportunity the IOC will ever offer its major sponsors. 1.3 billion consumers have corporations salivating at the chance.

According to a 2006 Wall Street Journal report, thirty-six companies have reached marketing agreements with the Beijing Organizing Committee, or BOCOG. BOCOG isn’t quite done yet, the organizers are still actively soliciting suppliers. It’s expected according to the most current estimates the Beijing Organizing Committee will generate close to $1.5 billion in sponsorship and marketing dollars by the time the Games begin. That’s three times what the Athens Games generated and twice the total the 2000 Sydney Games ended up raising.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: USA Today, CNN and The New York Times

Countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics – Censorship and the Media

2008-07-31T15:48:00.000-04:00

A week from today the biggest sports event in Chinese history begins with the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremonies take place. Wednesday and Thursday the world media took notice of the Beijing Games, but the news had little to do with athletes getting ready to compete in events they have worked a lifetime to get ready for.

Instead the worst fears the International Olympic Committee must have had when they awarded the Games to China and Beijing on July 13, 2001 – reports from the Olympic Media Centre (which officially opened last Friday) suggest in no uncertain terms the Chinese government are censoring journalists from around the world who have traveled to China to report on the Games. Even scarier, published reports have reports email’s to their newspapers and media outlets being censored and/or being prevented from being delivered. The Red Chinese, China a communist country are back with all the venom and fear many have long believed would be a part of the Beijing Games.

It’s very important to remember that when China was bidding for the Olympics seven years ago, the Communist government assured the news media would have "complete freedom to report." That was one of several promises made at the time to ease Western fears regarding Beijing's oppression of political dissidents.

Chinese authorities confirmed late Wednesday that the 20,000 foreign journalists covering the Olympic Games will not have unrestricted access to the Internet during their stay. Kevin Gosper, the head of the IOC’s press commission, admitted Wednesday: “I also now understand that some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered games related.”

Yesterday Gosper said the IOC’s key concern was to “ensure that the media are able to report on the games as they did in previous games.”

Reporters Without Borders condemned the International Olympic Committee’s acceptance of the fact the Chinese authorities are blocking access to certain websites at the Olympic Games media centre in Beijing. More than 20,000 foreign journalists are affected.

The organization also condemned the cynicism of the Chinese authorities, who have yet again lied, and the IOC’s inability to prevent this situation because of its refusal to speak out for several years.

“Yet another broken promise!” the press freedom organization said. “Coming just nine days before the opening ceremony, this is yet another provocation by the Chinese authorities. This situation increases our concern that there will be many cases of censorship during the games. We condemn the IOC’s failure to do anything about this, and we are more than skeptical about its ability to ‘ensure’ that the media are able to report freely.”

Sun Weide, the chief spokesman for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), said the authorities would only guarantee “sufficient” Internet access for accredited media.

The Internet that foreign journalists in China can access is only relatively free. Wednesday, they were unable to access a new Amnesty International report entitled “The Olympic countdown - broken promises” or the websites for many foreign media, such as the BBC’s Chinese-language service, the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the Hong Kong-based Apple Daily and the Taiwan-based Liberty Time. The Reporters Without Borders and Falungong spiritual movement websites were also inaccessible.

Last February, the IOC announced that athletes would be allowed to keep blogs during the games as they were “a legitimate form of personal expression and not a form of journalism” but it said the blogs would have to free of political content.

In reaction to the IOC statement, Mark Allison, East Asia researcher for Amnesty International said: "The International Olympic Committee and the Organizing Committee of the Beijing Olympic Games should fulfill their commitment to ‘full media freedom" and provide immediate uncensored internet access at Olympic media venues. Censorship of the internet at the Games is compromising fundamental human rights and betraying the Olympic values.

The IOC has on many occasions highlighted the loosening of restrictions on foreign media in China as an example of the promised improvement in human rights by the Chinese authorities through the hosting of the Olympics. On April 1, Gosper said that the continued blocking of some websites would "reflect very poorly" on the hosts. On July 17 Jacques Rogge, IOC President, said "there will be no censorship of the internet."

"This blatant media censorship adds one more broken promise that undermines the claim that the Games would help improve human rights in China," said Mark Allison.

On Monday July 29, Amnesty International published the report "Olympic Countdown: Broken Promises" which evaluated the performance of the Chinese authorities in four areas related to the core values of the Olympics: persecution of human rights activists, detention without trial, censorship and the death penalty. They all related to the 'core values' of 'human dignity' and 'respect for universal fundamental ethical principles' in the Olympic Charter. The new report showed there has been little progress towards fulfilling the Chinese authorities' promise to improve human rights, but rather continued deterioration in key areas.

Working in full damage control with their crisis management team on full alert the IOC released the following statement early Thursday afternoon: “Our position is that the IOC has always encouraged the Beijing 2008 organizers to provide media with the fullest access possible to report on the Olympic Games, including access to the internet.

“In light of internet access problems which were experienced this week by media in the Olympic Games Main Press Centre in Beijing, the IOC – namely Chairman of the Beijing 2008 IOC Coordination Commission Hein Verbruggen and Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli – held meetings and discussions today with Games organizers (BOCOG) and Chinese authorities.

“The issues were put on the table and the IOC requested that the Olympic Games hosts address them. We understand that BOCOG will give details to the media very soon of how the matter has been addressed. We trust them to keep their promise.
“The IOC would like to stress that no deal with the Chinese authorities to censor the internet has ever in any way been entered into.”

Reactions from most media outlets (notably those based and controlled by China’s communist government have been supportive of China’s censorship measures) have been universal in their complete comdination.

Dennis Wilder, the White House's Asian affairs director, told reporters in Washington he was "disappointed that they clamped down on the Internet" in China.

"There have been questions about the access to the Internet and other issues at the Olympic centers," he said. "We think the Chinese government needs to heed those concerns, that if China is going to demonstrate it is truly moving forward as a modern society, this is part of it."

According to a New York Times report: Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, introduced a resolution on Tuesday urging China to reconsider what he said were its plans to force international hotel chains to track electronic communications by its guests. At a news conference, he introduced redacted documents that he said were provided by the hotels requiring them to install government software to monitor Internet traffic during the Olympics.

Jonathan Watts, president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China, told The New York Times Wednesday he was disappointed that Beijing had failed to honor its agreement to temporarily remove the firewall that prevented Chinese citizens from fully using the Internet.

“Obviously if reporters can’t access all the sites they want to see, they can’t do their jobs,” he said. “Unfortunately such restrictions are normal for reporters in China, but the Olympics were supposed to be different.”

Gosper found out about the U-turn from The Australian, the leading daily in the country that hosted the 2000 Sydney Games.

"I don't know who did the deal. I am still finding out," Mr Gosper told the paper.

"I understand it was reached with very senior (IOC and Chinese) officials. Whoever was involved in that shift, that position should have been made known to the international media community. As a conduit to that, I should have been informed too, instead of being isolated and given misinformation for some time.

"It has dented my reputation quite seriously. People take me at my word so I expect the information I am giving to be consistent."

"I am disappointed because I have learned in corporate life that you don't deliver surprises to constituents, and the media is a key constituent at the Olympics.
"People will judge that I have been naive."

Gosper, who is one of the first IOC members to arrive in Beijing, told The Australian he fell for the lie about uncensored internet access announced two years ago because he believed it was in China's interests to have free and open media at the Olympics.

"I believed we would stick to the agreement. That is what we have done at different Games held in all sorts of societies. I thought China would judge it was in their interests. If they shifted, fine, but tell us."

According to The Australian the infamous Great Firewall of China that blocks a multitude of websites, even in the Olympic press centre, was also blocking emails yesterday.

Emails sent from Beijing to Sydney by The Australian's China correspondent, Rowan Callick, which included an article from the Far Eastern Economic Review, failed to arrive.

Other messages sent at the same time to the same people, with the same subject name, were all received immediately.

The website of the well-respected bi-monthly journal, published in Hong Kong and owned by News Corp, as is The Australian, is blocked in China for reasons authorities have never explained.

The writing has long been on the wall when it came to how the Communist Chinese were going to treat the media for many years. If maximizing marketing and sponsorship dollars played a determining factor in the Games being awarded to Beijing, a report released TWO YEARS AGO from “Reporters Without Borders” made it abundantly clear, China politically remained a communist country then, where freedom remains a question mark.

Reporters Without Borders where outraged that, 730 days before the start of the Beijing Games (again two years ago), the Chinese authorities where able to continue a crackdown on the press with virtually nothing being said by the IOC or the national Olympic committees. Nothing seemed capable of eliciting a reaction from the Olympic bodies two years ago, not even restrictions on the foreign press.

"This silence allows the Chinese government to shamelessly continue its massive human rights violations," Reporters Without Borders said in their July 2006 report. "Already marred by corruption, the preparation of the games has been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, which officials say is necessary to make sure they are safe." The press freedom organization also fears that all the surveillance and crowd-control equipment that China has bought from US, Israeli and French companies to ensure security at the games, will afterwards be used for repression.

Freedom of the press, a cornerstone of the American Constitution, won’t get in the way of companies focused on reaching the Chinese market. Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of marketing heavyweight WPP Group PLC, told the Wall Street Journal last year he believed China could be the world's second-largest advertising market. Sir Martin has said it is "difficult to think of any sporting or cultural event in the world that could be bigger."

The 2008 Games represents the largest single influx of journalists into China (more than 20,000 journalists). How the Chinese treat the foreign press will leave a lasting impression on the world.

"In no other major country is there so much control over foreign journalists,” Jonathan Watts of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China offered two years ago. Dozens of foreign journalists - both visitors and those based there - are detained, threatened or attacked each year. "We are unable to give an exact figure at the moment, somewhere between 50 and 100 a year, but the number of journalists prevented from working by force is a problem that should be raised at the highest level," says Watts.

Does that suggest journalists should be concerned about their safety if they’re covering the Beijing Games? Will journalists be permitted to cover the Games and report on what they see as they see fit? In a sad testament to how badly Western based companies want to find their way into the Chinese market, two years ago Google agreed to censor its search services in China in order to gain greater access to China's fast-growing market. (the cornerstone as to how the Chinese are censoring the media on the eve of the Beijing Games)

Google’s position at the time claimed the company wasn’t wasn’t sacrificing its integrity. “While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, providing no information... is more inconsistent with our mission,” was in part the Google’s rationale.

There is every likelihood, probability that by the time you’re reading this the Communist Chinese will have eased if not removed all of the media censorship restrictions the Red Menace have put in place. What other choice(s) do Beijing Olympic organizers have. Consider the alternative, a very scary proposition if the restrictions remain in place:

If the restrictions remain in place, blocking of websites and preventing email’s from being freely sent to and from Beijing there is a strong probability many journalists will do whatever they have to do to report on how they are being treated and how they feel about it. It’s not that farfetched working under oppressive conditions, to imagine that reporters doing whatever they have to do report the news, fall into a terrible trap and the unthinkable takes place. Factoring how scary this could become – count on the Chinese changing their position.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: The Australian, USA Today, The Washington Post and The New York Times

Countdown to Beijing – Live and on the Internet, encompassing the Globe (Part II)

2008-07-30T19:03:00.000-04:00

“If you can’t beat them – you might as well join them” seems to be a mantra the International Olympic Committee appears to be holding onto when it comes to the IOC’s philosophy when it comes to the IOC, new media (the Internet) and mobile rights. Six short years ago the IOC accredited five web based journalists, and all but forbid any live video streaming from the 2002 Salt Lake Games. NBC will stream more than 2,200 hours online and that’s merely the tip of the 2008 IOC internet video streaming. After religiously protecting the Olympics from the Internet, it would appear the IOC now sees the Internet as the eventual savior for the Olympic movement.

"It (digital media) will have a transforming impact on the Olympics at multiple levels," said Shoba Purushothaman, CEO of Web-based video marketing platform The NewsMarket in a Reuters report

"It will change story-telling for the Games by making it more human and personal."

Everything and anything relating to the Beijing Games will be sliced, diced and dissected through the Internet, but the crown jewel, the Games real future will be in delivering the Internet to an audience the Olympic movement desperately seeks – ‘younger demographic groups’ who spend countless hours on the Internet.

"The Olympic Games are not that credible or relevant to most young people in the developed or developing world," Alex Balfour, the head of new media at the London 2012 organizing committee told Reuters.

The average age of viewers for the 2004 Games in Athens was over 40 and shows no signs of falling.

"I will maybe watch highlight shows on TV later in the evening but I can never see myself watching it live," said Richard Cousins, a 19-year-old British student.

Jon Tibbs, whose public relations company has several Olympic clients, said in a Reuters report the "digital marketplace has the potential to re-engage hundreds of millions of people with sport" and, as an added benefit to the Olympic movement, re-energize the interest of consumer companies in sponsoring the Games.

The IOC awarded Chinese online rights to CCTV.com on December 18, 2007. Less than a year before next Friday’s Beijing Olympic ceremonies – the IOC made it clear they believed CCTV could deliver Olympic content to what the biggest market to ever host an Olympic Games.

The IOC selected CCTV.com on its capacity to guarantee full exploitation of the digital broadcast rights over a variety of platforms, by working in close cooperation with its television broadcast team. The IOC was also impressed by CCTV.com’s commitment to promoting the Olympic Games and the values of the Olympic Movement in China.

Over-the-air TV rights for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 were acquired by CCTV, as a member of the Asian Broadcasting Union in 1998. The IOC considered interest from several companies for the internet and mobile platform broadcast rights in the Chinese mainland, having launched a tender in March 2007.

Jacques Rogge, IOC President, said: “The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be a landmark moment in Olympic history, and is obviously an event of huge national interest in China. When this is coupled with China's digital media potential, it means our agreement with CCTV.com represents a very exciting partnership for the Olympic Movement. We look forward to working with our broadcast partner CCTV and its digital arm, CCTV.com, to bring the excitement of the Olympic Games to a new generation of fans in China.”

IOC Executive Board member and member of the IOC’s TV Rights and New Media Commission Richard Carrión said: “The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will break new boundaries in terms of digital Olympic broadcast. It was important for the IOC to make sure that all potential partners understood the value of the rights and demonstrated that they would fully exploit these rights in mainland China, whilst also providing satisfactory guarantees of anti-piracy and security measures. By granting digital rights to CCTV.com, the IOC believes CCTV.com’s digital team will work closely with the broadcast team at CCTV to develop joint executions across media platforms. This will ensure Chinese Olympic fans have access to the best possible Olympic coverage in 2008.”

CCTV.com’s General Manager, Mr. Wang Wenbin, said: “The 2008 Olympic Games is both a milestone for new media broadcast in China, and also a milestone for the new media broadcast of the Olympic Games.”

According to TVover.net: More than 75% of China's Internet users get their video entertainment, watching TV and movies on the Internet. According to China Internet Network Information Center, the administrative agency responsible for Internet affairs under the Ministry of Information Industry of the People's Republic of China, there are more than 200 million Internet users and more than 500 million mobile users in China. This represents the largest online and mobile population in the world. And CCTV has what the IOC wanted when they awarded the Chinese broadcaster over-the-air, new media and mobile rights – the audience.

CCTV is China's only main national television broadcast network with over 500 million viewers on their traditional broadcast channels. Over Internet and mobile phone platforms, CCTV.com's live streaming of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Mainland China and Macao SAR, will represent a milestone in the history of the Olympic Games broadcast in the new digital media age.

CCTV will partner with UUSee UUSee will broadcast live the opening ceremony, closing ceremony and all the important sporting action of the 2008 Olympic Games via the Internet in China.
The IOC’s new media and mobile plans for Beijing Games follow the philosophy set with NBC in the United States and CCTV in China. Over-the-air broadcast rights holders where awarded the right to stream live (and taped) events on the Internet.

In Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will offer more than 1,500 hours of video content on the CBC’s website.

As has been the case since the 1960 Rome Games, the European Broadcasting Union (a conglomerate of more than 50 national broadcasters) holds the European over-the-air, online and mobile rights. The EBU will contribute $443 million to the Beijing Games. Like NBC and Canada’s CBC, the EBU are longtime IOC broadcast partners, fulfilling the IOC’s belief that ‘those who they brought to the dance’ will enjoy new media and mobile rights in Beijing.

In November the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced an agreement with Television New Zealand (TVNZ) for the internet and mobile platform exhibition rights within New Zealand for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The IOC’s over-the-air broadcast partner through to Beijing 2008 is also TVNZ.

Commenting on the agreement, Timo Lumme, Managing Director of IOC Television and Marketing Services, said: “Digital media represents an increasingly important means for communicating the Olympic Games and the Olympic values to the broadest possible audience and we look forward to working with TVNZ to make the Beijing 2008 footage available over the internet and mobile phones in New Zealand.”

TVNZ’s Chief Executive, Rick Ellis, said: “TVNZ’s successful bid for internet and mobile rights will open up a whole new world for New Zealand viewers, allowing them to follow the Beijing Olympics more closely and in more depth than ever before.”

On July 3 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced an agreement with Terra for the internet and mobile platform exhibition rights within Latin America for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Commenting on the agreement, IOC Executive Board member Richard Carrión said: “Terra are a leader in their market, and we look forward to working with them to provide sports fans with unprecedented access to Olympic Games coverage over the internet and mobile phones in Latin America. Digital media coverage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games around the world is set to eclipse all previous editions of the Games, and these platforms represent an increasingly important means for communicating the Olympic Games and the Olympic values to the broadest possible audience, including to younger generations of Olympic fans.”

The CEO of Terra Latin America, Fernando Madeira, said: “Terra’s internet platform is able to deliver full Olympic Games content via different channels at the same time, live and on demand. The agreement with the International Olympic Committee represents a great opportunity to enhance the content for Terra TV and mobile, as well as showing our innovative capabilities in offering exclusive premium content to Terra’s users”.

A few days after the IOC awarded the new media and mobile rights for the 2008 Beijing Games, the IOC reached an agreement with the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) and the South African Broadcasting Corporation Limited (SABC) for the acquisition of the broadcast rights within 37 territories in sub- Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The agreement includes exclusive over-the-air television and radio broadcast rights and non-exclusive satellite, mobile and internet rights. It covers English, French and Portuguese languages, with a minimum commitment of six hours per day on over-the-air television, with two highlights packages per day, and four hours per day on radio.

The IOC selected the AUB / SABC partnership on its capacity to reach the largest possible audience, as well as its commitment to broadcasting tailored programming of the Olympic Games in sub-Saharan Africa and promoting the values of the Olympic Movement in the region.

Commenting on the agreement, IOC Executive Board member Richard Carrión said: “We are delighted to have reached this agreement as it is extremely important that Olympic fans across sub-Saharan Africa have the opportunity to watch the Olympic Games via the best possible broadcast coverage. The members of the AUB are well placed to provide a first-class service.”

Mr Mvuzo Mbebe, Group Executive, SABC Content Enterprises, commented: "SABC has assisted both financially in the acquisition of the rights and in leveraging its particular expertise in the technical aspects of production, whereas the AUB brings to the fore its considerable strengths in uniting the majority of broadcasters representing 37 territories within Africa under one cohesive umbrella body."

Speaking about the agreement, Larry Atiase, CEO of the AUB said: “Our feed will reach an estimated audience of 129 million people and we will broadcast 126 hours over the course of the Olympic Games.”

Broadcasting revenues (remember new media and mobile rights are melded together with the rights fees paid by over-the-air broadcasters) are staggering:

Olympic Games Broadcast Revenue
1960 Rome US$1.2 million
1964 Tokyo US$1.6 million
1968 Mexico City US$9.8 million
1972 Munich US$17.8 million
1976 Montreal US$34.9 million
1980 Moscow US$88 million
1984 Los Angeles US$286.9 million
1988 Seoul US$402.6 million
1992 Barcelona US$636.1 million
1996 Atlanta US$898.3 million
2000 Sydney US$1,331.6 million
2004 Athens US$1,494 million
2008 Beijing US$1,737 million (estimate to date)

The IOC has awarded (sold) broadcast rights through the 2012 London Games. Expect the Internet to play a key role in how the IOC delivers both the 2010 Vancouver Games and the next summer Games in London. But with hundreds of millions of dollars already committed to delivering the Games, the IOC hasn’t attempted to generate significant revenues from new media and mobile rights. When the IOC sits down with their broadcast partners to sell the 2014 Winter Games in Sofia, Russia and the yet to be awarded 2016 Summer Games expect digital rights to play a key role in the dollars the IOC will generate with the foundation that will be established when the Beijing Games begin in eight days.

"People taking photos and video with their cell phones will change the way we watch the Games," says The NewsMarket's Purushothaman.

"For the first time, digital technology will liberate how we all, sitting outside, see the Games." But the IOC will not allow spectators to publish on the internet photos and video taken inside Olympic venues.

"As the iPhone capabilities are growing by the day I can probably see myself using my iPhone to view Olympic clips on the go, maybe on my way to work or when out with my friends," said Richard Woods, 20, a public relations executive.

"Technology is the key enabler for the Olympic Games," said Alexander Vronski, technology vice president for the Sochi Winter Games of 2014. "New media can engage nations."

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this Insider Report: Reuters and the International Olympic Committee

Countdown to Beijing – Live and on the Internet (Part I)

2008-07-29T15:27:00.000-04:00

What started as a trickle at the 1996 Atlanta Games and the 1998 Nagano Winter Games, nearly imploded at the 2000 Sydney Games, was all but stopped dead in its tracks at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, was begrudgingly embraced at the 2004 Athens Games and 2006 Torino Games will be lovingly embraced by the International Olympic Committee when the 2008 Beijing Games begin in just 10 days on August 8, 2008. The Beijing Games will be the first Olympic Games accepted by the IOC.

Today’s Insider will look at the brief history of the Olympics and Internet streaming of events, while a follow-up report will look at how the host Chinese and the other countries are embracing the Beijing Games and the Internet.

The Beijing Games will be streamed live and available on almost all of those who have access to computers throughout the world. Technology will limit computer users to access to whatever country they happen to be in during the Beijing Games, but most if not all of the Games will be offered on the Internet, a striking difference from eight short years ago when the IOC set believed the Internet was the devil. The IOC rightfully protected anyone who wanted to stream events from the Sydney Games. The IOC believed that the Internet pirates might offer illegal streaming of the Olympic Games during the Sydney Games.

In an interview with James Hattori of CNN done just prior to the Sydney Games, Jonathan Weber, then editor in chief of the Industry Standard, said that in an effort to protect the rights of TV broadcasters, the International Olympic Committee had banned Internet journalism organizations from covering the Olympics in Sydney.

The IOC believed at the time that TV broadcasters had to pay fees for exclusive rights to broadcast the games in their country. In the US the NBC alone had paid $705 million, Hattori reported.

The Associated Press reported in early March 2001 (six months after the Sydney Games) that Olympic officials hadn't wanted to jeopardize their income from TV rights, which accounted for 51 percent of all revenues from the Sydney Games, $1.33 billion of the overall $2.6 billion.

They were widely criticized for their harsh policy and the issue was discussed at a media conference held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in December 2000. Associated Press reported a few months after the conference that Olympic officials decided to give accreditation to a few online news media sites to cover the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

At the Sydney Summer Games the only Internet company that got official access to the athletes and events was Quokka Sports, through a deal with NBC. Quokka provided official NBC Olympic coverage on the Internet from their site nbcolympics.com. Its well worth noting eight years ago most computers that offered Internet access featured dial-up modems and Internet bandwith speeds at 28.8.

15 months after what was regarded as a ground breaking opportunity at the time (securing 20 minutes a day of internet steaming for the Sydney Games) Quokka Sports a San Francisco based company declared bankruptcy.

Wireless, highspeed and broadband weren’t a part of the Internet when the 2002 Salt Lake City Games took place. NBC tried an interesting concept when the 2004 Athens Games rolled around – they offered Internet coverage of events to those within the United States but collected credit card information from users. Fees weren’t charged back to the credit cards, but the fear consumers had when it came to providing their credit card information over the Internet drove potential viewers away.

Not a great deal changed two years later at the 2006 Torino Games. NBC did offer Olympic highlights on their Olympic site http://www.nbcolympics.com/ but their live event coverage was limited to the Gold medal hockey game.

Monday NBC announced what can only be described as one of the most ambitious plans to stream a sports event on the Internet – ever. According to an NBC release: NBC Universal will offer the single most ambitious digital event coverage ever including 2,200 hours of live competition encompassing 25 sports on NBCOlympics.com, with thousands more available on demand. NBCOlympics.com will serve as the Olympic fan's hub for every aspect of the 2008 Beijing Games experience.

NBC Olympics Mobile will present the most comprehensive sporting event coverage ever delivered on mobile, providing Olympic fans with the best in news and video coverage. From live mobile TV broadcasts to breaking news to text and video alerts, NBC Olympics Mobile will be the "on-the-go" destination for Olympic fans. The full digital plan for the Beijing Olympics, August 8-24 was announced today by Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics.

"Over the past 20 years, we have continually expanded our coverage of the Olympics to new platforms as they have become available, and the Beijing Games will mark another milestone," said Zenkel. "With the Beijing Games, the Olympic viewer will be able to define his or her own Olympic experience like never before, watching every sport throughout the Games be it at home on TV, in the office on their computer or on the go on their mobile phones."

Not only are NBC’s plans ambitious – but they’re comprehensive, offering complete Olympic Games coverage online.

NBCOLYMPICS.COM on MSN:
Merging news, results and schedules with extensive video coverage highlighted by 2,200 hours of live streaming broadband coverage and an unmatched depth of unique storytelling content, NBCOlympics.com on MSN will be the Olympic fan's hub for every aspect of the 2008 Beijing Games experience-from the most comprehensive TV schedules to learning how to connect to mobile, gaming, VOD and other digital destinations.

EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT: NBC Universal's exclusive partnership with Microsoft unites NBC's Olympic coverage expertise, MSN's large audience reach and Microsoft's innovative Silverlight 2 technology to deliver NBCOlympics.com video while putting users in control of how they want to experience the Games – online and on demand. Starting August 6, fans logging on to the MSN homepage (http://www.msn.com) will have exclusive access to NBCOlympics.com's comprehensive coverage of the Beijing Games.

Many of the NBCOlympics.com features are detailed below:

VIDEO: NBCOlympics.com will provide approximately 2,200 hours of live streaming broadband coverage of Olympic competition where users can choose from up to 20 concurrent streams encompassing 25 Olympic sports. In addition, the site will offer more than 3,000 hours of on-demand access to full-event replays and extensive highlights, including daily recaps of key events, best-of montages, commentator analysis and athlete-specific clips. (By comparison, at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, NBC streamed two hours of live footage).

The video player's enhanced mode, powered by Microsoft's Silverlight technology, will offer picture-in-picture, quad-screen functionality, a larger viewing area and an improved user experience.

REAL-TIME RESULTS: For all Olympic sports, NBCOlympics.com will present the most comprehensive results anywhere online, provide LIVE results as events are happening and offer statistical summaries, tournament draws and group standings.

PERSONALIZED TELEVISION AND ONLINE VIEWER'S GUIDE: This section, traditionally one of the most trafficked portions of the site during the Games, will be even more important to help navigate the expanded Olympic coverage across all the NBC Universal broadcast and digital platforms. NBCOlympics.com's complete schedule for the NBCU broadcast and online coverage reflects the most up-to-date programming information as the television and online schedules are modified throughout the Games. Additionally, site visitors who enter their zip code will receive localized listings that reflect the exact programming available from their local NBC affiliate, including live streaming listings and digital affiliate channel locations for high-definition viewing on NBC Universal cable stations. Viewers will be able to sort the listings by sport, network, day and time, as well as search by keywords such as athlete, team or country.

EXPERTISE AND ANALYSIS: NBC's Olympic commentators will provide video reviews and previews of competition, as well as insight into specific events, rules and athletes competing in the Games. In addition, NBCOlympics.com producers and writers, including Alan Abrahamson, widely considered the foremost Olympic writer, will be breaking news as well as writing columns, features and analysis. The Associated Press will serve as the primary source for recaps and previews of all the Olympic competition.

MEDAL TRACKER: An in-depth page presenting real-time medal standings, plus related content such as medal ceremonies, past medal standings searchable by country and sport, as well as links from the medal tracker to recaps and highlights of competition.

TEAM USA: Thorough coverage of the American athletes throughout the Beijing Games. Content includes results and medals, video introductions and daily events to watch.

ATHLETE PROFILES: NBCOlympics.com will present bios for all 10,500 athletes competing in Beijing, with unmatched depth of information and content around the American competitors, including Q&As, photo galleries, video clips, results and more.

COUNTRY PROFILES: Snapshots of all 205 participating nations include general data (e.g. population, location), plus Olympic histories and 2008 Olympic outlooks.

PHOTOS: NBCOlympics.com will use screen grabs from NBC Sports broadcasts as well as a full library of Getty and Associated Press images to offer multiple galleries and narrative slideshows across all Olympic sports.

DESTINATION BEIJING: A section dedicated to the host city and nation, featuring video features, photo galleries, written features, blogs and more, for users who want to learn more about the culture of China and the Olympic host city, Beijing.

INSIDE THIS SPORT: This is a feature that will give users everything they need to know about a specific sport including competition formats, scoring systems, rules, glossaries, historic timelines and venues.

BLOGS: More than a dozen Olympians are contributing personally shot, home-video style content to NBCOlympics.com as part of an "Olympic Insider" feature that offers insight into the athletes' personalities and the sports they play. Installments include tours of residences, behind-the-scenes at training sessions, out-of-competition team outings and more. The "Olympic Insider" can be explored at www.nbcolympics.com/olympicinsider/index.html.

WIDGETS: NBCOlympics.com widgets allow users to stay up to date on the Beijing Olympics without leaving their personal homepages. Widgets include: top news, video & photos, athletes to watch, TV and online listings, medal trackers, results, schedules and local coverage.

TELEMUNDO: Telemundo.NBCOlympics.com offers Spanish-speaking viewers a destination for all things Olympics. The largest Spanish offering to date for NBC Olympics, the Telemundo section is a near clone of the English-language site featuring comprehensive coverage (news, video, photos) on key sports including medals, results, athletes and countries.

GAMES:
PRIMETIME COMPANION: A special application to enhance the primetime broadcast, offering video features, text and photos on competition airing in primetime highlighted by polling, chatting, trivia and more. This application will also offer the "Primetime Challenge," a two-screen gaming application in which Olympic fans can play along as they watch NBC's primetime broadcast. Users can compete for points in real-time, while playing against their friends and other fans, by predicting the outcome of live events, answering Olympic trivia and polls, playing Olympic-themed mini-games, and chatting with their friends about that night's competition. The "Primetime Challenge" will be available for all 17 nights of NBC's primetime coverage.

OLYMPIC QUICK PICK FANTASY GAME: The Olympic Quick Pick fantasy game will allow fantasy players and Olympic enthusiasts the opportunity to win prizes for participating while cheering on Olympic athletes. Visitors of NBCOlympics.com will be assigned five random athletes competing for a medal each day. Based on how those athletes finish in their medal events, users will earn fantasy points. Those that accumulate the most fantasy points both daily and over the course of the entire Olympics will win prizes.

OLYMPIC FLASH GAMES: Fans of diving, weightlifting, and archery can compete online in games designed to mimic Olympic competition.

OLYMPIC TRIVIA GAMES: Olympic fans will also be able to test their knowledge with NBCOlympics.com trivia games. Players will be able to compete against other Olympics fans, as well as challenge friends to beat their scores.

OLYMPIC ZONE:
A total of 227 of the 232 (97%) NBC affiliated websites (including all top 100 markets) are participating in the 2008 Olympic Zone offering. Olympic Zone presents localized coverage of the Beijing Olympics directly from a user's hometown NBC station. Track local athletes, watch video, slideshows and read blogs. Expanded features in 2008 include:
· Localized national video available via Olympic Zone Advanced Olympic Zone integration into NBCOlympics.com (more modules, contextual items such as local athlete tracker)
· Expanded localized content including national video fed into Olympic Zone
· Improved local athlete trackers with featured local athletes on the national site
· Widgets for placement on station and partner websites
· Local email alerts

NBC OLYMPICS MOBILE:
NBC Olympics Mobile presents the most ambitious major sporting event coverage ever delivered on mobile, providing Olympic fans with the best in news and video coverage – how they want it, wherever they want it. From breaking news to text and video alerts to live mobile TV broadcasts, NBC Olympics Mobile will be the mobile destination for Olympic fans.

MOBILE WEB: The NBC Olympics Mobile Web site will deliver the most comprehensive coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games available for mobile users. The NBC Olympics Mobile Web site currently includes live news, highlights and feature video, Team USA profiles, slideshow galleries, voting polls, alerts sign-up, and much more. And starting August 8, mobile users will be able to view live medal counts, detailed results & schedules, customizable TV & online listings, and all the top news and video from Beijing.

Users can access the NBC Olympics Mobile web site by going to http://mobile.nbcolympics.com on their mobile device's Internet browser or by texting "OLYMPICS" to 51515.

ALERTS: NBC Olympics Mobile also provides alerts for every Olympic fan. Text and e-mail alerts are available for breaking news, top headlines for all Olympic sports, medal results, event previews, athlete alerts, and TV/live streaming schedule reminders. NBC Olympics Mobile will also provide free photo & video highlight alerts for top Olympic sports.

MOBILE VIDEO: NBC Olympics Mobile Video will provide highlights, daily news, and exclusive feature videos on-demand to mobile video users. Mobile video is available on the NBC Olympics Mobile Web site and on-deck with select mobile providers.

MOBILE TV: NBC Olympics Mobile will launch NBC Olympics 2Go, an all-new 24/7 mobile TV channel featuring the best of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. NBC Olympics 2Go will include complete event coverage from NBC, USA, MSNBC, and CNBC programming. With NBC Olympics 2Go, users will be able to featured and live event coverage while they are on-the-go!

Perkins Miller, SVP Digital Media, NBC Sports and Olympics offered this perspective on the eve of what is being billed as the digital Games in a CNN report, “The significant change is the amount of video you are able to put online. YouTube is now sort of the lingua franca of what's happening (on the Internet), and that's really expanded in the past two years. The driving force is about entertaining the viewer, and ... viewer appetites and points of contact have changed. That's not just putting it online, but (viewer on demand) transmission, moving content onto mobile phones. The ambition is to reach as many viewers as possible.”

Eight short years ago most computer users still used a dial up connection – often at 28.8 speed. In the last two years as Miller pointed out, the leaps and gains in technology are allowing NBC to steam the Beijing Games.

“Video player technology is much better today, processor connections and network connection feed is much better. They are all linked, but the real driver is consumers have been exposed to online video, and expect it.”

One concern Miller and NBC officials don’t have – the cannibalization of NBC's broadcast viewers and advertising revenue?

“We find that online coverage for all our sports properties -- whether its horse racing, Notre Dame football games or whatever -- the more we do online, the more our viewers are engaged in the sports franchise. This drives overall greater (viewership). It's complementary ... if the viewer is not at their television to see a routine, you can see it online. If you are a huge fan of (U.S. gymnast) Shawn Johnson, and want to see a routine again and again, you can get even more Shawn Johnson online.” Miller told CNN.

Miller knows http://www.nbcolympics.com/ are facing a daunting task in producing close to 3,000 hours of online coverage from the Beijing Games.

“There's a huge amount of coordination with more than 17 different technology partners in a wide variety of places -- Beijing, Redmond (Washington state), New York, Italy, Florida. These are the vendors who are developing the software, platforms and hardware to make it all happen.

“Also, we don't get to correct the final fingertip connection -- how do we ensure in a very short period of time that we get the best quality (of streaming video) for those last centimeters of connection?

Television is pretty standardized, but computers are still the frontier, they are different from computer to computer, they have software that may or may not be able to talk to each other. This is still a very new enterprise, not tried and tested and proved over decades of use (such as broadcast television).”

It all begins in nine days – the Beijing Games, likely the most important live Internet streamed event – ever.

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited and used in this insider report: CNN and Wired News

Debut

2008-07-29T01:58:00.000-04:00

We will begin a daily series on Tuesday, July 29, 2008