Last week NBC won the Olympic bidding war and it seems that everyone has an opinion. Here are a few of those opinions -
Lane 1 - 3 Wire Sports chimes in with "NBC’s $4.38 billion knockout punch. This deal anchors the IOC’s finances through 2020. It figures to do the same for the U.S. Olympic Committee, which now gets 12.75 percent of the U.S. rights fee. The USOC and IOC are currently in active negotiations over the USOC’s broadcast and marketing rights shares, Rogge saying the new NBC deal figures to be a 'positive factor' in those talks. Here are the numbers: NBC will pay $775 million for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia and $1.226 billion for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. It will pay $963 million for the 2018 Winter Games and $1.418 billion for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Neither the 2018 nor 2020 site has been decided. The IOC will pick the 2018 city on July 6. Three cities are in that 2018 race: Munich; Annecy, France; and Pyeongchang, South Korea."
Lane 2 - Sportz Biz by Darren Rovell on CNBC asks "Can NBC/Comcast Make Money Off Olympics? Well, just because NBC Sports lost $223 million from Vancouver, a games that they paid $820 million for, doesn't mean that it's impossible. And with a changing landscape and the combined power of NBC and Comcast, who really knows? After news of Comcast's win was reported, shortly before 1 p.m. ET, shares dropped about 0.7 percent before rebounding [CMCSA 23.89 -0.42 (-1.73%)"
Lane 3 - Moguilite looks at "Aww, Snap: Comcast’s Burke Snags Olympics — Without Ebersol. That loud crash you just heard was the sound of former NBC Sports boss Dick Ebersol punching a hole through a wall."
Lane 4 - Paid Content posts "NBCU Wins The Olympics Through 2020 And That’s Not Bad For Real-Time Fans. The winning bid gives NBCU rights on every platform known today as well as to be conceived over the life of the agreement, Lazarus said. That includes mobile, broadband, tablet and anything that may come up between now and 2020. Lazarus isn’t promising the full live feeds provided in some other countries. But it suggests an understanding—finally—that withholding access in a real-time world is a pretense that sucks energy out of the Olympics. TV, especially prime time, is still the showcase, as it should be, and nothing we see on a computer screen, a tablet or smartphone changes that."
Lane 5 - The Swimmers Circle chimes in with "NBC Top Bidder, Receives $4.3 Billion Rights for 2014-2020 Olympics…Though swimming, as a sport, isn’t necessarily concerned specifically with NBC’s profits off of the Olympics, they are still hugely relevant…What NBC/Comcast might now be relying on, however, is more cross-promotion of its two sports networks: Comcast’s Versus and NBC’s Universal Sports (both of which are likely to undergo some heavy rebranding in the coming months). Whether both remain as independent networks, or they are merged into one, its clear that NBC is making a big push for a National cable sports network."
Lane 6 - 3 Wire Sports goes on to post "Denver 2022? Is that the best U.S. chance — for now? The president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, is a first-rate politician. You don’t get to be elected president of the IOC, and then re-elected, without being an expert in the swirl of politics. Why would a 2020 bid do any better? Because, right now, the 2020 field is looking thin? So far, Rome has announced it’s in. Madrid would seem likely. Tokyo might want in. But if Pyeongchang, South Korea, wins the 2018 Winter Games, will the IOC go back to Asia for the Summer Games just two years later? Munich and Annecy, France, are also in the 2018 Winter race. The IOC will pick the 2018 city on July 6."
Lane 7 - The SCAQ Blog has two interesting posts. First with "What was NBC thinking? Don't they relaize that they lost $233-million off the Vancouver Games alone?" LINK and then with "The IOC is now willing to take a look at holding an Olympic Games in the USA after receiving a $4.38-billion dollar check from NBC." LINK
Lane 8 - On a more humorous side Swim Brief hits an all time low with "Gutter Talk: NBC Wins Olympic Broadcasting Rights." I say low due to Gutter talk not due to the quality of the humor.
Back to more swimming stuff tomorrow...
