The Olympics

1
The Olympics
The colours of the interlinked Olympic rings were
chosen by the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) , to represent the union of the 5
continents , Australia , Africa , America , Asia
and Europe and further signify the meeting of the
worlds athletes at the Olympic Games. The five
colours of the rings may be found on most flags
of the world
The plain white background of the Olympic flag is
symbolic of peace throughout the games .
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Commercialisation and the Olympics
From its humble beginnings the Olympic Games has
now become a major business enterprise as well as
a world renowned sporting competition.
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Introduction
DRIVING FORCE OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENTThe Olympic
marketing programme has become the driving force
behind the promotion, the financial security and
stability of the Olympic Movement. The challenge
of financing the Olympic Games has been a
recurring theme throughout Olympic history. Since
its founding in 1894, the Olympic Movement has
depended on partnership with the business
community to stage the Olympic Games and to
support the Olympic athletes. Today, marketing
partners are an intrinsic part of the Olympic
Family.
For more information go to http//www.ana.gr/herm
es/1999/mar/sports.htm
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CONTENTS

• Original founding Amateur philosophy
• Problems over Funding of Games Culminating in
  debts of Montreal
• Peter Uberroth and the 1984 Los Angeles Games
• The globalisation of sport and the associated
  role of the Multi National corporations
• The sale of the 5 Rings
• The influence of sponsors and media over event
  scheduling
• Problems over corruption and the hosting of the
  games

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Original founding Amateur philosophy
Amateur is a Latin word meaning to love, so
the phrase For the love of sport is often
associated with the principles of amateurism.

• 1896 Beginning of the Modern Olympics
• Amateur status was determined by social class
  and whether or not competitors earned money from
  competing.? Those not high enough up the social
  ladder to be able play sport without being paid
  were excluded.

Time and money is needed in order to train and
compete at the highest level, so athletes found
financial assistance appealing. US introduced the
scholarship system in universities, which
overcame such pressures, and Soviet Union and
Russia, former communist bloc countries,
provided state funding of sport.
Marketing people were excluded from 1980 Moscow
Games due to it being funded by the state, but by
the 1994 Games in Los Angeles marketing had
become a huge issue in hosting the Olympic Games.
6
Problems over Funding of Games Culminating in
debts of Montreal
The 1976 Olympics in Montreal are remembered more
as a financial disaster than a sporting success.
Locally, the stunning performances of Romanian
gymnast Nadia Comaneci, swimmers John Naber of
the United States and Kornelia Ender of East
Germany and American boxer (Sugar) Ray Leonard
are recalled far less frequently than the
billion-dollar debt Quebecers are still paying
off. The dream of mayor, Jean Drapeau, to make
Montreal a world-class city ended up serving as a
international case study on the nightmare the
Olympics can become when ego and greed overrule
discipline and sound management. Money from the
Montreal Games went to pay for venues that in
some cases are no longer used for sports. The
cycling velodrome was converted into an insect
museum because it was too costly to maintain and
the pool is often covered over and used as a
floor for trade shows. The Olympic Stadium had
construction cranes in place of its unfinished
170-metre tower during the Games. The stadium
took decades and more than 1 billion to
complete. The stadium and the permanent athletes'
village across the street ran up huge debts due
to a complex design, a labour strike and some
on-site corruption, including double-charging for
goods by some suppliers. One city official was
found to have had a house built free in the
suburbs by stadium contractors!..
For more information go to http//www.canoe.ca/Sl
am010704/to2008-cp.html
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Peter Uberroth and the 1984 Los Angeles Games
The IOC appointed to Peter Uberroth, a marketing
expert, to make sure the LA Games were a viable
proposition, and did not cost the city anything
to host. He estimated he could run the games for
500 million and make a profit of between 20
million and 50 million. He charged 225 million
for television rights and over double that amount
for radio rights. He organised private enterprise
to build new facilities and charged for whatever
else he could. This demonstrated that if big
businesses were associated with such a globally
popular event as the Olympis, Baron de
Coubertins dream could continue to be carried
into the future-
"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is
not to win but to take part, just as the most
important thing in life is not the triumph but
the struggle. The essential thing is not to have
conquered but to have fought well."
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Open Competition?
By introducing the IOC to the world of big
business, Uberroth possibly affected their
decision to develop a system for paying
athletes. The IOC did not like the idea of
amateur and professional athletes competing
together in Open Competition. Instead they left
the matter in the hands of the governing bodies
of sports. Payment through trust funds was
approved. Nowadays full professionalism is the
norm in many sports. The IOC couldnt stop
athletes accepting money if theyd already
accepted it from other sources themselves could
they?!
Los Angeles was rewarded with US26 million worth
of new sporting facilities as a result of hosting
the games. These then became available for use by
a variety of local institutions after the
event. This was in contrast to the facilities in
Montreal, which were either never completed or
had been built at huge cost to the citys
administration.
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The globalisation of sport and the associated
role of the Multi National corporations
The Seoul Olympics in 1988 tried to follow
Uberroths method, but were not quite so
successful.They sold TV rights to NBC and to a
Japanese company, as well as providing a share of
the profits for the Games organisers. However,
the budgeting had relied on more profit being
made from TV coverage so costs had to be cut in
other areas. Sport was now becoming globally
financed, and the introduction of greater media
interest gave rise to an increase in involvement
from advertising agencies. Satellite technology
has broadened global audiences to sport.
Subscriptions paid by the viewers give revenue to
the broadcast companies which allows them to make
huge bids for TV coverage of worldwide sporting
events. Avery Brundage would not have been a
happy man if he saw what was happening to the
Olympics these days!
10
The sale of the 5 Rings
Multinational companies are keen to be involved
with the Olympics, and are willing to do
anything, including bribery of officials, in
order to get a piece of the action. But they
also want to make sure they maximise their
returns, so they are keen to get the most out of
the IOC in return. As an event that commands the
focus of the media and the attention of the
entire world for two weeks every other year, the
Olympic Games are the most effective
international corporate marketing platform in the
world, reaching billions of people in over 200
countries and territories throughout the
world. Sponsor support is crucial to the staging
of the Games and the operations of every
organisation within the Olympic Movement. Partner
support is not only relevant during the Games
period they provide vital technical services and
product support to the International Olympic
Committee (IOC), Organising Committees (OCOGs)
and National Olympic Committees (NOCs),
benefiting athletes, coaches and spectators.
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TOPS
TOP stands for The Olympic Partner Programme.
Created in 1985, the TOP programme, managed by
the IOC, is the only sponsorship with the
exclusive worldwide marketing rights to both
Winter and Summer Games. TOP V PARTNERSThe
following companies are TOP V Partners for the
Salt Lake City-Athens quadrennium (2000-2004).
For more information go to http//www.olympic.org
/uk/organisation/facts/programme/index_uk.asp
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The influence of sponsors and media over event
scheduling
It has not reached the stage of being an
exclusive event, with only one sponsor, but the
Olympic Games does have a range of official
stockists and suppliers. The Atlanta Games
generated 34 sponsors and licenced 97 companies
to sell their products carrying the Olympic logo.
The companies pay a licenece fee to the IOC and
sell their goods for profit, whereas the major
sponsors, particularly the American TV networks
want something in return for their millions of
dollars investment TV rights fees continue to
account for approximately 50 percent of Olympic
revenue. An estimated 3.7 billion people watched
in 220 countries and territories making the
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games the most televised
Olympic Games in history, and the most watched
sporting event in the world.
13
Problems over corruption and the hosting of the
games
Unfortunately some athletes do not believe Baron
de Coubertins idea of taking part being more
important than winning. It is not now against
Olympic regulations for athletes to accept
payment, but they still manage to find other ways
to cheat, which we will look at later. It has
also been the case in the past that some IOC
officials and commissioners have accepted
rewards, including cash, in return for their vote
at the appropriate time. Like we said, the
Olympics is a good financial proposition for any
country to host these days, so they are all keen
to be the ones to be chosen. So, in such a case
who is the person to blame the corrupted or the
corrupter?! When one official was asked what
would sway his vote for where to hold the Winter
Olympics in 2002 he is reported to have
replied Choices can be based on friendship or
where your wife wants to go shopping this time
the choice was the boutiques of Salt Lake
City For years, IOC members have visited
potential Olympic sites and received lavish gifts
and favors in return. In 1998, this barely
disguised, wink-nod secret became public news
when reports alleged that the Salt Lake City bid
committee was paying university tuition for the
daughter of an IOC member.
14
Samaranch
Go here for more info http//espn.go.com/oly/colu
mns/garber_greg/1225329.html
After 21 years as president of the International
Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch
recently retired from office. He was a
controversial figure Samaranch, desperately
wanted Eastern bloc countries to participate in
the 1988 Seoul Olympics, ignored clear evidence
of institutionalised doping in some Eastern-bloc
countries and awarded the IOC's highest honors to
Erik Honecker of East Germany and his sports
minister, Manfred Ewald. Up to 10,000 athletes,
many of them minors, were subjected without their
knowledge to illegal drugs with dangerous
side-effects. For many, the awards seemed to
endorse a reckless disregard for human life, not
to mention a level playing field. But was it
ignorance on the part of Samaranch, or merely
cynicism? There have also been charges over the
years that the IOC has suppressed positive drug
tests at the Olympics because great performances,
even illegally induced, make great theater and,
therefore, command larger rights fees. This trend
changed in Sydney last year when pressure from
members forced the IOC to adapt an independent
testing system. The trial of Tom Welch and Dave
Johnson, leaders of the Salt Lake City bid
effort, was scheduled in July 2002. Charged with
bribing IOC members with more than 1 million in
cash and other gifts, they face 15 felony counts
for conspiracy, fraud and racketeering.
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Evolution of Olympic Marketing during the 20th
Century
1896 ATHENS The Organising Committee faced
severe financial difficulties and sought support
from a well-known benefactor, Mr George Averoff,
who financed the major expense of refurbishing
the Olympic stadium. Companies provided revenue
through advertising in the souvenir programme.
One of the advertisers in that programme was
Kodak, which continues its support as a TOP
Partner today. 1928 AMSTERDAM Rights were
expanded to concessionaries such as a brewery,
which was allowed to operate restaurants within
the stadium grounds. The Coca-Cola Company, a
current TOP Partner, began its long-standing
association with the Olympic Games. Advertising
was allowed in the programmes, but the IOC made a
stipulation that the stadium grounds and
buildings could not be disfigured with
posters. 1936 BERLIN The first Games to be
televised were those in Berlin. This was done on
an experimental basis in and around Berlin only,
with a total of 138 viewing hours and 162,000
viewers. Only one of the three total cameras
could be used live and even then only if the
sunlight was bright enough. Berlin was also the
first Olympic Games to produce an Olympic Torch
Relay.
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Television Rights
1948 LONDON History has it that the Organising
Committee eventually persuaded the BBC to pay the
then colossal sum of one thousand guineas (around
US3,000) for the broadcasting rights. Reports at
the time indicated that the "BBC later pleaded
desperate poverty, but, as they were all
gentlemen, when the BBC paid up the organisers
never cashed the cheque." However, they had
established the principle of the "rights fee."
Estimates suggest that over 500,000 people
watched the 64 hours of programming. Although the
majority of viewers were within a 50-mile radius
of London, viewers in the Channel Islands
reported excellent transmission. 1958The issue
of television rights was incorporated into the
Olympic Charter with the introduction of Rule 49
"the rights shall be sold by the organising
committee, with the approval of the IOC, and the
revenues distributed in accordance with its
instructions. 1960 ROME These Olympic Games
were televised live for the first time to 18
European countries, and only hours later in the
United States, Canada and Japan, forever changing
how the public watch the Olympic Games. An
extensive sponsor/supplier programme included 46
companies that provided key technical support and
some less key support, such as perfume,
chocolate, toothpaste, soap and maps of Olympic
sites in Rome.
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Television Rights contd.
1964 TOKYO The number of corporate marketing
relationships associated with the Games grew to
include 250 companies. A new cigarette brand
called "Olympia" generated over US1 million in
revenue for the OCOG. (The tobacco category was
later banned.) Broadcasts were global, with
satellite coverage used for the first time to
relay pictures overseas. Technical support from
sponsor companies began to take on a greater role
in the staging of the Olympic Games. Seiko
created quartz-timing technology, which provided
the most accurate timing system to date. 1968
MEXICO CITY The Olympic Games were first
telecast live in colour. Slow-motion footage was
also available live.
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Olympic Mascots
1972 MUNICH A private advertising agency acted
as the licensing agent for the first time. Rights
to use the official emblem were sold, and several
types of licensing and advertising agreements
were available. There was also the first official
mascot, "Waldi", whose image was licensed to
private firms for sale.
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Financial disaster more remembered than gripping
Games
1976 MONTREAL A total of 628 sponsors and
suppliers participated, with the official sponsor
programme further broken down into official
sponsors, official supporters and official
promoters. This programme generated only US7
million for the OCOG.
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Los Angeles 1984

• The Los Angeles Games marked the beginning of the
  most successful era of corporate sponsorship. For
  the first time, the OCOG separated sponsorship
  into three categories 34 companies signed on as
  Official Sponsors, 64 companies purchased
  "supplier" rights, and 65 companies were
  licensees. Each category had designated rights
  and exclusivity. In most cases, the sponsor
  companies were large, multinational corporations.
  However, the marketing of the Olympic Games was
  still limited to the host country and US
  companies. Television (and radio) rights for
  these Games were acquired by 156 nations, and it
  is estimated that more than 2.5 billion people
  were able to view the action.

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TOPS
1988 SEOUL Summer Games1988 CALGARY Winter
GamesUnder the direction of the IOC, a
world-wide marketing programme (The Olympic
programme, or TOP) was implemented, with the
Seoul Organising Committee, the Calgary
Organising Committee and a large number of
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) coordinating
their efforts. The nine business categories for
TOP were limited to certain products and services
that were marketable world-wide. For other items,
OCOG launched the marketing programmes
independently. For the first time, the IOC
required the host country OCOG and NOC to operate
a joint marketing programme. It was decided that
the fewer the number of corporations involved,
the more value individual sponsorships would hold.
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Atlanta 1996
The Centennial Olympic Games were funded entirely
through private sources, with broadcast rights
fees, sponsorship and ticket sales comprising the
Game's sole sources of revenue. The Atlanta
Committee for the Olympic Game's (ACOGs)
privately funded Olympic Games managed to break
even. To ensure that as large an audience as
possible could watch the Centennial Olympic
Games, the IOC underwrote the cost of the
transmissions to Africa. Out of a potential
global television audience of 3.5 billion
viewers, an unduplicated audience of more than
3.2 billion people watched the Olympic Games in
1996, with a cumulative audience estimated at
19.6 billion. (This unduplicated audience of 3.2
billion is calculated at nine-tenths of available
viewers in developed countries and two-thirds of
available viewers in developing countries.) The
broadcast reached a record 214 countries
worldwide. Ticket sales for Atlanta generated 26
percent of total revenue. With 11 million tickets
available for sale, total ticket sales exceeded
those of Los Angeles and Barcelona combined.
23
Sydney 2000
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the
Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
(SOCOG) generated approximately US3 billion
during the period 1997-2000 from the marketing of
the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games mostly from the
sale of collective broadcasting rights,
sponsorships, tickets and licenses. The IOC
generated approximately 63 percent of the overall
revenue while SOCOG's unprecedented marketing
success within the host country of Australia
generated nearly 37 percent of the overall
revenue. The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games now stand
as the most watched sports event ever. More than
3.7 billion people tuned in to watch in 220
countries and territories, generating more than
36.1 billion television viewing hours. For the
first time, Australians and international
visitors shared in the excitement of Olympics
Live sites around the city of Sydney. Spectators
purchased more than 92 of Olympic Games tickets,
far exceeding the previous record of 82.3 that
had been set in Atlanta.The official website of
Sydney 2000 was the most popular destination on
the internet during the Games, experiencing more
than 11.3 billion hits. "The Sydney 2000 Olympic
Games set a course for the future of the Olympic
Movement - it stands now in our collective memory
as a tribute to the most successful marketing
effort the world has ever seen." Richard Pound,
Chairman of the IOC Marketing Commission for
Sydney 2000
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Bibliography
Galligan, Maskery, Spence,Howe, Barry, Ruston
Crawford (2000) Advanced PE for Edexcel, Heinemann
Website resources-
http//www.ana.gr/hermes/1999/mar/sports.htm http
//www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/13062001/Fe
atures/index.html Indiainfo.com - Olympics -
Columnists - When commercialisation goes too
'bloody' far www.sports-sponsorship.co.uk http//w
ww.researchsponsorship.com/framesets/f_research_ca
se_studies.htm http//www.greece.org/olympics/rese
arch/media.html http//www.olympic.org/uk/organisa
tion/facts/programme/index_uk.asp http//espn.go.c
om/oly/columns/garber_greg/1225329.html