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
Blue =Europe
Yellow =Asia
Black =Africa
Green =Australia
Red =America
The plain white background of the Olympic flag is
symbolic of peace throughout the games .
Commercialisation and the Olympics
From it’s humble beginnings the Olympic Games has now
become a major business enterprise as well as a world
renowned sporting competition.
Introduction
DRIVING FORCE OF THE
OLYMPIC MOVEMENT
The 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/hermes/1999/mar/sports.htm
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
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.
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/Slam010704/to2008-cp.html
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 Coubertin’s 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."
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 couldn’t stop athletes accepting money if
they’d already accepted it from other sources themselves could they?!
Los Angeles was rewarded with US$26 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 city’s administration.
The globalisation of sport and the associated role
of the Multi National corporations
The Seoul Olympics in 1988 tried to follow Uberroth’s 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!…
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.
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 PARTNERS
The following companies are TOP V Partners for the Salt Lake CityAthens quadrennium (2000-2004).
For more information go to:
http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/facts/programme/index_uk.asp
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.
Problems over corruption and the
hosting of the games
Unfortunately some athletes do not believe Baron de Coubertin’s 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.
Samaranch
Go here for more info: http://espn.go.com/oly/columns/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.
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.
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 US$3,000) 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.
1958
The 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.
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 US$1 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.
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.
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 US$7 million for the OCOG.
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.
TOPS
1988 SEOUL: Summer Games
1988 CALGARY: Winter Games
Under 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.
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.
Sydney 2000
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Sydney Organising
Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) generated approximately US$3
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
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/Features/index.html
Indiainfo.com - Olympics - Columnists - When commercialisation goes too 'bloody' far
www.sports-sponsorship.co.uk
http://www.researchsponsorship.com/framesets/f_research_case_studies.htm
http://www.greece.org/olympics/research/media.html
http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/facts/programme/index_uk.asp
http://espn.go.com/oly/columns/garber_greg/1225329.html