Pre-television: swimmers training for 1912 Stockhom Olympics (Photo, ©2011 International Olympic Committee, by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The Beau Rivage in Lausanne will be bustling with sports and TV executives Monday and Tuesday 6-7 June, as intense bidding gets underway to win US broadcast rights for upcoming Olympic Games. Day’s end Tuesday, after a cocktail party where the bidders will socialize while waiting for news, should see the winner named—or just possibly, everyone adjourned to come back another day with another bid.
The stakes are high for all concerned: US rights provide about one-third of all IOC (International Olympic Committee) revenues for the Games and about half of the TV revenues, according to USA Today. The US Olympic Committee, whose senior executives are in Lausanne for the bidding, receives 12.75 percent of the rights, according to Insidethegames.
The Beeb will be watching closely for the impact on world Olympics coverage
And the BBC in London is watching closely because this week’s bids could have a major impact on their ability to continue covering the Olympics, reports the Telegraph in the UK.
The IOC is hearing bids from three networks, ESPN, Fox and NBC, who are vying for the potentially valuable TV broadcast rights to two and possibly four Olympic Games after the 2012 London Games.
“Nothing else in US sports costs so much and has so many variables. Airing the Olympics means selling millions of viewers on largely unknown athletes in sports few Americans watch,” USA Today sums up.
Fechy, Bougy-sur-Villars in canton Vaud, 11:00 Thursday 1 April: fresh snow!
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Spring has arrived in canton Vaud! And if you believe that you’ll believe all the good things in the Swiss news today, such as the International Olympic Committee moving to Zurich (Lausanne Cite) and the new requirement for dog car seats, effective 1 January (24 Heures, Fre).
Barbara Ann Scott, a diminutive 81-year-old with a girlish smile, carried the large Olympic torch into Canada’s Houses of Parliament in Ottawa Thursday 10 December, to warm applause. Scott was Canada’s sweetheart when she won the Olympic figure skating gold medal in St Moritz, Switzerland in 1948. The torch is wending its way to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Links to other sites: The Globe & Mail, Olympics Vancouver 2010
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Marion Jones, the six-time Olympic winner who was stripped of her medals in 2007, has had her medals reallocated, the IOC announced 9 December. She participated in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and in one event in Athens in 2004.
The medals reallocated were for:
- 100m, where Jones placed first, but the Gold was not given to the runner-up, Greek Ekatirini Thanou, who herself missed a mandated drugs test prior to the Games in Athens. She was awarded the Silver medal.
- 200m, where Jones placed first: Gold awarded to Pauline Davis-Thompson (Bahamas)
- Long Jump, where Jones placed third: Bronze awarded to Tatyana Kotova (Russia)
- Jones ran in the 1,600m and 400m relay races which placed first and third. The medals in those races will be reallocated following a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – US President Barack Obama will accompany his wife Michelle to Copenhagen to promote the city of Chicago’s bid as host of the 2016 Olympic Games, the White House announced 28 September. “It’s a city of broad shoulders, big hearts, and bold dreams. A city of legendary sports figures, legendary sports venues and legendary sports fans. We want these games!”, Obama said at the White House in early September. Obama was a senator representing the state of Illinois before becoming president. He lived there for 25 years.
The Lausanne-based International Olympic Committee (IOC) holds its 13th Congress in Copenhagen from 3 to 5 October, and will announce its choice of the host city.
Beijing Olympics opening ® IOC 2009
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The International Olympic Committee IOC said 2 September it will make a final selection from among four cities vying to be host of the 31st Olympic Games. The IOC says the technical capabilities, which include venues, budget, transportation, of all four cities was comparable.
