[Question] Can we buy the olympic rights?

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strawman

strawman

I was thinking this morning that olympic coverage in the US was terrible. I blame exclusivity. Therefore the way to improve coverage is to break exclusivity.

NBC has purchased the US rights to all olympics through 2020 for a cool 4.3 billion dollars - that's after the 2 billion they paid for the 2012 and 2010 olympics.

Is there enough discontent, and enough interest in having a fully free feed to all the events in the US, live and on demand, for a new company (ideally a non-profit) to buy rights to later olympics, and redistribute them on an à la carte basis to other US media companies, as well as provide streaming online to all Americans?

Is it reasonable to think that a kickstarter could be run during this years olympics to get such an effort off the ground, selling t-shirts, etc, with the money going towards the process of freeing the olympics for our children?

It's a crazy idea I had this morning, and I need a reality check. 2 billion per two olympic games is a lot, but it seems like it might work out financially if handled correctly.

What are your thoughts?
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Which is cheaper, buying the US rights, or buying out NBC itself and sacking the production staff and crap announcers? Take the international feed and provide just enough context and leave "up close and personal" dead and buried with Roone Arledge, Don Ohlmeyer, and Dick Ebersol. (Ohlmeyer and Ebersol aren't really dead, but they've done their fair share of damage.)
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

I read an analysis earlier today that explained why NBC's coverage is so terrible. Basically, the price for the rights is so unbelievable, that the only way to turn profit is to broadcast as much as possible during prime time and rake in the ludicrous ad revenue. Broadcasters therefore actually bid on the rights hoping they don't get it, just wanting to drive up the price for the competition to hurt them financially.

Why this doesn't seem to happen with us up here, I dunno. Some people complained about CTV's coverage not being as good as the CBC, but even so (honestly I can't even remember what the CBC's coverage was like, it was so long ago) it still seems to be well ahead of what you guys get with NBC.

*Edit: Apparently this goes back a long time too. I just found out that even the 1980 Miracle on Ice was not broadcast live in the States, unless you lived close enough to the border to watch it on CTV.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

So we'd be talking a Kickstarter to buy the internet rights to the 2022 and 2024 Olympics (winter/summer)? Intriguing.

Only question is, what would the internet look like at that point?
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

checkeredhat said:
I read an analysis earlier today that explained why NBC's coverage is so terrible. Basically, the price for the rights is so unbelievable, that the only way to turn profit is to broadcast as much as possible during prime time and rake in the ludicrous ad revenue. Broadcasters therefore actually bid on the rights hoping they don't get it, just wanting to drive up the price for the competition to hurt them financially.
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But do'nt worry, the free market will always turn out in the best possible way for the end consumer! :rolleyes:
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

Of course, the problem is that NBC Universal or ABC/ESPN or Fox could just outbid us. The IOC and the USOC don't have any set policy for TV rights bids like they do for choosing where the games are to be played. Heck, they gave NBC the next four games, even though a.) they didn't know at the time where two of them were going to be, and b.) NBC knew full well that the games weren't going to be in North America, due to the USOC/IOC revenue sharing flap at the time.
 
Frank

Frank

checkeredhat said:
I read an analysis earlier today that explained why NBC's coverage is so terrible. Basically, the price for the rights is so unbelievable, that the only way to turn profit is to broadcast as much as possible during prime time and rake in the ludicrous ad revenue. Broadcasters therefore actually bid on the rights hoping they don't get it, just wanting to drive up the price for the competition to hurt them financially.

Why this doesn't seem to happen with us up here, I dunno. Some people complained about CTV's coverage not being as good as the CBC, but even so (honestly I can't even remember what the CBC's coverage was like, it was so long ago) it still seems to be well ahead of what you guys get with NBC.

*Edit: Apparently this goes back a long time too. I just found out that even the 1980 Miracle on Ice was not broadcast live in the States, unless you lived close enough to the border to watch it on CTV.
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CBC's coverage was fantastic. Just wall to wall events with Brian Williams doing interviews and such between. The Nagano Olympics was the last time I really, really watched them and it was great. I was a night owl so I just set my tv to CBC and watched Olympics all night long.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

Frank said:
CBC's coverage was fantastic. Just wall to wall events with Brian Williams doing interviews and such between. The Nagano Olympics was the last time I really, really watched them and it was great. I was a night owl so I just set my tv to CBC and watched Olympics all night long.
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Well, they're covering the next two.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/08/01/cbc-olympics-rights.html

They were submitting joint bids with Bell (CTV) similar I guess to these past two which have been Bell/Rogers joint bids, but the winning bid is CBC exclusive.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

NBC owns the rights to the Olympics through 2020. Any purchase of the rights would be for the 2022 Winter Games, which no one has any idea where it would be held (though it's not likely going to be in the US or Canada).
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

There is talk that Toronto might make a bid for the Summer Olympics for 2024. I don't want it to. Where's Mel Lastman when we need him to make a racist remark on the world stage to completely shatter any hope Toronto has with the IOC?
Oh who am I kidding, Rob Ford makes plenty of racist remarks. We'll be fine.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

There are several cities from North America that are organizing bids for the 2024 games:
  • Toronto, Ontario (48 years since Montreal)
  • Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (56 years since Mexico City)
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Dallas, Texas
  • Los Angeles, California (40 years since their last games)
  • New York, New York (again)
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Tulsa, Oklahoma - WHAT? Yes, there apparently is a bid being formed by the people of Tulsa.
If Tulsa gets the bid, we should have Dave be in charge of Olympic Internet Operations. Just sayin'.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

Meh. I stil lthink it should be allowed to organise the Olympics in several cities or by small countries as well. They've become too big and too expensive to be possible in all but multi-million cities. What will Tulsa do with enough stadiums to fit their population 10x over?
The WC Football (Snooker) has proven that it's possible to organize such things in collaboration, for the doubters.
In other words, I want them back in Belgium - it's been 92 years since our last Olympics (1920- Antwerp).
Yes, I realize it'll be another 16 or 20 years before it's back in Europe. And if I'm to judge that far in advance, I'd guess either Moscow or Berlin/Frankfurt/Munchen. one can dream and fantasize :p
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

Tulsa's bid already has a "regional" component to it. They could legitimately be the "host city", but have a lot of events in area facilities - like basketball in OKC, soccer in Norman and Stillwater and even over in Columbia (Mizzou). Their angle is also the Native American bit.

Too bad it won't get far because NYC will likely be the front-runner for 2024. And, barring some major catastrophe, USOC's bid for the 2024 games are pretty much a given.

By the way - it intrigues me more that Quebec is looking at the Winter Games for 2026.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

jwhouk said:
Tulsa's bid already has a "regional" component to it. They could legitimately be the "host city", but have a lot of events in area facilities - like basketball in OKC, soccer in Norman and Stillwater and even over in Columbia (Mizzou).
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We [Flanders] tried to make a bid for 2020 and were told it wasn't legal - all facilities had to be "in the region of the hosting city itself". Two cities together, a region, a state, are all still disallowed. It has to be on the name of a single town/city, and that city has to be the center for all sports and games. Obviously not a big problem for something like London or Mexico, where the metropolitan area is huge. But even a city like Syndey had some troubles fitting in all sports within the designated area.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

Tulsa could actually do it, though. They would need to build a larger stadium for the athletics, but they have enough venues that they could do it. They could do rowing in the Catoosa port, and if memory serves, there's several lakes around that could host sailing events.

Biggest issue would be infrastructure and some facilities.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

Not saying they couldn't. Just saying it's a shame they're still only allowing single city entries, not dual cities or regions/states/whatevers.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

Bubble181 said:
Meh. I stil lthink it should be allowed to organise the Olympics in several cities or by small countries as well. They've become too big and too expensive to be possible in all but multi-million cities. What will Tulsa do with enough stadiums to fit their population 10x over?
The WC Football (Snooker) has proven that it's possible to organize such things in collaboration, for the doubters.
In other words, I want them back in Belgium - it's been 92 years since our last Olympics (1920- Antwerp).
Yes, I realize it'll be another 16 or 20 years before it's back in Europe. And if I'm to judge that far in advance, I'd guess either Moscow or Berlin/Frankfurt/Munchen. one can dream and fantasize :p
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I think that's a good damned idea.
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

jwhouk said:
Tulsa's bid already has a "regional" component to it. They could legitimately be the "host city", but have a lot of events in area facilities - like basketball in OKC, soccer in Norman and Stillwater and even over in Columbia (Mizzou). Their angle is also the Native American bit.

Too bad it won't get far because NYC will likely be the front-runner for 2024. And, barring some major catastrophe, USOC's bid for the 2024 games are pretty much a given.

By the way - it intrigues me more that Quebec is looking at the Winter Games for 2026.
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I got excited for this but then I realized I (hopefully) will be out of college by then.
 
strawman

strawman

The IOC is pricing themselves out of so many markets. By making the olympics bigger and bigger they are limiting the number of cities that can host them, nevermind the number that want to do so. They've only got three contenders for the 2024, and one of them is probably not even an option.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

stienman said:
The IOC is pricing themselves out of so many markets. By making the olympics bigger and bigger they are limiting the number of cities that can host them, nevermind the number that want to do so. They've only got three contenders for the 2024, and one of them is probably not even an option.
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Do you mean Toronto? Please say you mean Toronto.
 
strawman

strawman

Huh, I'm wrong - there are several places considering a bid for the 2024 olympics. When I say several, I mean dozens:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Summer_Olympics

I'd be surprised if toronto got it.

I suspect I read some pundit's piece suggesting that there were only three likely candidates out of those considering it, and I believe one of them was in Africa.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

waaaaaaaitaminute, even though you guys have changed your avatars back, when I quote you, I see bumble's avatar? What sorcery is this?!
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

I hope Toronto gets it as I heard they would be doing some events in Buffalo. None of the expense of building everything, but we get the recognition.
 
checkeredhat

checkeredhat

"We've been havign to close swimming pools left and right every year for a decade because they're too expensive and don't get enough use to justify the cost of operations.... Let's build a really BIG ONE!"
 
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