The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded broadcast rights for the Olympic Games in 2010 and 2012 to ESPN in South America, it was announced today.

ESPN will acquire free-to-air television and radio broadcast rights in Argentina for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games and the London 2012 Olympic Games, including minimum free-to-air exposure guarantees; pay television rights to air the Games on cable and satellite platforms in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay for the same period; and satellite-only television rights in Venezuela for the same period.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said “The popularity of the Olympic Games in South America is growing rapidly, and we want to ensure that audiences in the region have the best possible broadcast experience. We are delighted to announce this agreement with ESPN and look forward to working with them.”

IOC Executive Board member Richard Carrión, who led the negotiations, said, “ESPN will provide unprecedented levels of coverage of the Olympic Games, which is great news for sports fans in South America. We would like to thank ESPN for their commitment to the Olympic Movement.”

“This is a tremendous milestone for ESPN’s business in South America,” said Russell Wolff, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, ESPN International.  “This agreement expands our relationship with the IOC and adds the Olympic Games to the schedule of world class events we cover.  The Olympics is on the world’s most inspiring events and we are very excited to bring it to sports fans around South America.”

“The scope of this agreement offers us a tremendous opportunity to serve sports fans in South America,” said Tim Bunnell, Senior Vice President, Programming and Marketing, ESPN International.  “The Olympic Games are at the pinnacle of all sporting events and I am pleased that ESPN can utilise and leveraqe its platforms to showcase an event of this magnitude to fans in South America.”

With the much-anticipated October announcement of the winning host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, ORC Worldwide surveyed prices of goods and services in each candidate city – Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo – and compared them to London, the host of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Rio appears to be the most attractive option from a cost perspective - it’s 18 percent less costly than London, followed by Chicago (11 percent) and Madrid (3 percent). In Tokyo, well-known as expensive, prices are 42 percent higher than London. ORC’s pricing agents compile data on a representative market basket of nearly 200 items in more than 300 cities worldwide.

How do the costs for wining and dining stack up? “Although the bill for a restaurant meal with a nice bottle of wine doesn’t vary widely across the different locations, Chicago and Rio are slightly less expensive than London, with Madrid and Tokyo at least 18 percent more expensive,” according to Siobhan Cummins, managing director of ORC’s Europe/Middle East/Africa operations. “Celebrating a gold medal with a glass of beer is currently the most affordable in Rio, or perhaps Madrid, but beer in Tokyo and Chicago is more expensive than in a London pub.”

If traveling to London for the 2012 Olympics, one might find a price break for meals early in the day by purchasing breakfast cereals. Although you might pay more than 5 pounds sterling (GBP) in Tokyo, 3 GBP in Chicago, or 2 GBP in Madrid, cereals in London average 1.55 GBP. “So, you can at least get a good start to your London day,” Cummins adds.

The cost of getting around to those Olympic venues in London – especially by taxi – is expensive compared to the others. But if you opt for a bus or underground, Rio is by far the cheapest, followed by Chicago.

Is there an Olympic effect? Reviewing the price changes in the last two Summer Olympics cities, ORC found a 15 percent increase in Beijing prices in the year of the Olympics and a continued sharp rise this year. “However, we saw little effect on prices in Athens,” Cummins explains. “This finding suggests that perhaps the Beijing changes were due to significant growth in the economy, accelerated by the Olympics. It will be interesting to see how London fares in the run up to the 2012 games and beyond.”

Exchange rates play a major role in determining whether or not a location is expensive. For example, although hotel costs in Beijing have dropped steadily since 2007, the yuan gained significantly against the pound in 2008. “Staying in Beijing was pricier for U.K. visitors during the Olympics. At the same time, Beijing prices were rising. As the exchange rate went against the pound, the British celebrating their medals found a significant hole in their pockets,” according to Cummins. On the other hand, during the Athens games, the pound was at a high against the euro, which made Athens much more affordable for London fans.

If the International Olympic Committee factors in local prices when selecting the 2016 host city, Rio and Chicago are strong candidates from a cost perspective. But 2016 is seven years away, and there will be many influences on prices between now and then. In the meantime – London 2012!

Source: ORC Worldwide

The Government announced today that further funding from the £9.3 billion London 2012 Olympic budget has been allocated to support the building of the Olympic Village and media centres.

The Games’ overall £9.3 billion budget remains unchanged and the contingency remains sufficient to cover the remaining risks to the project.

A total of £394 million was agreed today from the Olympic Funders Group contingency, the part of the budget designed to guard against risks outside the control of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). Separately, £67 million has been released from the ODA’s programme contingency.

The use of part of the contingency funds contained in the budget – an additional £326 million towards the Olympic Village and £135 million towards the International Broadcast and Main Press Centres (IBC/MPC) – is needed to meet a shortfall in private sector funding as a result of the global economic downturn.

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said:

“The Village and media centres are absolutely essential to a successful London Games with a real lasting legacy. With private sector funding now much more difficult to secure because of the global economic downturn, it is right that we take steps to safeguard these projects.

“The extra funds we have allocated today come from existing contingency funds within the overall £9.3 billion budget. Lower than anticipated construction inflation and good progress across the project has reduced risks, meaning that the overall budget is unchanged and enough contingency funds remain. We are determined to deliver the games within budget.

“The increased public investment in these projects also means that the public purse will receive a greater share of receipts when they are sold after the Games.”

The £326 million extra funding for the Olympic Village includes the £95 million announced last year and will allow works to continue whilst the ODA continues to negotiate with private developer Lend Lease, and the banks, regarding private investment for the Olympic Village.

Negotiations are also continuing with Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in relation to the provision of affordable housing which also contributes to the funding of the overall project.

The Village will house up to 17,000 athletes during the Olympics and over 6,000 during the Paralympics. After the games about one third of the apartments will be available as affordable housing.

The IBC/MPC – which will house approximately 20,000 journalists and technical staff from around the world – will now be funded entirely from the Olympic budget. Following cost reductions of £25 million, the total public funding for the project will be £355 million. In addition to the original £220 million public sector funding, £135 million contingency will be required comprising £68 million from the Funders Group contingency and £67 million from the Olympic Delivery Authority’s programme contingency. The public sector will retain ownership of the asset and receipt of all revenues from its sale after 2012.

The new budget includes funding to ensure that the buildings left in legacy have the flexibility to be adapted to a wide range of uses, to maximise the potential employment opportunities after the Games.

The IBC/MPC are still planned to be built as permanent structures with some temporary elements for the Games. They will be based at Hackney in the north-west corner of the Olympic Park as originally planned.

Special
1. The £9.325 billion public sector funding package announced in March 2007 included £2.7 billion of contingency. £0.5 billion was released to ODA when its Baseline Budget was confirmed at the end of 2007, and £0.238 billion was allocated as contingency for security. £2 billion of contingency therefore remained available for the ODA of which 25 per cent has been released leaving £1.5bn remaining.

2. Of the total contingency released only £35 million has not been allocated to the Village or IBC/MPC. Of this, £21.5 million was allocated to cover budget increases required on a number of projects, including the headhouses for the powerlines and legacy requirements for the Aquatics Centre; £8.9 million was allocated to the Olympic Stadium for primary strengthening works; £4.7 million was allocated to the Handball Arena for HD lighting, improved acoustics and additional seating.

3. The announcement was made following a meeting today of the ministerial group which is chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Alistair Darling) and consists of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Yvette Cooper), Minister for the Olympics (Tessa Jowell), Culture Secretary (Andy Burnham), Communities Secretary (Hazel Blears) and Transport Secretary (Geoff Hoon). The Mayor of London attends but is not a member.

4. Strong progress is being made on the Olympic Park: 80 per cent of the site has been cleaned and cleared, the construction of the power-line tunnels and removal of the overhead pylons is complete and construction work on the main venues remains on schedule.

5. Programme Contingency is for risks managed by the ODA, in relation to delivering a programme of projects on this scale, on a tightly constrained site, against an immovable deadline.

6. Funders’ Contingency is to cover other risks, beyond the project and programme level – principally risks outside the control of the ODA.

7. Part of the funding required is controlled by the Olympic Lottery Distributor and their board will consider the issue in due course.

Source: Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The chairman of London 2012 and the U.S. president-elect are expected to have the greatest impact on the Olympic Movement in 2009 according to the 13th edition of Around the Rings’ Golden 25.

Sebastian Coe, number one on the list, will have increased visibility as he guides preparations for the next Summer Olympics through a financial storm. Meanwhile, there is speculation over what impact President-elect and native Chicagoan Barack Obama will have on the race for 2016.

“Coe has carefully led LOCOG since 2005,” remarked Editor Ed Hula. “Daily progress can be seen at venues in the Olympic Park. Then there’s the behind the scenes work organizing the sports spectacular, which seems to be advancing. If we can say the same in one year, without asides about cutbacks, overruns, political disputes or engineering snafus, Coe and his team at Canary Wharf will deserve some hefty kudos from the Olympic Movement, even though the journey to 2012 would still be far from over — and perhaps facing further perils.”

Then there is Barack Obama. The Golden 25 has included heads of state before, but never a U.S. president. Some IOC members say they don’t think Obama will spell the difference for the Chicago bid, but that logic contradicts the vote for London in 2005 and Sochi in 2007. In 2005, Tony Blair’s personal lobbying for London is credited with giving the bid the boost it needed, while Vladimir Putin is said to have made certain Sochi’s win for 2014 last year.

“Obama rises to the presidency as a worldwide celebrity, coming at a time when heads of state are now almost expected to campaign in person at the IOC Session,” Hula stated. “For some IOC members, Obama’s politics may be regarded much more kindly than those of predecessor George W. Bush. That could make them much more open to being swayed by the new U.S. president.

“However, Obama still has to decide the level of support he’ll deliver for the bid, how he will speak out. The U.S. Olympic Committee must work out a marketing agreement with the IOC that is perceived as fair by the rest of the world. Domestic and international issues must work in favor of the U.S. for the next 10 months. But if these pieces fall into place, Obama’s influence could shape the Olympics for the next seven years.”

Coe and Obama are joined on the Golden 25 by 14 IOC members as well as other government leaders, including London Mayor Boris Johnson and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. While there are regulars on the list, some are just rising to prominence in the Olympic Movement.

The Around the Rings’ Golden 25 is among the year’s most closely-watched annual rankings. Unlike other end of the year reviews, the Golden 25 looks ahead, forecasting those individuals who will have the most influence in the $5 billion business of the Olympic Movement. The entire list is available at http://aroundtherings.com/Golden25.aspx. The Golden 25 — as well as Spheres of Influence, a look at other movers and shakers in world sport — also will be featured in an online magazine, which can be downloaded at http://www.aroundtherings.com/SpecialEditions/Golden25_2009.pdf.

Source: AroundTheRings.com

A new nationwide survey suggests public enthusiasm for London staging the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2012 now stands at 78 per cent – with more people interested in London 2012 and more believing that the Games will have a positive impact on their own lives and local communities.

The poll also indicates that Britain’s strong showing in the Beijing Games has led to 66 per cent of those responding becoming more enthusiastic about London 2012 – and it reveals a high level of confidence (76 per cent) that the UK will stage a successful Games in four years time.

The 78 per cent pleased that London is hosting the Games compares with 76 per cent in the previous survey a year ago. Strongest support came in Northern Ireland (89 per cent), among 35-44 year olds (85 per cent), 25-34 year olds (84 per cent) and in London (84 per cent). The biggest increases were in the West Midlands and East Midlands, both up by 10 percentage points, to 81 per cent and 78 per cent respectively.

Even where enthusiasm was lowest, over two-thirds were pleased that London was hosting the Games. Among people over 65, and in Scotland, support was put at 69 per cent.

Tessa Jowell, Olympics Minister, welcomed the poll’s findings:

“The support of people across the UK for the Olympics and Paralympics is an important expression of our hope that London 2012 will be everyone’s Games. People are enthusiastic, interested and confident that we will stage a fantastic spectacle. They recognise the huge progress there has been in 2008 – starting construction on the two biggest venues months ahead of schedule, raising millions through private sector sponsorship and passing the halfway point in lottery ticket sales to pay for the facilities and infrastructure.

“The challenge now is to maintain this progress in 2009 without faltering and I have no doubt it will be another year of achievement. But not for one moment do we take the public’s support for granted.”

Among other findings, the polling suggests:

• 73 per cent nationally are interested in London 2012 – up from 67 per cent in 2007. The figure in London itself is now 83 per cent.

• Interest has risen sharply in the West Midlands (up from 60 to 76 per cent) and North-East England, up from 65 to 78 per cent.

• 40 per cent now say they know “a lot” or “a little” about plans for the Games.

Seventy-three per cent said they believed the Games would have a positive effect on the UK as a whole and 83 per cent on London. When asked about the impact on their own lives, respondents were much more optimistic than in the previous survey: 30 per cent anticipated a positive impact on their lives (up eight percentage points) and 29 per cent (up five percentage points) on their local community.

Those believing the benefits from London 2012 should be wider than just sport were put at 75 per cent, a big increase from 63 per cent in 2007.

Both surveys were conducted to help develop plans to maximise the legacy from staging the Games – identifying the public’s priorities across a range of issues. The Government’s legacy action plan, Before, During and After: Making the Most of the London 2012 Games, was published in June 2008.

This year the top-ranked objective, with 93 per cent support, was getting young people more involved in their local communities – ahead of creating jobs (92 per cent), boosting tourism and business (both 88 per cent) and increasing participation in sport, at 87 per cent.

And over two-thirds of those questioned were confident that all 12 legacy aims outlined would be achieved, with 83 per cent thinking we can improve on Britain’s impressive haul of 19 Olympic gold medals and fourth place in the medal table in Beijing, and 42 gold medals and second place in the Paralympic Games. That compares with only 42 per cent who believed in 2007 that Team GB could come fourth in the medals table in London.

Tessa Jowell added:

“We needed to know what the public wanted from London 2012 – what the people’s priorities were. It is very clear that they realise the scale of what can be achieved, not just in London but across the whole country and, increasingly so, touching their own lives.

“The commitment to benefits stretching way beyond just sport is ours too – and, in this difficult economic climate, London 2012 offers up a golden opportunity to produce lucrative contracts for British companies and deliver badly-needed regeneration for one of the poorest parts of the UK.”

Source: Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Looking ahead to the 2012 Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee today completed a week-long review of the 2008 Games to ensure that London and other Games Organising Committees benefit from the lessons learned in Beijing.