Rio's win will cost U.S. broadcast deal worth less

COPENHAGEN — The cost of Chicago's defeat in its bid to host the 2016 Olympics will be felt in the value of the next U.S. broadcast deal.

The International Olympic Committee's top negotiator said the U.S. rights are worth less after the 2016 Games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro.

"Obviously, the domestic games would be more valuable," IOC finance commission chairman Richard Carrion told The Associated Press.

And the American deal — the most lucrative in the IOC's portfolio — might not be done for another three years if the economy doesn't improve.

"We have plenty of time and it doesn't have to be in 2010. We could conceivably do a deal as late as 2012," Carrion said.

U.S. networks including NBC, ABC-ESPN and Fox were expected to enter a bidding war for combined rights to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and a 2016 Chicago games.

NBC paid $2.2 billion for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2012 London Games.

The IOC gets more than half its revenue from broadcasting deals, and U.S. deals alone have been worth more than the rest of the world's broadcasters combined.

Carrion, an IOC Executive Board member from Puerto Rico, said the timing of U.S. negotiations was not dictated by Friday's host vote. Rio defeated Madrid 66-32 in the final round of voting after Chicago was eliminated first, before Tokyo also fell out of the race.

"I've always said it's more a matter of where the economy is heading rather than the selection of the host city," Carrion said.

Carrion did not expect the popularity of the Olympics to suffer a backlash from American viewers and advertisers after the manner of Chicago's defeat.

"It's still a premium brand. I would not read much into it that they were eliminated in the first round," Carrion said.

Just 18 of 95 IOC voters supported Chicago despite personal pleas in the final presentation Friday from President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

"I don't think this will affect the television discussions," he said. "This is a competition like any competition. But there is only one gold medal, and no silver and bronze."

He said Rio's time zone, one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time in New York City, was "not bad" for the American market.

A likely drop in American revenues would be partly compensated by rising revenues from Brazil.

In August, the IOC completed a $170 million rights sale to Brazilian broadcasters TV Globo, Bandeirantes and Rede Record to show events from Sochi and what will now be the home Rio Games.

Timo Lumme, the IOC's director of television and marketing, described that deal Sunday as a "huge evolution" from previous agreements.

Brazilian broadcasters paid $10 million for the combined 2006 Turin Winter Olympics and 2008 Beijing Games cycle, then $60 million for Vancouver and London.

Lumme said the Brazilians were bidding blind before the 2016 host vote.

"It was a good bet by them," Lumme told the AP. "It's turned out they are in Rio and we hope they go on to make a good return."

from the associated press

Alderman needs Daley to explain money guarantee

CHICAGO (AP) — Mayor Richard M. Daley has taken the plunge in trying to lure the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago. Now he has to explain to taxpayers in this cash-strapped city why they may be on the hook for millions of dollars if the event flops.

Daley was nowhere near Chicago on Thursday. He was still overseas after telling the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland that he would sign a contract requiring the city to take full financial responsibility for the games, a move intended to erase any IOC doubts about the commitment of the U.S. bid city.

The IOC will announce Oct. 2 whether the games will go to Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo or Rio de Janeiro.

When Daley gets home, Chicago Alderman Joe Moore wants the mayor to explain his thinking. Moore also said there should be an independent review of the taxpayer risk if Chicago gets the games.

"The days where we just take the mayor's word for it when he says 'Trust me,' those days are over. We need to verify, we need to cross all the T's and dot all the I's," Moore said.

Daley's office said Thursday that he will meet with the City Council to talk about signing the so-called host city contract.

Chicago bid officials this week said they had come up with an additional $500 million in private insurance, clearing the way for Daley to sign the contract if Chicago wins.

Daley has said a Chicago games would not "burden local taxpayers" and he insists that's still the case. Local organizers have a safety net of $2.5 billion in public and private funds if the Olympics are a money-loser.

"It's not appropriation of any more money," Daley said in Switzerland. "It's just an insurance policy for anything above $500 million. It's not a liability for the city."

Chicago organizers have repeatedly described additional financial exposure for taxpayers as "extremely remote."

Chicago resident Christopher Jones doesn't buy it. Chicago already is in tough financial shape with some 1,500 city workers facing layoffs next month because of ongoing budget troubles in a sluggish economy.

"We already have enough our own problems," said Jones, 24. "It's irresponsible to take on such a huge responsibility at this point."

But another resident, Tara Bailey, said any money the city commits to the Olympics needs to be viewed as an investment.

"Our city could be put on the map for this," the 40-year-old Bailey said. "And, the city has already said they'd do the Olympics. Of course we would have to be fully committed."

Still, Alderman Leslie Hairston wants a public hearing on Daley's "arrogant" decision.

"This is a really big decision and it's too big of a decision to make unilaterally," she said.

The city is counting on private financing to pay for the games, which are expected to cost $4.8 billion. The number almost certainly will rise because of the inevitable cost overruns other Olympics have seen.

But Chicago also has history on its side. The 1984 Los Angeles Games, for example, were profitable, said Carson Cunningham, a visiting assistant professor at DePaul University who teaches a class on the history of the modern Olympics.

"I'm pretty confident, outside of a catastrophic event, that the games would be a net plus economically for Chicago," Cunningham said.

Daley surely won over IOC members by agreeing to sign the host contract and he likely would have lost backing if he didn't, Cunningham said.

Chicago is in a tight contest for the games with Rio coming out strong after presentations this week to the IOC. The three other finalists have the financial backing of their governments, but the U.S. federal government doesn't do that.

Alderman Toni Preckwinkle said it seemed Daley didn't have a choice but to make the commitment. Preckwinkle is counting on vigorous fundraising to make sure a Chicago Olympics would be a success and taxpayers wouldn't be out any money.

"The Olympics aren't until 2016 and my assumption is that the economy will be better in 2016," she said.

What the mayor did still doesn't sit right with Andy Shaw, head of the Better Government Association watchdog group.

"It may be a good idea but that wasn't part of the original bargain," he said. "You can't make it up as you go along. The stakes are too high."




by the associated press