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NBC will remain the Olympic network in the United StatesJun 07, 2011 (Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- For $4.38 billion, NBC will remain the U.S. network of the Olympics through 2020. The International Olympic Committee announced Tuesday the network has bought rights to four more Olympics, from the 2014 Winter Games through the 2020 Summer Games. NBC Sports head Mark Lazarus said the company intends to show every event of those four Olympics live on one of its platforms, either broadcast or Internet. That is a major change from NBC's philsophy under recently resigned Dick Ebersol, who delayed broadcast of many high-interest events until prime time. and were the other bidders. Fox also submitted a bid for four Games; ESPN for just 2014 and 2016. The New York Times reported ESPN's bid was $1.4 billion; the IOC did not give figures on the losing bids. NBC will pay $775 million for the 2014 Winter Games, $1.226 billion for the 2016 Summer Games, $963 million for the 2018 Winter Games and $1.418 billion for 2020. The total could increase by another $200 million or more if General Electric renews its global sponsorship with the IOC as expected. GE, which sold NBC Universal to Comcast this year, retains a 49 percent share in the The 2014 Winter Games are in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. No sites have been chosen for 2018 and 2020. The IOC will pick the 2018 winter site next month; Munich; Pyeongchang, South Korea; and Annecy, France are the finalists. NBC has had U.S. rights for seven Olympics since beginning with 2000 and going through the 2012 London Summer Games. "The Olympics are in their DNA," IOC President Jacques Rogge said of NBC during a press conference Tuesday. When Ebersol, NBC's Olympics guru, resigned last month over contract issues, there had been a feeling the network's new owner, Comcast, might not be as interested in the Olympics, especially after losing $223 million on the Vancouver Winter Games. NBC paid $2.2 billion for the rights to the 2010 and 2012 Summer Games, nearly $900 million more than the next bid, by Fox. "This secures the financial future for next decade for, first of all, the United States Olympic Committee, but also for future organizing committees, for the (national Olympic committees) and for the international federations," Rogge said. Under the terms of its current deal with the IOC, the USOC would get 12.75 percent of the $4.38 billion, or $558 million. But, after intensifying complaints from many IOC members over the size of the USOC share, the USOC and IOC are in discussions about renegotiating that open-ended deal. USOC officials have said they hope a new agreement can be struck by next month. Because it gets no federal funding, the USOC depends for nearly half its revenue on its share of U.S. TV rights and its 20 percent share of the IOC's global sponsorship program. The latter share also has become a lightning rod for U.S. critics in the Olympic movement. The size of the winning bid is an affirmation of the value of the Olympics as a television property in the United States. Despite a recessionary economy, Comcast / NBC have anted up $900 million more than the $3.5 billion they paid for rights to five Olympics from 2000 through 2008. To see more of the Chicago Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.chicagotribune.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Chicago Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |