IOC awards Vancouver broadcast rights in Mexico
T he International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded broadcast rights for the Vancouver Winter Olympics to Canal 22 in Mexico. Canal 22 has acquired non-exclusive free-to-air television and radio broadcast rights for the Games, with a commitment to broadcast live coverage and highlights. IOC president Jacques Rogge said: “The IOC is very happy to announce that through this agreement with Canal 22, the Vancouver Games will be broadcast on free television in Mexico.”
BOA bosses hit out over winter sports funding
B ritish Olympic Association (BOA) chief executive Andy Hunt has admitted that the collapse of Snowsport GB has not helped the team’s preparations for the Winter Olympics. Hunt, who is also Team GB’s chef de mission at the Games in Vancouver, revealed that the lack of sponsorship money was a contributory factor to the financial problems that saw the snowsport governing body go into administration last week, reports the Guardian. “I think they’ve had a really tough financial time over the past year or two,” he said. It’s been very difficult. It’s a very constrained market for private sponsorship and they have very limited government lottery funding. “This problem is not uncommon across all the winter sports – they have 1.5 per cent...
Vancouver organisers ready for protests
O rganisers of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver have vowed that protesters will not be allowed to disrupt the Games, which begin on Friday (Feb 12). The event has become a focal point for a number of groups planning a “convergence” on the city to demonstrate against the corporate greed and injustice they believe the Olympic movement has come to symbolise. Vancouver 2010 deputy chief executive Dave Cobb said: “We expect that protests may occur [and] security forces are ready to react in case they break the law.” There have also been claims the Winter Olympics is being partly held on land that belongs to Canada’s aboriginal people. But Olympic organisers (VANOC) point out that local aboriginal groups are supporting the event as co-hosts. “We have...
IOC awards Peru broadcast rights
T he International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded broadcast rights for the Olympic Games in 2010 and 2012 to América Televisión in Peru. The network has won the free-to-air television and radio broadcast rights for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games and the London 2012 Olympic Games, as well as the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this year and the first Youth Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck in 2012. IOC president Jacques Rogge said: “The agreement with América Televisión guarantees free coverage of the Olympic Games and the Youth Olympic Games across Peru, and we are delighted to be working with them.”
Winter Olympics security operation on budget
T he head of security for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver has revealed there have been no threats against the Games, meaning the event should not exceed its C$900m security budget. Fifteen thousand police, soldiers and private guards are being used to protect the Games, which begin on February 12, in one of the largest and most expensive security operations in Canadian history. Bud Mercer, an assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said: “There is absolutely no known threat to the Olympic or Paralympic Games. “Based on today’s environment, unless there is a change either domestically or internationally, I would suggest we are able to stay within the C$900 million.”
IOC eyes London-only sponsors as Vancouver deadline passes
T he International Olympic Committee (IOC) is still hoping to sign more top-level sponsors for the London 2012 Olympics even though the deadline has passed for the Vancouver Winter Games, which start in two weeks. It would be the first time the IOC has signed up a TOP (elite level) sponsor for only one Olympics in a four-year cycle, but the organisation’s marketing commission chairman Gerhard Heiberg revealed that he is close to announcing more deals. “We are still speaking to several companies, and we will speak to them just before the Games in Vancouver,” Heiberg told the Associated Press. “We are in good communication with some possible sponsors. We are still talking. We are close. We need to finalise.” The IOC currently has nine...
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