The IOC sold European TV rights to the 2000-2008 Olympics
for $1.442B to the European Broadcasting Union, "bypassing" a
$1.8B bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., according to Richard
Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. It was the second "snub" in recent
months of Murdoch by the IOC, who was passed over when NBC
secured U.S. rights to the 2000 Games in Sydney. Sandomir notes
the decision reflects the IOC's "preference for doing business
almost exclusively with long-term partners and its concern that
Murdoch's European involvement might have meant putting key
Olympic events on pay TV." As part of the deal, the IOC and EBU
will split profits evenly (N.Y. TIMES, 1/31). The EBU has held
European TV rights to every Olympics since '60. News Corp.
accepted the decision and won't challenge under European
Competition Law (FINANCIAL TIMES, 1/31). The IOC also rejected
Swiss-based CWL (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 1/31).
DETAILS: The EBU will pay $350M for the rights to televise
the Sydney Games in 2000; $120M for the Salt Lake Games in 2002;
$394M for 2004; $135M for 2006; and $443M for 2008
(BLOOMBERG/ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/31). It is believed the
original EBU bid for Sydney was $280M, and that they had to
increase their bid for Salt Lake by $20M (FINANCIAL TIMES, 1/31).
In Salt Lake, the sale of European rights will bring $48M less to
SLOOC than the Murdoch bid. SLOOC, which gets 60% of broadcast
revenues, will collect $72M. Salt Lake organizers "tried to put
a good face on the deal" and its impact. SLOOC President Tom
Welch: "The Olympics are not about money alone. ... As we
expected [the IOC] to be sensitive to our needs, we also have to
be sensitive to theirs. It's obviously a compromise" (Lisa Riley
Roche, DESERET NEWS, 1/31). The European Tv rights will net
$17.2M more for SLOOC than the group's original bid for the Games
had projected (Mike Gorrell, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 1/31).
