Regardless of the outcome of this weekend's vote on how
to reform the IOC, one thing "already is clear: The scandal
has cost the Olympic Games a lot of money," according to A.
Craig Copetas of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. So far in '99,
the IOC has spent "at least" $1.75M on a Hill & Knowlton-led
PR campaign "aimed at salvaging the reputation" of IOC
President Juan Antonio Samaranch and other IOC officials.
In addition, the IOC has lost "unspecified amounts of money
in withdrawn or renegotiated corporate sponsorships." For
the first six months of '99, the IOC paid Hill & Knowlton
$1.3M for organizing a PR campaign. In June, the IOC said
the deal was extended on a monthly basis at the rate of
$75,000 per month. In addition, an IOC memo recommended the
IOC set up a "special budget" of between $2.5-5M to fund
"direct-paid advertising." IOC spokesperson Franklin
Servan-Schreiber says that he "isn't certain how much of
that budget has been approved or spent." According to
internal memos, part of Hill & Knowlton's strategy is to
identify the most "vocal potential IOC critics," to
"neutralize impressions" and to direct "image
rehabilitation" of current IOC members. Copetas: "All of
this is unsettling for those who argue that the IOC needs a
thorough housecleaning" (WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE, 12/7).
HANCOCK ON HOLD: John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance
President David D'Alessandro said that regardless of this
weekend's vote, it is too early to say whether Hancock will
renew its Olympic sponsorship: "We will probably await the
new leadership. The key is, can the new leader use these
reforms to really implement change?" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/10).
THE TIME IS NOW? A SALT LAKE TRIBUNE editorial calls on
IOC members to approve the proposed reforms this weekend in
Switzerland: "Failure to do so would imperil the immediate
future of the Olympic movement" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 12/10).
