The inaugural Winter Goodwill Games begin today in Lake
Placid, NY, and will feature 500 athletes from 23 countries
competing in a "finals-only" format in 11 sports, according
to USA TODAY's Jill Lieber, who profiles Games Founder &
Time Warner Vice Chair Ted Turner in a Sports Cover Story.
While the Summer Goodwill Games "reportedly have lost more
than" $120M, Turner, who will "be front and center" at this
week's events, "maintains the Goodwill Games are the second-
best idea he ever had. The first was CNN" (USA TODAY,
2/17). Goodwill Games President Michael Plant: "I don't
think you can say that the first time out of the blocks
we're going to make money. But we've hit the objectives and
are continuing to build our brand." Turner Sports VP/PR
Greg Hughes: "We have made an effort to make the games as
TV-friendly as possible, because that's part of our
company." While 16 hours will be seen on TNT, Plant said
"speed events drive viewer interest" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION,
2/17). USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand reports that Time
Warner "will air about 3,900 commercials for the Games,
spread across its 15 Turner Broadcasting channels." Plant
said the Winter Games will cost about $30M, a fee that is
split with NY tourism officials (USA TODAY, 2/17). Plant
also said that Time Warner "plans to expand" the Games by
staging the Winter Games "every two years," beginning in
2003, and the Summer Games every four years, beginning in
2001 in Brisbane, Australia. More dates and sites "will be
announced Saturday." USA TODAY features an eight-page
special section on the Games. Official sponsors are: Circuit
City; Coca-Cola; AutoTrader.com; Chevy Trucks; Gillette;
Heineken; Invesco; Johnson & Johnson; Lincoln Financial
Group; PowerBar and Quizno's Subs (USA TODAY, 2/17).
