Ebersol Says NBC Not Interested In Giving Away Rights

At yesterday's Int'l Sports Press Association conference in Toronto, NBC Sports Chair Dick Ebersol said that "until someone comes up with a concrete plan to broadcast Olympic events over the Internet and make some money doing it, NBC is not about to give up the rights," according to Tim Cook of the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL. Ebersol said, "We're waiting for someone to come with a pocket load of cash and a plan to make some. Just because there's a new kid on the block [the Internet], we are supposed to give [broadcast rights] to them? Who the hell are they?" Ebersol added, "The real issues all come back to one thing and that's cash. This cannot be a charity" (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/25). In Toronto, Chris Zelkovich writes that there have "been calls from many for the IOC to allow live video to be carried on the Web." IOC VP Dick Pound: "We are not going to replace television with a medium that has no power and no economic model" (TORONTO STAR, 5/25).

DOES NBC HAVE PULL IN TORONTO? Ebersol, on NBC's ability to influence the '08 Games being awarded to Toronto: "When we made this deal it was clearly understood by us that we were going to be a non-factor in the selection. I went into this assuming that there wouldn't be any [Games] in this time zone" (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/25). But an Olympic broadcasting source said, "Sure, they're [NBC] lobbying for Toronto. Who could blame them? But they also realize they have to be very careful about lobbying too hard. That could end up backfiring on them" (TORONTO STAR, 5/25).