When John Furlong started working on the effort to bring the Olympics to British Columbia, his 16-year-old daughter was just 2 years old. His effort finally is nearing completion and it has been punctuated by achievements. Over the last five years, with Furlong serving as CEO, the Vancouver 2010 organizing committee has raised more than $680 million in sponsorship revenue, managed $464 million in venue construction, and sold more than $280 million in tickets. As the finish line comes into view, much work remains, and Furlong talked about that with SportsBusiness Journal’s Tripp Mickle.
In a recent interview you said that the 2010 Vancouver Olympics “need to be a glow in the dark” in these dark economic times. What do you mean by that?
Furlong: What I was really saying was today there’s hardly a page in the paper or a news program of any kind that’s not talking rather graphically about the global economy. In the middle of this, we’re putting on the biggest event that’s ever been staged in our country. I hope the event will demonstrate that it doesn’t matter how big the challenge is, if the desire is there and the passion is there, you can get to where you have to go.
How do you really achieve that?
Furlong: Ultimately, if the 2 million people who live in the greater Vancouver area become ambassadors for this and become part-owners, they can help create the atmosphere and energy we need to have at the Games. Then we will surely not only overcome (the economy) but also gain the respect of the whole country.
The head of Vancouver’s organizing
committee wants the Games to
unite and inspire people.
Tell me about a challenging issue that you’ve been confronted with and how you decided to deal with it.
Furlong: One example is having to build Olympic venues in a very challenging environment. We had a budget and no flexibility to go over it. We looked at what we were doing and said, “Why are we taking very good hockey facilities and expanding them to international size for two weeks of use and then returning them to their original place at great cost?” To change that, we needed to get buy-in from the IOC, the International Ice Hockey Federation and many of our partners. Everyone agreed (to use North American ice) and the impact was huge. We saved (more than $10 million in one building alone) and were able to maintain the capacity of the buildings we were working in to accommodate more fans.
What sacrifices — beyond hiring 100 fewer employees and shelving plans for medal ceremonies in Whistler — has the organizing committee been forced to make because of the economy?
Furlong: We have looked inside our budget and looked at every single thing and asked ourselves, “Is it necessary or is it not?” If it’s not, we’re not going to do it. I’ll give you one example. There are huge numbers of publications that get printed. Many are for the staging of the business of the Games. They will be printed at a different level than at the past.
What’s an average day like for you?
Furlong: I get up at 4:30 a.m. and get home at 10 o’clock or 9 o’clock. I try to get a little exercise in, usually early in the day. My day could include meeting with my executives, meeting with heads of state, meeting with the head of British Columbia government, meeting with sponsors, addressing audiences, dealing with the media, dealing with specific challenges to the organization.
If you and I had a conversation a year from now, what would you like people to say the legacy of the Games would be on the Olympic movement?
Furlong: I hope people will say about us that it did have the effect of bringing a country together, it did have the effect of inspiring people, it did have the effect of taking sport off the B-list of things people care about and put it on the A-list. Given the times we’re in, I think it may well be viewed as a moment in time for our country.
What about internationally? What will the legacy be for the rest of the world?
Furlong: I think many things we’ve done will be copied. The marketing program is one. How we’ve approached the venue program is another. But this is a chance for the mystery of Canada to become less of a mystery. People used to speak of Canada affectionately but they could never describe the country. We have a very large neighbor beside us and they tend to know that neighbor very well. This will be a chance for the world to get to know our country better.
