London organizers, NBC and Team USA prove the naysayers wrong
August 13, 2012 11:05 AM
Each day during the Summer Games, SportsBusiness Journal offered its take on the business performances of some of the people, sponsors, broadcasters and other entities around London.
GOLD
London organizers
What a testament these Games were to the London Olympic Organizing Committee and its leaders, Sebastian Coe and Paul Deighton. They chose not to be Beijing, to give these Games their own personality and flair. Along the way, they paid attention to every detail while still managing not to smoother the London Games in bureaucracy and political correctness. From the well-designed layout of venues, to the opening and closing ceremonies, to fixing security issues on the fly, to always maintaining a healthy dose of British humor, they delivered a fantastic Olympics.
SILVER
NBC
What else can be said about NBC Sports and its performance these past 17 days? From the best non-U.S. Olympic ratings in decades to ad sales records to offering every minute of every Olympic event live, albeit with a few glitches along the way, NBC performed brilliantly during the London Games.
BRONZE
Team USA
Everyone said this was China’s year to win the medal count, yet when the final tally was in, Team USA had delivered one of its finest performances in history. The U.S. won 104 medals overall, 46 of them gold, to China’s 88 medals and 38 golds. The U.S. Olympic Committee, its national governing bodies and all of the athletes and coaches should be commended.
TIN
The naysayers
For all those who said no one could follow Beijing, who said London was too big of a city to host the Games and that security would be a nightmare and traffic disastrous, to the ones who said tape-delayed coverage can’t possibly work in this day and age and that online coverage would cannibalise all media, to even those who said China was poised to take over the medal count and Team USA and Team GB would spend these past 17 days on their heels — to all of the naysayers everywhere, we’re happy to say you were wrong.
Return to top
GOLD
London organizers
 |
SILVER
NBC
What else can be said about NBC Sports and its performance these past 17 days? From the best non-U.S. Olympic ratings in decades to ad sales records to offering every minute of every Olympic event live, albeit with a few glitches along the way, NBC performed brilliantly during the London Games.
BRONZE
Team USA
Everyone said this was China’s year to win the medal count, yet when the final tally was in, Team USA had delivered one of its finest performances in history. The U.S. won 104 medals overall, 46 of them gold, to China’s 88 medals and 38 golds. The U.S. Olympic Committee, its national governing bodies and all of the athletes and coaches should be commended.
TIN
The naysayers
For all those who said no one could follow Beijing, who said London was too big of a city to host the Games and that security would be a nightmare and traffic disastrous, to the ones who said tape-delayed coverage can’t possibly work in this day and age and that online coverage would cannibalise all media, to even those who said China was poised to take over the medal count and Team USA and Team GB would spend these past 17 days on their heels — to all of the naysayers everywhere, we’re happy to say you were wrong.
