ESPN, Fox, NBC Among Candidates To Bid For 2014, 2016 TV Rights
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Bodenheimer Says ESPN Will Be Among Bidders
Vying For 2014, 2016 Olympic TV Rights |
ESPN/ABC Sports President George Bodenheimer yesterday at a breakfast with N.Y.-area media reporters said that the net "will be in the running to air" the 2014 and 2016 Games when they go to bid next year, and Fox, "which participated in the last round of bidding, is interested" as well, according to Paul Gough of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. But CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus said of his net, "We didn't bid last time, and I don't think a lot has changed." Gough notes when the IOC entertains bids "for the next round of Olympics rights, which could happen within six to nine months," it is "likely that only the 2014 and 2016 Games will be up for grabs and that bidding will begin before October 2009," when the host city for the 2016 Games will be announced next October; Sochi, Russia, has already been named the site of the 2014 Games (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/20). Bodenheimer said that the net is "'very interested' in the future Olympics rights, although he cautioned that it 'still has to make business sense.'" ESPN officials added that the IOC "has assured them that the incumbent does not hold the right for first negotiations and there will not be preemptive bidding for the package." With NBC paying an $894M rights fee for the Beijing Games, "the bidding will likely surpass the $1[B] mark, a floor ESPN is bracing for" (MULTICHANNEL.com, 8/19). The likely bids by ESPN and Fox were first reported by SportsBusiness Journal.
MORE LIVE COVERAGE ON ESPN: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir reports ESPN "would carry more of [the Olympics] live, regardless of the time zone, than NBC traditionally has done." ESPN Exec VP/Content John Skipper: "Our DNA is different than theirs. We serve sports fans. It's hard in our culture to fathom tape-delaying in the same way they have." Skipper said of the Olympics, "It's a beautiful property and NBC's done great with it. ... If you're doing [profits and losses], these guys have done spectacularly. If I was holding the rights to this, this is a great time to be selling them." Skipper added that "the extent of NBC's success has surprised him." Skipper: "On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd have to say it's been a 10.5. The Phelps thing couldn't have worked better. I admire that they got swimming in the morning. Everything broke their way" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/20).
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