Former USOC Secretary General Harvey Schiller was elected president of the International Baseball Federation last year, making this his first Olympics since taking over the international federation. Baseball kicks off what could be its final Olympics Wednesday in Beijing. The sport was eliminated from the 2012 Olympic program in 2005. Schiller sat down with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Tripp Mickle to talk about the state of baseball and its future in the Olympics.    Read More  >

Since signing a deal to have Aramark supply food to athletes and media at the Olympics, Aramark’s Marc Bruno has traveled to Beijing 25 times to prepare the company for its largest undertaking at an Olympics since it first got involved 40 years ago. Today, the president of stadiums and arenas, sports and entertainment, oversees a staff of 7,000 employees at the Olympics who serve as many as 10,000 meals a day. He sat down with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Tripp Mickle to talk about that effort.    Read More  >

Aramark served 41,200 meals Monday in Beijing, setting a record for the most food ever served by the company during its 40-year history working with the Olympics.

The total surpasses the most meals the food services company served in Athens by 21 percent. In the athlete cafeteria alone, the company served 10,580 dinners.    Read More  >

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For the past couple of days, the Bird’s Nest has been a beehive of activity.

The Bird’s Nest is the nickname for Beijing’s National Stadium, where Friday’s opening ceremony was held and the Olympic track and field competition begins Friday. Maybe you didn’t notice, but during the opening ceremony there was no grass on the field. Instead, it was covered with wood planks and various surfaces to help stage the performance art of 14,000 participants.

This is where GreenTech comes in.    Read More  >

While perhaps a new name to most Olympic viewers, 19-year-old Katie Hoff is by no means a fresh face among those in the swimming industry. Following Hoff’s breakthrough performance at the 2005 World Championships, Speedo wasted no time in moving its marketing dollars behind the California native, signing her to a 10-year endorsement contract, the longest in the brand’s history.    Read More  >

Gold
Johnson & Johnson
J&J gets the gold for two reasons. First, in the wake of the tragic stabbing of Todd and Barbara Bachman over the weekend, the company provided a physician to the family. Yesterday, the Bachman's daughter and son-in-law, the U.S. men's volleyball coach, issued a statement thanking the company.

The second reason is because of the sponsor's Olympic showcase on the Green.
The exhibit centers on the theme of a "Caring World," highlighting J&J's contributions to health and culminating with three of China's 2,000-year-old Terracotta Warriors.

U.S. gold-medalist Jason Lezak

Silver
Jason Lezak
The 32-year-old anchor of the amazing U.S. men's 400-meter freestyle relay team is already getting calls from interested companies, according to his agent, PMG's Evan Morgenstein, and Lezak's Web site momentarily crashed after Monday's race due to all of the traffic on it.

Bronze
Sponsors going green in Beijing
Almost every sponsor showcase on the ground in Beijing emphasizes the respective company's "Green" efforts, such as Samsung's biodegradable phones. But all of this messaging seems a little hypocritical considering sponsors will raze the monstrous exhibits they've built after the Paralympics in September. That's hardly the tack of a conservationist.

Tin
Olympic family attendance
Attendance in special sections for Olympic family has been soft at numerous events, making empty seats visible on TV. This was a problem in Athens and continues to be a problem in Beijing, where events are sold out. Perhaps the IOC and its sponsors should consider adding a secondary ticket supplier so that it can easily unload those tickets to interested fans frustrated that these Games are "sold out."

NBC's Sunday night coverage averaged a 17.9/31.

NBC is averaging a 17.0/30 national rating for its first three nights of Olympic coverage, marking the highest prime-time rating through the first Sunday for a non-U.S. Summer Games since an 18.1/43 for the 1976 Games.

Sunday night's coverage averaged a 17.9/31, up 21 percent from the 2004 Athens Games, and peaked at a 21.0/32 and 38.4 million average viewers in the 9:30 p.m. ET half-hour.    Read More  >

Over the last few days, Johnson & Johnson has been attracting people to its showcase on the Olympic Green with 2,000-year-old Chinese artifacts, the Terracotta Warriors. But the first-time TOP sponsor has been busy in China for three years trying to make the most of its sponsorship here. Owen Rankin, Johnson & Johnson’s vice president of corporate equity and Olympic sponsorship, sat down with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Tripp Mickle to explain what the company is doing, what its goals are and how its efforts are working to date.    Read More  >