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Catching Up With MLS Commissioner Don Garber
Don Garber gave up an opportunity to work the Olympics in Los Angeles in order to take a job at NFL Properties. The move worked out all right. He went on to run NFL Europe and then get hired for his current job as commissioner of MLS in 1998. But Garber has had the Olympic bug ever since. He’s attended two Games since ’84 and is making it three this week in Beijing. Garber took some time to share his take on the 2008 Olympics with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Tripp Mickle before the U.S.-Nigeria soccer match. Read More >Comments -
Cullen Jones Eyes Modeling Work, Additional Deals
U.S. swimmer Cullen Jones won gold Monday in his only event of the Beijing Games, swimming the third leg in the United States’ come-from-behind victory in the 400-meter men's freestyle relay final.
But as good as Jones looked in the water Monday, it’s his look outside the pool that his agent, Premier Management Group’s Evan Morgenstein, says could present Jones with some of his most promising endorsement opportunities. Read More >
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Roundtable Panelists Share Early Media Impressions
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On The Ground: Ithaca College's Annemarie Farrell
Dr. Annemarie Farrell is an assistant professor at Ithaca College in the Department of Sport Management & Media. Farrell will be in Beijing from Aug. 8-27, assisting student volunteers as well as working for the Olympic News Service (ONS) gathering quotes from Modern Pentathlon athletes. The Beijing Games are Farrell’s first Olympics and first visit to China. Farrell spoke via e-mail earlier this week with SBJ/SBD about her Olympic experiences thus far. Read More >
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OUTSIDE THE RINGS
It’s Apparently Security With A Smile In Beijing
Moments after Nigeria clinched its 2-1 win over the United States in today’s Olympic soccer match, Yisa Basorun slapped a trumpeter on the back and started moving his hands like a conductor.
As the trumpeter played, a crowd of more than 100 Nigerian fans clad in green and white began to shake, sing and celebrate. The Nigerian team had secured its advancement to the next round of the Olympic Games, so the music played on.
If only getting through the gate had been so easy. Read More > -
OUTSIDE THE RINGS
Fighting To Find The Spirit Of The Olympic Truce
In Olympics past I’ve written and reported on the notion of an Olympic Truce. I consider myself a peaceful guy. Some organizing committees have taken the ancient concept seriously.
BOCOG and its backers in the Chinese government don’t seem to. Nor, apparently, has Russia. With its recent assault on neighbor Georgia, the Russians shattered the traditional, dreamed-for Olympic peace. Read More > -
Medal Stand
Gold
Visa
The credit card company was ready with a "Go World" congratulatory ad for Michael Phelps following the first commercial break after he won a record 10th career Olympic gold medal. Pretty standard stuff in our industry, but still a nice touch to what so far has been the story of the Games.
Silver
NBC Digital
The network's online offering continues to smash records, generating nearly 300 million page views and 17 million unique users in the Games' first four days. The network is up against an astute audience here, trying to please tech-savvy surfers who are up to speed on the latest. So far, they've passed the test and the numbers prove it.
Bronze
Cris Collinsworth
We easily could give this to Bela Karolyi, and wonder why he's even on NBC's broadcasts with the clear conflict of interest. But we'll save that for another day. Today, it's Cris Collinsworth. We like Cris, we find him smart, engaging and talented. But his assignments in Beijing have been baffling. Watching Dara Torres doing her workout and then trying some of her routines? Then sitting with Michael Phelps' mother and high-fiving and cheering during her son's race? It's enough to make one squirm. And the "Golly gee, Bob, I'm having a gosh-darn good time here!!" act just doesn't fit someone of his caliber.
Tin
Olympic Green
Despite the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee's pledge to "encourage" visitors to the Olympic Green, crowds remain sparse because of the need to have event tickets to enter the area. Sponsors have to be pulling their hair out as they wait in their largely empty multimillion-dollar Olympic showcases. -
Olympic Green Restrictions Still In Place
BOCOG has not moved to relax restrictions limiting access to the Olympic Green, but today the organization said that it is continuing to organize people and travel agencies to visit the area. During its daily press briefing today, BOCOG Executive Vice President Wang Wei said that the organization had witnessed about “250,000 people inside the Olympic Green.” Read More >
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NBC Averaging 17.1 Rating Through Monday Night
NBC is averaging a 17.1/30 national rating through Monday night for its prime-time Olympic coverage, up 16.3 percent over the 14.7/26 for the same period at the 2004 Athens Games. The 17.1/30 marks the best prime-time rating through the first four nights of a non-U.S. Summer Olympics since a 17.4/33 for the 1992 Barcelona Games. The net has averaged 30.4 million viewers through the first four days, more than the 24.7 million for Athens.
Meanwhile, NBCOlympics.com already has surpassed total page views, video streams and unique user totals for the entire Athens Games, seeing 13.5 million video streams, 16.9 million unique users and 291.1 million page views.
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Visa Rolls Out Congratulatory Ad For Phelps
Talk about being confident. And ready.
When swimming sensation Michael Phelps earned his 10th gold medal Wednesday morning in Beijing by winning the 200-meter butterfly, credit card giant Visa didn’t just smile about having him in its endorsement portfolio.
It unveiled a brand-new, 30-commercial. Just like that. Read More >
