NBC Sports unveiled plans Tuesday for its "expanded
coverage of the" 2000 Olympic Games over the Internet,
according to Stephen Battaglio of HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The
site, located at www.NBCOlympics.com and co-produced with
S.F.-based Quokka Sports, will be "presented in concert"
with NBC's 440 hours of Olympic coverage of the 2000 Games.
The site will feature a section called "Athlete's Voice," in
which members of the U.S. Olympic Team will "provide first-
person accounts while they train and compete." Sixteen
athletes have already committed to contributing to the
section, including swimmer Amy Van Dyken, runner Michael
Johnson and gymnast Jason Gatson. Quokka Sports CEO & co-
Founder Alan Ramadan said that the athletes "are not being
compensated for their participation." In addition to the
site's information, NBCOlympics.com "will be the only
Internet service to provide video of Olympic action." Clips
will be available "the moment after they are broadcast on
NBC." NBC Sports Chair Dick Ebersol said that NBC's Olympic
advertisers "will be given first crack at advertising
opportunities" on the site (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/25).
DON'T WORRY ABOUT A THING: USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke
writes that Ebersol "tossed aside speculation" that the Salt
Lake City Olympic bid scandal "had seriously hampered NBC's
economic prospects" for its Olympics rights package as
Ebersol commented that NBC "expects to at least break even
on Sydney and make a profit on the other four Olympics."
NBC, which earned a profit of "about" $70M on its rights
fees of $456M for the '96 Olympic Games, "expects to pass"
'96's total gross ad sales of $680M by mid-September, moving
toward a goal of "about" $850M (USA TODAY, 8/25).
