IOC, Japan Fall in Line with Postponement of Tokyo Olympics

While the rest of the sporting world had delayed or cancelled events in the face of the crisis the IOC was still holding out hope that the Summer Games could take place as scheduled from July 24 through August 9During an executive board meeting on March 22 the IOC said it would conduct four weeks of scenario planning before making a call on whether the Games could continue as planned or be delayed amp160Shortly after the IOC announcement on Sunday the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committee stepped up and said it would not send its athletes to Japan given the mounting health concerns amp160Australia followed suit the next dayCalling the health of the athletes a top priority Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressing the nationamp8217s parliament on March 23 said that quotif it is difficult to hold the games in a complete way a decision of postponement would be unavoidablequotYoshiro Mori president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee said Monday that he and IOC President Thomas Bach agreed on a review of postponement but not a cancellation adding thatamp160they would evaluate postponement scenarios extending for one three and five months and up to oneamp160yearLater that day longtime IOC member Dick Pound told USA Todayamp160that a decision had been made to postpone the events to 2021 and that details would followThe United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee following Poundamp8217s proclamation also looked to a postponement as it reported that of the 45 percent of the 4000 athletes who responded to a survey 65 percent indicated their ability to train had been compromised or they were unable to prepare at all owing to Coronavirus restrictions amp160Other groups also had been hedging calling for a delay mostly into 2021 Brazil Norway and Germany among them as well as USA Swimming Track ampamp Field and Gymnastics which wanted the USOPC to advocate for a delayWith the Coronavirus continuing to spread and the health fallout widening the IOCamp8217s hesitancy seemingly was rooted in economicsNational Olympic Committees benefit from some funding from the IOC which receives the bulk of its revenues upward of 70 percent from media rightsLike Comcastamp8217s NBCUniversal and European rightsholder Discovery which was looking to the Games to bolster its Eurosport service and secure licensing fees from different services on the Continent the IOC has insurance including provisions against expenditures to the host cityamp160 Both media companies have indicated that a postponement would not significantly impact their financial results for the current yearHowever the loss of rights represents a major blow to the IOC amp160Reports indicate that in many cases the rightsholders donamp8217t allocate their payments until the Games take place amp160NBCU is at the top of the list with more than a 14 billion rights payment on tap for TokyoFrom Japanamp8217s perspective organizers have indicated that the Tokyo Games were expected to cost some 124 billion a figure that didnamp8217t include moving the marathon and walking events north to Sapporo in deference to summer heat amp160Tokyo 2020amp8217s budget is divided among the organizing committee and local and national governments and the IOC which contributed upward of 800 millionWith the delay the nationamp8217s Olympicrelated tourism budgets just fell off the podiumamp160 Presumably some or most of that spending will be recouped next yearamp160Should the Tokyo Olympics play out next summer Comcastamp8217s programming arm is looking at an unprecedented schedule of major events amp160Over a 16month period NBCU would cover the rescheduled Summer Games amp160NBC on Feb 6 2022 will air Super Bowl LVI the rights to which it swapped with CBS for Super Bowl LV as a gambit to serve an Olympicsize ad sales flanker to the Winter Games from Beijing which begin two days earlieramp160 Then from Nov 21 through Dec 18 Telemundo will step up to the pitch with coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup from QatarOn March 3 NBCU reported that it had sold 90 of its Tokyo Olympic Games inventory with national ad sales exceeding 125 billion up from 1 billion in December 2019 amp160The total surpassed the companyamp8217s previous ad sales record of 120 billion garnered against the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016amp8220NBCUniversal is actively working with our advertising partners to navigate this postponement andamp160weamp8217re exploringamp160all options to best serveamp160their brands and our consumers this year and into 2021amp8221 said a company spokespersonClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

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IOC, Japan Fall in Line with Postponement of Tokyo Olympics

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J.P. Fields

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IOC, Japan Fall in Line with Postponement of Tokyo Olympics

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