The Year Ahead -- IOC Faces Fresh Challenges

IOC members will vote on the 2016 host city at the Bella Center. (ATR/M. Bisson)(ATR) The election of the 2016 Olympic host city and finalization of the sports program for the Summer Games after London are among key decisions facing the IOC membership in 2009.

Reaching a new revenue-sharing deal with the U.S. Olympic Committee and concluding negotiations with broadcasters bidding for the rights to televise the 2014 and 2016 Olympics are other challenges for the IOC in the coming year.

The IOC is also looking to meet its $1 billion target from its TOP sponsor program for the 2008-2012 period by adding another sponsor to the nine already on board.

And last week IOC President Jacques Rogge identified the 13th Olympic Congress that follows the IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark in October as an “important milestone.” He said the Olympic gathering was “a chance for the entire Olympic family to discuss and debate some major issues around the role of the Olympic Movement in society.”

Next year, the race for the 2016 Olympics moves into high gear with the four bid cities ramping up their campaigns. IOC members will choose between Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo in a vote at the Session in the Danish capital on Oct. 2.

The Session will also vote on the final composition of the 2016 Olympic program, including the potential inclusion of up to two new sports. IOC members will also vote en bloc on the core 26 sports.

The seven sports vying for a place at the 2016 Games are baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby, softball and squash. They will have the opportunity to make their cases for inclusion on the Olympic program to the IOC Executive Board in June. The EB may then shortlist the sports to go forward for the vote in Copenhagen.

Despite the tough economic climate, the IOC expects to tie up some lucrative TV rights deals next year.

After the European Broadcast Union (EBU) was jettisoned from consideration for the TV rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympics, the IOC will continue discussions with Swiss-based Infront and French-owned Sport Five to strike a deal, possibly in the next few months. The IOC is understood to be seeking more than $1 billion in revenue from European rights.

An agreement with a U.S. broadcaster for 2014 and 2016 is expected to take a little longer. Discussions have already taken place with NBC, ABC/ESPN and Fox. In mid-December, CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. announced they may join forces to bid on the TV rights package.

The IOC has already warned that any move to finalize a U.S. TV rights deal could be delayed until after the election of the 2016 Olympic host city at the IOC Session due to the financial crisis.

Meanwhile, further talks between the IOC and the U.S. Olympic Committee over a new revenue-sharing deal will be held in the coming weeks. Rogge said he hopes the IOC and USOC leadership can finalize discussions by the time of the executive board meeting in Denver, March 25 to 27.

Other key dates on the IOC's 2009 calendar include Feb. 12, the one-year-to-go mark to Vancouver 2010, IOC coordination commission visits to London – in April and November – and to Sochi in mid-May. In the first quarter, IOC inspection teams will also visit Singapore and Innsbruck, Austria, host cities of the summer 2010 and winter 2012 Youth Olympic Games.

With reporting from Mark Bisson.

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