Winter Olympics torched by battered economy
Here's another big business that needs a bailout: the Olympics.
With a year to go before the start of the Winter Games in Vancouver, much of the focus is on making ends meet.
The organizing committee has dipped into its contingency fund to the tune of $40 million to cover rising costs because of the slowing economy. The city just approved a new budget that will allow it to borrow $350 million or more to take over building of the athletes' village after the original lender stopped payment.
The Vancouver Games, which begin Feb. 12, 2010, have an operating budget of $1.63 billion - a $104 million increase over the original budget that was developed about two years ago.
Yet those in the Olympic movement say that's still an acceptable amount to pay for the world's biggest sports extravaganza, even in rough financial times.
"There's no shortage of cities willing to put forth the energy and effort and economic considerations to host the Summer or Winter Games," said Jim Scherr, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which wants to bring the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago at the cost of $4.7 billion. "From that perspective, things are robust, the movement is being served."
Still, the sour economy impacts more than just the municipalities trying to put on a good show. It trickles down to individual athletes, especially those who compete in less-popular sports.
Apolo Anton Ohno, winner of five medals over the last two Olympics and hoping to close out his career in Vancouver, said speedskating is doing fine in the lead-up to the games. But because the sport doesn't have a huge membership, or big TV revenues, funding threatens to go downhill quickly after the games.
"The current state of the global recession has taken its toll on funds for post-2010," he said. "That's where it'll be kind of scary to see what's set up. Usually, there's a lot of reserve in the bank. It will be interesting to see how they'll be able to swim through the uphill stream this time."
Despite the rough economy, the USOC has increased its financial assistance to national governing bodies for winter sports by 49 percent, from $8.9 million in 2004-05 to $13.3 million in 2008-09.
And for top athletes like Ohno, sponsorship deals can help augment the cost of living and training, though he expects a bit of a pullback there, as well.
"Now, instead of throwing money this way and that, they're looking for value, maybe something with some longevity," he said.
Those who are lower on the food chain have found themselves scrambling even more.
Bobsledder Brock Kreitzburg, a 2006 Olympian who is trying to overcome an injury and make the 2010 team, recently lost a chunk of money when Home Depot decided not to renew its USOC sponsorship that included a jobs program for American Olympians.
Kreitzburg will still get support from the USOC, but without the job, he has to find other ways to pay the rent.
"I'll get work, raise my own sponsors," Kreitzburg said. "I've been there, done that. At one point, I stopped asking people for money because I got tired of people telling me 'No.' It's a pride issue, as well. But you do what you have to do."
As almost every athlete knows, a good performance brings with it more than just a gold medal.
The athletes get a $25,000 bonus for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze, but the buzz that an emerging star can generate if he or she gets on a roll affects way more than that.
On an individual level, there are endorsements, appearances, book deals and more. And shortly after the Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee will delve seriously into negotiations for a TV deal with an American broadcaster to cover the 2016 Games and beyond. TV revenue makes up about 53 percent of the IOC's income, and U.S. TV dollars provide the lion's share of that money.
A good American performance in Canada, on top of the United States' medal-leading effort in Beijing, can only help, as advertisers and the networks settle on the financial stake they want to invest on the Olympic product.
The United States won 25 medals in Turin in 2006, down from the 34 it won in Salt Lake City, but still a success because it nearly doubled the best output for the American team in an Olympics on foreign soil.
Scherr is making no predictions this time out, other than to say that several countries - including Germany, Norway, 2014 Winter Games host Russia and, of course, Canada - are matching America step for step in trying to build strong programs.
"That said, we're going to field a very competitive team," Scherr said.
One spot the United States is lacking, however, is the breakout star in the signature event of the Winter Olympics - women's figure skating. There are no Michelle Kwans (or Tonya-Nancy dramas, at least not yet) on the horizon and the top contenders figure to be from Japan, South Korea and Italy.
Which could open the door for someone like Lindsey Vonn to be America's big female star. Earlier this month, she became the first American woman to win a world championship in the super-G.
"I'm going to remember the feeling I had today," Vonn said after she won. "I'm going to remember mentally how I was in the start and hopefully I can do the same thing in 2010."
Bode Miller won his second World Cup title in 2008 and should be a top contender, as he tries to avoid a repeat of his embarrassing Olympic shutout in Turin.
The United States usually owns things in and around the halfpipe. Defending gold medalist Shaun White is the most famous snowboarder in the world by most accounts. He just won his fourth X-Games superpipe gold and figures to be a favorite in 2010.
"Incomparable to anything," White said when asked about taking his success from the familiar climes of the X-Games into the Olympics. "I walk through airports and the whole airport would just start clapping."
Lindsey Jacobellis has won five of the last seven X-Games titles in snowboardcross - including this year's championship - but the top entry on her Wikipedia page remains the story about the gold medal she gave away in Turin when she hot-dogged the last few yards down the course and fell. She'll be a favorite to win gold in Vancouver.
A new sport, ski cross, will be added to the freestyle schedule. It's basically snowboardcross on skis, and its most familiar face could very well be a skier used to the more traditional way of getting down the mountain: Daron Rahlves.
A 12-time winner on the World Cup circuit, Rahlves took up a new sport for this Olympic cycle. At 35, he is still looking for his first Olympic medal.
"I want to be known as a skier more than just a ski racer," he said recently. "It's fun to change it up a little bit, getting into something that's a new challenge."
The new challenge for the organizers of the Vancouver Olympics is how to make them a success without hemorrhaging money.
"We had to stop and start again," John Furlong, the CEO of the Vancouver organizing committee, said of the economy's impact on the games. "We had to rethink everything."
The good news is that sales of tickets and merchandising are brisk - a preliminary sign, at least, that interest in the Olympics doesn't wane when the going gets tough.
---
AP Sports Writers Nancy Armour in Chicago and Rachel Cohen in New York contributed to this report.
With a year to go before the start of the Winter Games in Vancouver, much of the focus is on making ends meet.
The organizing committee has dipped into its contingency fund to the tune of $40 million to cover rising costs because of the slowing economy. The city just approved a new budget that will allow it to borrow $350 million or more to take over building of the athletes' village after the original lender stopped payment.
The Vancouver Games, which begin Feb. 12, 2010, have an operating budget of $1.63 billion - a $104 million increase over the original budget that was developed about two years ago.
Yet those in the Olympic movement say that's still an acceptable amount to pay for the world's biggest sports extravaganza, even in rough financial times.
"There's no shortage of cities willing to put forth the energy and effort and economic considerations to host the Summer or Winter Games," said Jim Scherr, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which wants to bring the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago at the cost of $4.7 billion. "From that perspective, things are robust, the movement is being served."
Still, the sour economy impacts more than just the municipalities trying to put on a good show. It trickles down to individual athletes, especially those who compete in less-popular sports.
Apolo Anton Ohno, winner of five medals over the last two Olympics and hoping to close out his career in Vancouver, said speedskating is doing fine in the lead-up to the games. But because the sport doesn't have a huge membership, or big TV revenues, funding threatens to go downhill quickly after the games.
"The current state of the global recession has taken its toll on funds for post-2010," he said. "That's where it'll be kind of scary to see what's set up. Usually, there's a lot of reserve in the bank. It will be interesting to see how they'll be able to swim through the uphill stream this time."
Despite the rough economy, the USOC has increased its financial assistance to national governing bodies for winter sports by 49 percent, from $8.9 million in 2004-05 to $13.3 million in 2008-09.
And for top athletes like Ohno, sponsorship deals can help augment the cost of living and training, though he expects a bit of a pullback there, as well.
"Now, instead of throwing money this way and that, they're looking for value, maybe something with some longevity," he said.
Those who are lower on the food chain have found themselves scrambling even more.
Bobsledder Brock Kreitzburg, a 2006 Olympian who is trying to overcome an injury and make the 2010 team, recently lost a chunk of money when Home Depot decided not to renew its USOC sponsorship that included a jobs program for American Olympians.
Kreitzburg will still get support from the USOC, but without the job, he has to find other ways to pay the rent.
"I'll get work, raise my own sponsors," Kreitzburg said. "I've been there, done that. At one point, I stopped asking people for money because I got tired of people telling me 'No.' It's a pride issue, as well. But you do what you have to do."
As almost every athlete knows, a good performance brings with it more than just a gold medal.
The athletes get a $25,000 bonus for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze, but the buzz that an emerging star can generate if he or she gets on a roll affects way more than that.
On an individual level, there are endorsements, appearances, book deals and more. And shortly after the Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee will delve seriously into negotiations for a TV deal with an American broadcaster to cover the 2016 Games and beyond. TV revenue makes up about 53 percent of the IOC's income, and U.S. TV dollars provide the lion's share of that money.
A good American performance in Canada, on top of the United States' medal-leading effort in Beijing, can only help, as advertisers and the networks settle on the financial stake they want to invest on the Olympic product.
The United States won 25 medals in Turin in 2006, down from the 34 it won in Salt Lake City, but still a success because it nearly doubled the best output for the American team in an Olympics on foreign soil.
Scherr is making no predictions this time out, other than to say that several countries - including Germany, Norway, 2014 Winter Games host Russia and, of course, Canada - are matching America step for step in trying to build strong programs.
"That said, we're going to field a very competitive team," Scherr said.
One spot the United States is lacking, however, is the breakout star in the signature event of the Winter Olympics - women's figure skating. There are no Michelle Kwans (or Tonya-Nancy dramas, at least not yet) on the horizon and the top contenders figure to be from Japan, South Korea and Italy.
Which could open the door for someone like Lindsey Vonn to be America's big female star. Earlier this month, she became the first American woman to win a world championship in the super-G.
"I'm going to remember the feeling I had today," Vonn said after she won. "I'm going to remember mentally how I was in the start and hopefully I can do the same thing in 2010."
Bode Miller won his second World Cup title in 2008 and should be a top contender, as he tries to avoid a repeat of his embarrassing Olympic shutout in Turin.
The United States usually owns things in and around the halfpipe. Defending gold medalist Shaun White is the most famous snowboarder in the world by most accounts. He just won his fourth X-Games superpipe gold and figures to be a favorite in 2010.
"Incomparable to anything," White said when asked about taking his success from the familiar climes of the X-Games into the Olympics. "I walk through airports and the whole airport would just start clapping."
Lindsey Jacobellis has won five of the last seven X-Games titles in snowboardcross - including this year's championship - but the top entry on her Wikipedia page remains the story about the gold medal she gave away in Turin when she hot-dogged the last few yards down the course and fell. She'll be a favorite to win gold in Vancouver.
A new sport, ski cross, will be added to the freestyle schedule. It's basically snowboardcross on skis, and its most familiar face could very well be a skier used to the more traditional way of getting down the mountain: Daron Rahlves.
A 12-time winner on the World Cup circuit, Rahlves took up a new sport for this Olympic cycle. At 35, he is still looking for his first Olympic medal.
"I want to be known as a skier more than just a ski racer," he said recently. "It's fun to change it up a little bit, getting into something that's a new challenge."
The new challenge for the organizers of the Vancouver Olympics is how to make them a success without hemorrhaging money.
"We had to stop and start again," John Furlong, the CEO of the Vancouver organizing committee, said of the economy's impact on the games. "We had to rethink everything."
The good news is that sales of tickets and merchandising are brisk - a preliminary sign, at least, that interest in the Olympics doesn't wane when the going gets tough.
---
AP Sports Writers Nancy Armour in Chicago and Rachel Cohen in New York contributed to this report.
