Introduction to the Sport Industry Izabela Gruszczyk

Contents Page:

Page 2 Introduction, Development

Page 3 Development

Page 4 Drivers of Change- Benefits and drawbacks.

Page 5 Drivers of Change- Benefits and drawbacks.

Page 6 Drivers of Change- Benefits and drawbacks, Conclusion

Page 7 Bibliography

Tables:

Table 1 Women participating in Olympics since 1986 until 2000. 2

Table 2 TV rights in the Summer Olympic Games, 1936-2000. 3

Table 1 Olympic Games Website Statistics (1996-2002) 3

Table 2 Introduction of women sports/disciplines 4

Table 5 Olympic Broadcast Revenue Distribution 5

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 Introduction to the Sport Industry Izabela Gruszczyk

Introduction

This report will concentrate on the changes in the Olympics since its beginning. During 108 years
Olympics has developed into an event which is known across the world and every four years, offers
the host city to be the centre of global interest. Hosting the Olympics gives cities great opportunity
to improve their infrastructure for sport, housing, communication traffic and other sectors. (Holger
P. 2005. The Economics of Staging the Olympics. P. 1).Each games cost huge amount of money to stage
and are founded form tax payers, television and its advertisement as well as sponsors. (Toothey K.,
Veal A.J. 2005. The Olympic Games: a social science perspective. P. 1)

Development

Year 1996 was called the ‘year of the women’ at the Olympics. The cover of the preview issue Sport
Illustrated featured five Afro American members of women’s basketball team with their coach, Tara
VanDerveer. During 1996 women were covered in half of the features as well as ads. [Shaffer ,K and
Smith ,S (2000). The Olympic ay the Millennium. Power Politics and the Games. P 99]

Table 3 Women participating in Olympics since 1986 until 2000.

Year City No. Of Countries Events Male Female % Female

athletes
1896 Athens 245 14 43 245 0 0
1900 Paris 1,216 26 87 1,206 11 0.82
1904 St. Louis 687 13 94 681 6 0.87
1908 London 2,035 22 109 1,999 36 1.7
1912 Stockholm 2,547 28 102 2,490 57 2.2
1920 Antwerp 2,669 29 154 2,591 78 2.9
1924 Paris 3,092 44 126 2,956 136 4.3
1928 Amsterdam 3,014 46 109 2,724 290 9.6
1932 Los Angeles 1.408 37 116 1,281 127 9
1936 Berlin 4,066 49 129 3,738 328 8
1948 London 4,099 59 136 3,714 59 1.4
1952 Helsinki 5,025 69 149 4,407 618 12
1956 Melbourne 3,342 72 151 2,958 384 11
1960 Rome 5,348 83 150 4,738 610 11
1964 Tokyo 5,140 93 163 4,457 683 13
1968 Mexico City 5,531 112 172 4,750 781 14
1972 Munich 7,123 121 195 6,065 1,058 14
1976 Montreal 6,028 92 198 4,781 1,247 20
1980 Moscow 5,217 80 203 4,092 1,125 21
1984 Los Angeles 6,797 140 221 5,230 1,567 23
1988 Seoul 8,465 159 237 6,279 2,186 25
1992 Barcelona 9,367 169 257 6,659 2,708 29
1996 Atlanta 10,332 197 271 7,060 3,684 35
[SCHAFFER, K. (2000)]

Women got a chance of competing in the Modern Pentathlon for the first time in the Sydney
Olympic Games. Within twelve hours they managed to finish a tough programme of five tasks:

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 Introduction to the Sport Industry Izabela Gruszczyk

Shooting, Fencing, Swimming, Showjumping and Running. (Olympic Women(2009). [Online]

http://www.olympicwomen.co.uk/4.html. Last accessed 28/10/2010) In Paris in 1900 eleven women were
allowed to take part in yachting, golf and tennis. In 1990 female participation was only 1% and it
took 50 years to make it rise to 10% (11.1% in Helsinki, 1976).

During the first Olympics none of the modern media existed. During that year only eleven journalists
and several British athletes as well as competitors decided to take part in writing the history of the
Olympics and wrote articles for national and international newspapers. Newspapers have been very
famous until 25 years after when the competition have came into the operation. First radio station,
KDKA, went on air in 1920 in Pittsburgh, USA. KDKA radio station has also broadcasted the first ever
boxing match in 1921. First TV audition from Summer Olympics was in 1936 Berlin Games.

Table 4 TV rights in the Summer Olympic Games, 1936-2000.

Olympic Games TV Rights(US $) Broadcast Hours Audience

1936 Berlin Not paid 136 162,000
1848 London 1000 64,5 500,000
1960 Rome 200,000 102 n/a
1964 Tokyo 1,5m n/a n/a
1968 Mexico 4.5m 938,5 60m
1972 Munich 7.5m 1266 900m
1876 Montreal 34.9m n/a n/a
1980 Moscow 88m n/a n/a
1984 Los Angeles 286m 1300 2000m
1988 Seoul 402m 2230 10,400m
1992 Barcelona 600m 20,000 16,600m
1996 Atlanta 900m 25,000 19,600m
2000 Sydney 1331m 29,600 36,100m

After sixty years the Internet has joined the family of media involved with Olympics. The website
www.atlanta.olympic.org was first launched in 1996. This website during the 16 days of the Olympics
has received 185 million visits. The Sidney Games have sold 76% of the tickets on line, as well as Salt
Lake City Winter Olympics sold 80%. 90% out of 67,000 volunteer applicants were recruited on-line
for Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. [GIRGINOV,V and PARRY, J(2005) . The Olympic Games Explained. A
Student Guide to the Evolution of the Modern Olympics. P 83]

Table 5 Olympic Games Website Statistics (1996-2002)

Olympic Games No. Hits (16 days) No. Hits per day Max. No. Hits per Pages of content
minute
1996 Atlanta 185.8 M 11 M No data No data
1998 Nagano 634 M 39.7 M 110,414 48,493
2000 Sydney 11,300 M 70.6 M (874.5 M 1.2 M No data
in one day)
2002 Salt Lake 325 M 3M No data No data
City

Drivers of Change- Benefits and drawbacks.

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 Introduction to the Sport Industry Izabela Gruszczyk

We can see from table 1 that there has been steady and continuous increase in women participation
in Olympics since 1990. Only in 1932 and 1956 it dropped down because the events were hold in
U.S.A and Australia and it was too expensive to send large teams over there. When the costs were
the main issue, women were left behind more than men. The main driver, which is allowing women
to participate in the Olympic Games, was to eliminate the barriers that are preventing their
participation and to make people more aware of gender discrimination. It was also very important to
eliminate or the stereotypes and myths. [SCHAFFR,K and SMITH, S (2000) The Olympics at the
Millennium, 117]

Table 6 introduction of women sports/disciplines

Year Sports
1900 Tennis, Golf
1904 Archery
1908 Tennis, Figure skating
1912 Swimming
1920 Figure Skating
1924 Fencing
1928 Athletics, Gymnastics
1936 Skiing, Gymnastics
1948 Canoeing
1952 Equestrian sports
1960 Speed skating
1964 Volleyball, Luge
1972 Archery
1976 Rowing, Basketball, Handball
1980 Field Hockey
1984 Shooting, Cycling
1988 Tennis, Table Tennis, Sailing
1992 Badminton, Judo, Biathlon
1996 Football, Softball
1998 Curling, Ice Hockey
2000 Weightlifting, Pentathlon, taekwondo, Triathlon
2002 Bobsleigh
2004 Wrestling
2008 BMX

Rule 4, Paragraph 7 of the Olympic states that the role of the IOC is “to encourage and support the
promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures, with a view to implementing the
principle of equality of men and women”. IOC also believes that sport plays very important role in
communication and emancipation, which can help to develop physical wellbeing. Sport also helps
women and young girls to understand their role in society. Every year the “Women and Sport”,
trophy by IOC which is awarded to a person or organisation for their contribution to the
development, encouragement and reinforcement of women’s participation in sport, physical activity
or administrative structures of sport. [International Olympic Committee, (2009). FACTSHEET: Women in
the Olympic Movement]

‘’Broadcast coverage is the principal means for people around the world to experience the magic
of the Olympic Games.’’ [www.olympics.org on Broadcasting]

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 Introduction to the Sport Industry Izabela Gruszczyk

The IOC broadcast policy is based on Olympic Charter, which is the collection of the Fundamental
Principles, Rules and Bye-laws adopted by the IOC.

Broadcast of the Olympics is mainly driven by:

- ensuring the funding of the Olympic Movement and Olympic Games

- Making the Olympics more popular
- Presenting and promoting of the Olympic Games and Olympic Values.

The main point of Broadcasting the Game is to communicate the idea of Olympics worldwide. The
most important factor of broadcasting is to make sure that most of people have the opportunity to
experience the Olympic Games. Olympic family distributes the broadcast revenue providing financial
support for the OCOGs, the NOCs, the Ifs, and the IOC. There is a distribution plan, which makes
sure that there is enough support throughout the Olympic Movement. [The IOC (2010). Olympic
Marketing Fact File,2004.]

In 1956 the president of IOC, Avery Brundage said ‘The IOC has managed without TV for 60 years
and, believe me, we are going to manage for another 60 years’. Since the time he has said it the
Olympics have become a global event because of TV. The mass media and its technological advances
helped the Games become more accessible to the audiences all over the globe. The growth of the
television audience has got positive as well as negative outcomes for the Olympic Games. It has
enabled big amounts of funding to be channelled to the IOC and, in turn, to Olympic Sports, NOCs,
and Olympic solidarity. It as well enabled the spectators all over the world to see the opening and
closing of the ceremony, as well as allowed them to celebrate the victories and achievements of
their favourites. However, the television has started to apply the pressure on IOC to schedule the
events at the times that will boost their viewings instead of at the times, which are more suitable for
athletes. [Toothey K., Veal A.J. 2005. The Olympic Games: a social science perspective. P. 1]

Table 7 Olympic Broadcast Revenue Distribution

OCOG 49% of Olympic Broadcast Revenue is provided

to the OCOG to support the staging of the
Games
Olympic Movement 51% of Olympic Broadcast is distributed
throughout the Olympic Family to support the
Olympic Movement Worldwide. This Revenue is
shared among the NOCs, the Ifs, and the IOC.

The Internet is very helpful tool for IOC in order to fulfil its educational mandate and improve
communication within Olympic Family worldwide. In 2006 there were approximately 134,000,000
Olympic-related websites, and this number is still growing. The main functions and purposes of the
Olympic website include:

 to raise public awareness of Olympics and the workings of the IOC

 to unite the Olympic Family through constant worldwide electronic communication
 to promote the Games and to provide an archive of their history

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 Introduction to the Sport Industry Izabela Gruszczyk

 to provide updates on Olympic athletes and foster a relationship with the public
 to electronically sell Olympic memorabilia, books, videos, and other souvenir merchandise

President of the IOC Juan Antonio Samaranch once said: ‘While opening the Olympic Movement to
the world the Internet site will also allow the IOC, the International Sports Federations, the
National Olympic Committees, and the Olympic Games Organising Committees to share and
exchange information in a new and dynamic way.’ [National Olympic Committee (1999). Olympic
Marketing Matters.]

Conclusion

The report shows us that Olympics have changed radically among many factors since its beginning.
More women are involved in sport, as well as media is spreads the Olympics around the world. It is
important to ensure that the Olympics stays at this stage so IOC can get more people involved into
the sport and make the nation healthier.

Bibliography:

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 Introduction to the Sport Industry Izabela Gruszczyk

TOOHEY, Kristine and VEAL, A.J (2007). The Olympic Games: a social science perspective. 2nd ed.,
Wallingford: CABI, 2007.

PREUSS, Holger (2004). The Economics of Staging the Olympics. Cornwall, Edward Elgar Publishing
Limited.

SCHAFFER, Kay and SMITH, Sidonie (2000). The Olympics at the Millennium. USA, Rutgers University
Press.

Summer Olympic Games Statistics. [online]. Last Accessed: 26 October 2010 at:
http://www.olympicwomen.co.uk/4.html

GIRGINOV, Vassil and Parry, Jim (2004). The Olympic Games Explained: a student guide to the
evolution of the modern Olympic Games. Oxon, Routledge.

The IOC (2010). Olympic Marketing Fact File,2004.

International Olympic Committee(2009) FACTSHEET: Women in the Olympic Movement

International Olympic Committee (1999) FACTSHEET: Olympic Marketing Matters