Editing Olympic Games (section)

==Commercialisation==
===Under national organising committees===
The Olympic Games have been commercialised to various degrees since the inaugural [[1896 Summer Olympics]] in Athens, when a number of companies paid for advertising,<ref name="IOC2011Marketing">{{cite web|url=https://www.olympic.org/Documents/IOC_Marketing/OLYMPIC_MARKETING_FACT_FILE_2011.pdf|title=Olympic Marketing Fact File, 2011 Edition|page=18|access-date=22 December 2015|website=olympic.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812082101/https://www.olympic.org/Documents/IOC_Marketing/OLYMPIC_MARKETING_FACT_FILE_2011.pdf|archive-date=12 August 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> including [[Kodak]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kodak-olympics-idUSWEN164520071012|title=Kodak to end Olympics sponsorship after 2008 games|date=12 October 2007|work=Reuters|last=Paul|first=Franklin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://disruptiveinnovation.se/?p=112|title=No more Kodak moments in the Olympics|website=disruptiveinnovation.se|date=15 April 2013|access-date=23 November 2019}}</ref> In 1908, [[Oxo (food)|Oxo]], {{ill|Odol|de}} mouthwash, and Indian Foot Powder became official sponsors of the [[1908 Summer Olympics|London Olympic Games]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itv.com/news/london/2015-12-04/wildly-interesting-facts-you-never-knew-about-london-until-now/|title=Wildly interesting facts about London you never knew, until now|website=ITV News|date=4 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxo.co.uk/about-us|title=The History of OXO|website=oxo.co.uk|access-date=23 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320010255/http://www.oxo.co.uk/about-us|archive-date=20 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Coca-Cola]] first sponsored the Summer Olympics in [[1928 Summer Olympics|1928]], and has remained an Olympic sponsor ever since.<ref name="IOC2011Marketing" /> Before the IOC took control of sponsorship, the NOCs had responsibility for negotiating their own contracts for sponsorship and use of the Olympic symbols.<ref name=CooperChen>
{{cite book
|title= Global Entertainment Media: Content, Audiences, Issues
|editor=Anne Cooper-Chen 
|date=23 June 2005
|edition=1st
|publisher=[[Routledge]]
|url= https://www.routledge.com/Global-Entertainment-Media-Content-Audiences-Issues/Cooper-Chen/p/book/9780805851694
}}</ref>{{rp|p. 231}}

===Under IOC control===
The IOC originally resisted funding by corporate sponsors. It was not until the retirement of IOC President [[Avery Brundage]], in 1972, that the IOC began to explore the potential of the television medium and the lucrative advertising markets available to them.<ref name=CooperChen/>{{rp|p. 231}} Under the leadership of [[Juan Antonio Samaranch]], the Games began to shift toward international sponsors who sought to link their products to the Olympic brand.<ref name="television"/>

===Budget===
During the first half of the 20th century, the IOC ran on a small budget.<ref name="television"/>{{sfn|Buchanon|Mallon|2006|p=ci}} As president of the IOC from 1952 to 1972, Avery Brundage rejected all attempts to link the Olympics with commercial interest.<ref name=CooperChen/>{{rp|p. 231}} He believed that the lobby of corporate interests would unduly impact the IOC's decision-making. His resistance to this revenue stream meant the IOC left organising committees to negotiate their own sponsorship contracts and use the Olympic symbols.<ref name=CooperChen/>{{rp|p. 231}} When Brundage retired, the IOC had US$2&nbsp;million in assets; eight years later the IOC coffers had swelled to US$45&nbsp;million. This was primarily caused by a shift in ideology toward expansion of the Games through corporate sponsorship and the sale of television rights.<ref name=CooperChen/>{{rp|p. 231}} When Juan Antonio Samaranch was elected IOC president in 1980, his desire was to make the IOC financially independent.{{sfn|Buchanon|Mallon|2006|p=ci}}

The [[1984 Summer Olympics]] became a watershed moment in Olympic history. The Los Angeles-based organising committee, led by [[Peter Ueberroth]], was able to generate a surplus of US$225&nbsp;million, which was an unprecedented amount at that time.<ref name=FindlingPelle/>{{rp|p. 209}} The organising committee had been able to create such a surplus in part by selling exclusive sponsorship rights to select companies.<ref name=FindlingPelle/>{{rp|p. 209}} The IOC sought to gain control of these sponsorship rights. Samaranch helped to establish The Olympic Programme (TOP) in 1985, in order to create an Olympic brand.<ref name="television"/> Membership in TOP was, and is, very exclusive and expensive. Fees cost US$50&nbsp;million for a four-year membership.{{sfn|Buchanon|Mallon|2006|p=ci}} Members of TOP received exclusive global advertising rights for their product category, and use of the Olympic symbol, the [[Olympic rings|interlocking rings]], in their publications and advertisements.<ref name=Slack>{{cite book
|editor=[[Trevor Slack]]
|title=The Commercialisation of Sport
|edition=1st
|publisher=[[Routledge]]
|date=9 March 2005
|url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Commercialisation-of-Sport/Slack/p/book/9780714680781
}}</ref>{{rp|p. 194}}

===Effect of television===
[[File:Olympic Final 2000 (1936 cartoon).jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|A ''[[Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung]]'' cartoon published during the [[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Olympics]] in [[Berlin]] envisions the Olympics in 2000, when spectators would be replaced by television and radio, with the cheers of spectators broadcast through loudspeakers. Almost a century after the prediction, spectators still watch the Games in person and by globally-broadcast television coverage.]]
The [[1936 Summer Olympics]] in [[Berlin]] were the first Games to be broadcast on television, though only to local audiences.<ref>{{cite web|title=Berlin 1936|website=olympic.org|url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1936|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822100804/http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1936|archive-date=22 August 2008|access-date=31 March 2009}}</ref> The [[1956 Winter Olympics]] in Italy were the first internationally televised Olympic Games,<ref>{{cite web|title=Cortina d'Ampezzo|website=olympic.org|url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1956|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822213008/http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1956|archive-date=22 August 2008|access-date=31 March 2009}}</ref> and the broadcasting rights for the [[1960 Winter Olympics|following Winter Games]] in California were sold for the first time to specialised television broadcasting networks—[[CBS]] paid US$394,000 for the American rights.<ref name=Slack/>{{rp|p. 192}}<ref name="television"/> In the following decades, the Olympics became one of the ideological fronts of the Cold War, and the [[IOC]] wanted to take advantage of this heightened interest via the broadcast medium.<ref name=Slack/>{{rp|p. 192}} The sale of broadcast rights enabled the IOC to increase the exposure of the Olympic Games, thereby generating more interest, which in turn enhanced the appeal of TV air time to the advertisers. This cycle allowed the IOC to charge ever-increasing fees for those rights.<ref name=Slack/>{{rp|p. 192}} For example, CBS paid US$375&nbsp;million for the American broadcast rights for the [[1998 Winter Olympics|1998 Nagano Games]],{{sfn|Gershon|2000|p=17}} while [[NBC]] spent US$3.5&nbsp;billion for the American rights to air every Olympic Games from 2000 to 2012.<ref name="television" />

In 2011, NBC agreed to a $4.38&nbsp;billion contract with the IOC to broadcast the Olympics through to the [[2020 Summer Olympics|2020 Games]], the most expensive television rights deal in Olympic history.<ref name="adweek">{{cite news|title=Update: NBC Bids $4.38 Billion for Olympic Gold|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/television/update-nbc-bids-438-billion-olympic-gold-132319|last=Crupi|first=Anthony|work=[[Adweek]]|date=7 June 2011|access-date=7 June 2011}}</ref> NBC then agreed to a $7.75&nbsp;billion contract extension on 7&nbsp;May 2014, to air the Olympics up to and including the 2032 Games.<ref>{{cite news|title=NBC Universal pays $7.75 billion for Olympics through 2032|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2014/05/07/nbc-olympics-broadcast-rights-2032/8805989/|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=7 May 2014|last=Armour|first=Nancy}}</ref> NBC also acquired the American television rights to the [[Youth Olympic Games]], beginning in [[2014 Summer Youth Olympics|2014]],<ref>{{cite news|title=NBC Olympics, Universal Sports announce Youth Olympics coverage|url=http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/12/youth-olympics-nbc-coverage-nanjing/|website=[[NBC Sports]]|date=12 August 2014|last=Zaccardi|first=Nick}}</ref> and the [[Paralympic Games]].<ref>{{cite news|title=NBC Olympics, U.S. Olympic Committee acquire media rights to Paralympics in 2014, 2016|url=http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2013/09/24/paralympics-2014-2016-tv-coverage-nbc/|newspaper=Olympictalk &#124; NBC Sports|date=24 September 2013|last=Zaccardi|first=Nick}}</ref> More than half of the Olympic Committee's global sponsors are American companies,<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/sports/olympics/russia-olympics-us-business.html|title=Fewer Russians Could Be a Windfall for U.S. Olympic Business|last=Draper|first=Kevin
|work=[[The New York Times]]
|date=7 December 2017|access-date=5 February 2018|url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208120943/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/sports/olympics/russia-olympics-us-business.html|archive-date=8 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> and NBC is one of the major sources of revenue for the IOC.<ref name="auto"/>

On 13 March 2025, it was announced that [[Comcast]] would pay the IOC $3&nbsp;billion to air the Olympics through 2036, and that Comcast would transition its role in the Games from Rights Holder to Strategic Partner, furthering their partnership. The announcement comes after the [[2024 Summer Olympics|2024 Paris Olympics]] received strong ratings for NBC and a boost in subscribers for [[Peacock (streaming service)|Peacock]]. This deal gives NBC the rights to air the [[2026 Winter Olympics|2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics]], the [[2028 Summer Olympics|2028 Los Angeles Olympics]], the [[2030 Winter Olympics|2030 French Alps Winter Olympics]], the [[2032 Summer Olympics|2032 Brisbane Olympics]], the [[2034 Winter Olympics|2034 Salt Lake City-Utah Winter Olympics]] and the [[Bids for the 2036 Summer Olympics|2036 Olympic Games]], with the latter marking the 100th anniversary of the first televised Games held in Berlin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hayes |first=Dade |date=13 March 2025 |title=Comcast Extends Olympics Through 2036, Paying $3B And Going From Rights Holder To Strategic Partner |url=https://deadline.com/2025/03/comcast-nbcuniversal-extends-olympics-rights-deal-2036-1236325411/ |access-date=13 March 2025 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref>

Viewership increased exponentially from the 1960s until the end of the 20th century. This was due to the advent of satellites for broadcasting live television worldwide starting in 1964, and the introduction of [[colour television]] in 1968.<ref>{{cite book|title=Five-ring Circus: Money, Power, and Politics at the Olympic Games|editor1-last=Tomlinson|editor1-first=A.|editor2-last=Whannel|editor2-first=G.|chapter=3. The television spectacular|last=Whannel|first=Garry|year=1984|publisher=Pluto Press|location=London, UK|pages=30–43|isbn=978-0-86104-769-7}}</ref> The global audience for the [[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Mexico City Games]] was estimated to be 600&nbsp;million, whereas the audience numbers at the [[1984 Summer Olympics|Los Angeles Games of 1984]] had increased to 900&nbsp;million; this number had swelled to 3.5&nbsp;billion by the [[1992 Summer Olympics]] in Barcelona.{{sfn|Tomlinson|2005|p=14}}<ref>{{cite news|title=World Series TV ratings slump|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-series-tv-ratings-slump/|work=CBS News
|agency=[[The Associated Press]]
|access-date=4 May 2009|date=27 October 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101031072605/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/10/27/sports/main244877.shtml|archive-date=31 October 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=All Fall Down – Making sense of NBC's tumbling Olympic ratings|last=Walters|first=John|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=2 October 2000|url=http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1020472/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429222810/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1020472/index.htm|archive-date=29 April 2011|access-date=2 April 2009}}</ref><ref name="ratings"/><ref name=Slack/>{{rp|pp. 16–18}} With such high costs charged to broadcast the Games, the added pressure of the internet, and increased competition from cable, the television lobby demanded concessions from the IOC to boost ratings. The IOC responded by making a number of changes to the Olympic programme; at the Summer Games, the gymnastics competition was expanded from seven to nine nights, and a Champions Gala was added to attract greater interest;<ref name=Slack/>{{rp|p. 17}} the events programmes were also expanded for swimming and diving, both popular sports with a broad base of television viewers.<ref name=Slack/>{{rp|p. 17}} Due to the substantial fees paid by NBC for rights to the Olympics, the IOC has allowed the network to influence the event scheduling to maximise U.S. television ratings when possible.<ref name=CooperChen/>{{rp|p. 230}}<ref name="ratings"/>{{sfn|Woods|2007|p=146}}<ref>{{cite news|title=London Olympics 2012 Ratings: Most Watched Event In TV History|date=13 August 2012|work=The Huffington Post|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/london-olympics-2012-ratings-most-watched-ever_n_1774032.html|access-date=12 July 2013}}</ref> Notable examples of maximizing U.S. television viewership include scheduling the finals of the swimming events only during the mornings of the host cities Beijing (during the [[2008 Summer Olympics]]) and Tokyo (during the [[2020 Summer Olympics]]), which coincide with the evening [[Prime time#North America|prime time]] broadcast slots of the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Olympics 2021: Why swimming finals are being held in the morning|url=https://au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics-2021-swimming-finals-being-held-morning-023644266.html|access-date=22 February 2022|website=au.sports.yahoo.com|date=24 July 2021|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Here's Why the Swimming Finals Are Held in the Morning at Tokyo Olympics {{!}} Sports Illustrated|url=https://www.si.com/.amp/olympics/2021/07/25/tokyo-olympics-swimming-schedule-us-primetime-finals|access-date=22 February 2022|website=si.com|date=25 July 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Coskrey|first=Jason|date=28 July 2021|title=Morning finals forcing swimmers to adjust in Tokyo|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/07/28/olympics/summer-olympics/olympic-swimming/tokyo-swim-finals/|access-date=22 February 2022|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US|archive-date=22 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222041614/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/07/28/olympics/summer-olympics/olympic-swimming/tokyo-swim-finals/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Carter|first=Bill|date=24 August 2008|title=On TV, Timing Is Everything at the Olympics|language=en-US
|work=[[The New York Times]]
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/sports/olympics/25nbc.html|access-date=22 February 2022|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=26 October 2006|title=Swimming, gymnastics finals set for mornings in 2008|url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/swimming/news/story?id=2639072|access-date=22 February 2022|website=ESPN.com|language=en}}</ref>

===Olympic marketing===
The funds from licensing programs support everything that goes into the Games, alongside other revenue streams from ticket sales and broadcasting rights, which represent more than 60 percent.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Phryges – Paris 2024 Mascots Star as Olympic Merchandise|url=https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine_digital/en/2024/article_0014.html|access-date=20 August 2024|website=wipo.int|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Olympic Marketing Fact File 2024 Edition|url=https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/International-Olympic-Committee/IOC-Marketing-And-Broadcasting/IOC-Marketing-Fact-File.pdf|website=stillmed.olympics.com}}</ref>

The sale of the Olympic brand has been controversial. The argument is that the Games have become indistinguishable from any other commercialised sporting spectacle.<ref name="Slack" />{{rp|p. 194}}{{sfn|Buchanon|Mallon|2006|p=cii}} Another criticism is that the Games are funded by host cities and national governments; the IOC incurs none of the cost, yet controls all the rights and profits from the Olympic symbols. The IOC also takes a percentage of all sponsorship and broadcast income.<ref name="Slack" />{{rp|p. 194}} Host cities continue to compete ardently for the right to host the Games, even though there is no certainty that they will earn back their investments.<ref name="Slack" />{{rp|pp. 194–195}} Research has shown that trade is around 30 percent higher for countries that have hosted the Olympics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/papers/2009/wp09-06bk.pdf|title=Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, ''The Olympic Effect'', March 2009|access-date=23 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412103038/http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/papers/2009/wp09-06bk.pdf|archive-date=12 April 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>