U.S. Olympics Rights Bids Won't Come Until After Vancouver Games

IOC President Rogge Points To Q2, Second Half Of 2010 For Bidding On 2014, 2016 Games

Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 10/31/2009 10:13:21 AM

American media companies are going to have to wait until at least next year before they can enter bids for the TV rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympics.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the bidding for those Games could begin soon after the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, scheduled for Feb 12-28.
Rogge told the Associated Press in an Oct. 30 interview that the U.S. "economic climate seems to be reviving, so that's a good omen." Rogge said negotiations won't take place during the Games themselves, but "I think second quarter, second half of next year, would definitely be possible."
Earlier this month, Richard Carrion, the IOC's finance commission chairman and top negotiator on U.S. rights, said the American deal might not be done until 2012, unless economic prospects brightened.
The rights price likely dropped in the wake of Rio de Janiero, not Chicago, winning the IOC vote to host the 2016 Summer Games. The 2014 Winter Games will be held in Sochhi, Russia.
Incumbent Olympic rights-holder NBC, which will televise the 2010 Winter Games and the 2012 Summer Games in London, ESPN-ABC and News Corp. are likely to bid, while a combination of CBS-Turner Sports are said to have had discussions about making a play.