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Olympics, a way to make money?

Olympics, a way to make money?

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Originally posted by whodey
No, no, they pay you to watch last time I checked.
So very few people are watching the Olympics on NBC? Is that what you mean?

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Originally posted by Eladar
Why do only certain stations get to air the olympics? Why not open coverage to all stations? Why do I have to watch NBC to watch the olympics? Why can't I have choice?

It's because NBC paid for the rights, which means people are making money off the television coverage. The olympics are little more than a money making scheme and just another way to milk the little guy. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.
Such lefty hogwash.


Originally posted by Eladar
Why do only certain stations get to air the olympics? Why not open coverage to all stations? Why do I have to watch NBC to watch the olympics? Why can't I have choice?

It's because NBC paid for the rights, which means people are making money off the television coverage. The olympics are little more than a money making scheme and just another way to milk the little guy. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.
If the Olympics is a money making scam it is a very poor one. It is a money drain and the direct public sector costs of over £9bn will not be recuperated. If there was money to be made, surely the private sector would have been in there fighting over the bones! Meanwhile, lots of other business is damaged by the Olympics. not least, London's theatres have closed for the duration - talk about rubbish!

It is also a propoganda coup - distracting from real politics which can only benefit Britain's failed coalition. In my broadsheet, supposedly moderately intelligent, daily paper, The Guardian, after wading past no less than 14 pages of Olympics news in which I had no interest whatever, I encountered an artical announcing that the Government is abandoning all legislation to reform the House of Lords. In my world that is front page news. Instead, it transpires that the Olympics provides a great time to bury bad news.

Bread and circuses.

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Originally posted by Eladar
Why do only certain stations get to air the olympics? Why not open coverage to all stations? Why do I have to watch NBC to watch the olympics? Why can't I have choice?

It's because NBC paid for the rights, which means people are making money off the television coverage. The olympics are little more than a money making scheme and just another way to milk the little guy. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.
I normally sympathise with the "little guy" but he doesn't have to watch the Olympics! (Although I do think he is entitled to free health care)

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Originally posted by dryhump
I'm surprised at you two. How much does NBC pay the athletes for their services? They are supposed to put in endless hours of training for the honor of representing their country. Then we see that huge corporations are profiting enormously from their efforts and they aren't even paying the people whose hard work and training make the games possible.
It is not the athletes' hard work and training that makes the Games possible! It is the hosting nation. Get a grip on reality.

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Originally posted by wolfgang59
It is [b]not the athletes' hard work and training that makes the Games possible! It is the hosting nation. Get a grip on reality.[/b]
Without the athletes there is no need for a nation to host the olympics. The people doing all the work to set the stage for the athletes are all paid. Yet the people providing the product the IOC has sold are not paid.

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Originally posted by dryhump
Without the athletes there is no need for a nation to host the olympics. The people doing all the work to set the stage for the athletes are all paid. Yet the people providing the product the IOC has sold are not paid.
You get paid based on performance:

For example, the United States Olympic Committee pays out medal bonuses: $25,000 goes for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze (Though, as Yahoo! Sports notes, these prices haven't changed in 10 years, and are now worth over 5 grand less due to inflation). American athletes may also expect smaller prizes — a fund set up for wrestlers that will award a gold medal winner $250,000 springs to mind.
Other countries sometimes give out even bigger rewards — any Malaysian gold medal winner will get a gold bar worth $600,000 (not that there have been any since 1956).
Then, of course, there's sponsorship money, which can be huge for the big stars. For example, Ryan Lochte, the latest darling of the US swim team, is widely expected to take home over $2 million this year in sponsorship deal money (at least part of which will linked to medal performance).

http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-much-olympic-athletes-really-get-paid-2012-7


That's not unusual in sports; golf, tennis and other tournaments pay based on where you finish with those doing poorly getting nothing at all.

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The olypics are billed as a place for the world to freely meet and compete. I'd think that this also means that the people around the world should be allowed to watch.

I simply do not see why contracts are sold. Why not give all stations the right to televise the events? If that's too many cameras, then give all stations the right to air the feeds from any event.

Why should I not have the choice to watch the events I want to watch? Why should NBC have the right to dictate my olympic experience?

It's because the olympics are a scam to make money off the general population and to force people to watch the ramblings of certain people if they are going to be able to watch any of the games at all. It is a control issue and people who are smart enough to see it should at least make the observation.

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Originally posted by Eladar
The olypics are billed as a place for the world to freely meet and compete. I'd think that this also means that the people around the world should be allowed to watch.

I simply do not see why contracts are sold. Why not give all stations the right to televise the events? If that's too many cameras, then give all stations the right to air the feeds from ...[text shortened]... control issue and people who are smart enough to see it should at least make the observation.
Do you think it costs nothing to put on the Olympics?

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Originally posted by no1marauder
Do you think it costs nothing to put on the Olympics?
I think that countries put up the money.

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Originally posted by Eladar
The olypics are billed as a place for the world to freely meet and compete. I'd think that this also means that the people around the world should be allowed to watch.

I simply do not see why contracts are sold. Why not give all stations the right to televise the events? If that's too many cameras, then give all stations the right to air the feeds from ...[text shortened]... control issue and people who are smart enough to see it should at least make the observation.
You sould like one of them liberal socialists!

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Originally posted by Eladar
I think that countries put up the money.
You think wrong:

Starting from the top, we have the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They organize the games, set up the distribution of tickets, and most importantly take bids on where it will be hosted. Once that’s known television networks around the world start the bidding for rights to distribute. This is the primary source of revenue for the IOC.http://weakonomics.com/2008/08/15/who-pays-for-the-olympics/

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Originally posted by Eladar
The olypics are billed as a place for the world to freely meet and compete. I'd think that this also means that the people around the world should be allowed to watch.

I simply do not see why contracts are sold. Why not give all stations the right to televise the events? If that's too many cameras, then give all stations the right to air the feeds from ...[text shortened]... control issue and people who are smart enough to see it should at least make the observation.
There is no way that you will get a right wing network in the US to stump up for the Olympics because like yourself they find it's core ideals of people from different cultures coming together, and the concept of something bigger than the individual to be an anathema.

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Originally posted by AThousandYoung
You sould like one of them liberal socialists!
If by liberal socialist you don't mean the government controls private business, then yah I'm a person for the comman man. I believe in personal freedom and limited government. Work that into the Socialist politics and I'd be a socialist. 😀

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Originally posted by Eladar
If by liberal socialist you don't mean the government controls private business, then yah I'm a person for the comman man. I believe in personal freedom and limited government. Work that into the Socialist politics and I'd be a socialist. 😀
Why do you want free access to entertainment?

Do you think you have a right to free access to the RHP forums?