ESPN To Take Olympics From NBC?
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Seems far fetched, but that's the report from Daily Variety. Seems NBC's contract runs out in after the 2012 Games, and ESPN would be willing to put a bid in....
ESPN “could make a play for future Olympic Games.” ESPN Exec VP/Programming Acquisitions & Strategy John Wildhack said that the Olympics is a rights package the net could bid on. Wildhack: “Obviously we need to pick our spots, but the Olympics are one area we could see ourselves getting into.” NBC has TV rights to every Games through the 2012 London Games, but ESPN could bid as soon as the 2014 Sochi Games.I'm going to be honest...I had to look up where Sochi exactly was (Coast of Russia). I actually don't think this would be a bad move by ESPN. The Olympics need a makeover and who better than Disney to give it to them?
(Via SBD)
12 Comments:
Oh God no.
Can you imagine Jay Mariotti discussing freestyle swimming on ATH?
Up to now, ESPN has intentionally tried to sabotage NBC's primetime lineup by posting scores and results so prominently and without warning that you can't help but see them. If you wanted to wait the 6 hours and not know the results until it aired in primetime, you had to avoid ESPN altogether so that it wouldn't spoil everything.
If ESPN gets the Olympics, I wonder if the "intentional sabotage" strategy will continue.
It's a rhetorical question.
I don't think you're going to get an improvement in coverage. If anything, it's going to be worse. ABC invented this Roone Arledge, "pull for the storyline" type of garbage we already get. Wide World of Sports was all about follwing that "great story of American courage" from start to his 12th place finish, while completely ignoring the Latvian who actually won the event.
I can't see how ESPN would make it different.
anon #2 nailed it right on the head.
Get ready for lots of Brent Musberger to provide entertainment for bloggers. If I had to guess, I would expect a lot of Chris Fowler, Rece Davis, John Saunders, and/or maybe Bob Ley as well. I think they'd try to make it serious but will put up announcers like Todd Harris and Chris Berman that would belie that - not to mention the inevitable "SportsCenter - AT THE OLYMPICS!" with people like Stuart Scott, because when I think Olympics, I think "BOO-YAH!"
I actually have already been thinking about this some and will have more thoughts on a post on my own blog later today.
Too dying entities together at last!!!
Good comments everyone. Think of how cool an X-Games Olympics would be!!!
No???
Oh, and a sneak preview: The glimmer of hope in this idea, at least for most people here? Remember what happened to NBC's control of the NBA when they began their current chokehold on the Olympics? You think maybe ABC could suffer the same fate?
I agree w/ your original comment, AA.
As much deserved criticism that ESPN gets, they can't do worse with the Olympics coverage than NBC has...
or can they?
Nothing makes me want to watch the Olympics less than I already do than the possibility of it being broadcast by ESPN.
The Olympics are shit. ESPN is shit. This is like multiplying zeroes.
Get ready for lack of professionalism.