2010 Vancouver Olympic & Paralympic Super-Thread

[mr.x]

Someone really f'd up the closure of the 2010 forum...of all places, why would they moved it to skybar? They should have ended up in the general Vancouver forum.

[osirisboy]

I totally agree with you Mr X

[raggedy13]

The 2010 subforum somehow got involved in some accidental thread moving by a non-Vancouver moderator. Apparently the issue is currently being resolved.

[whatnext]

From the Globe and Mail:
...In the middle is former mayor Philip Owen, who headed the NPA council back in 1998 when it voted to support the Olympic Games with the proviso that there be no cost to the city.

Mr. Owen now says that the costs were worth it, although he thinks some projects were unnecessary.

“I was not in favour of a community centre going into the Olympic village,” he said, referring to the community centre that was supposed to cost $24-million but finished at $36-million. ...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nati...lion-dollars-report-says/article1535753/

He's got a point, there are two community centres already close by: False Creek and 1 Kingsway. Now there are three in the area. When does Shaughnessy get a Community Centre?

[LeftCoaster]

When the Arbutus club burns down.

[flight_from_kamakura]

^ lol. they'd probably fight it anyway, fearing it would bring more traffic to the hood.

[flight_from_kamakura]

so it's looking like it'll be a $220 million loss for nbc, not clear if that includes a monetization of their program promotions.

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainmen...ouver+Winter+Olympics/2916806/story.html

[Yume-sama]

I don't know how you lose that much on the most watched in history. How much did they lose on the ones nobody watched??

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

I don't know how you lose that much on the most watched in history. How much did they lose on the ones nobody watched??

As the article points out, the broadcast rights to the Vancouver Games were an unprecedented $820 million. (By contrast, the broadcast rights for the Torino Games were only $613 million.) So although the Vancouver Games were a ratings hit and generated huge revenues, NBC's expenses (namely, acquiring the rights) were even greater.

So, ironically, NBC's loss is actually a product of the desirability of the Vancouver Games.

[Waders]

There will never be an universal agreement what the true cost of the Games is as different people use different definition to do the cost calculation for different purpose.

VANOC boss disputes Olympic bill as published by COV.

“There were things in that report that had nothing to do with the Olympic Games,” said Furlong, the VANOC chief executive. “I sort of see Olympic costs more in respect of what specifically we requested to be done for the Games.”

Source from Toronto Sun: http://www.torontosun.com/sports/othersports/2010/04/16/13619776.html

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

I don't know how you lose that much on the most watched in history. How much did they lose on the ones nobody watched??

Lets remember that NBC paid a record amount for the rights to both the Vancouver Winter and London Summer as a package when the economy was still robust, but then had to sell the ad space in 2008/09 when the economy tanked and American companies were cutting back on their ad expenditures.

Hopefully the US economy will have bounced back by the time London 2012 opens, and NBC is still able to generate a profit on that broadcast.

However, being the Summer games, the expenses of setting up & broadcasting will be substantially higher than the estimated $200 Million they spent setting up and broadcasting the Vancouver 2010 Winter games.

I don't think NBC, CTV, or any other network does the Olympics to make money. Its the prestige of being "The Official Olympic Broadcaster" that they hope will pull in other ad revenues to the network and their other shows. Much the same as being the network that has the Superbowl, or the World Cup, or the Oscars - all prestige events that likely don't make money from their ads, but bring in advertisers to the networks' 'bread and butter' shows for the rest of the year. Or rather, the major advertisers on the 'bread and butter' shows get a sweeter deal for ads on the prestige event broadcasts.

[Waders]

I walked by Jack Poole Plaza today and saw something on the fence surrounding the 2010 Olympic Cauldron.

Here is the picture I took:


Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2762/4532087297_e1ba982510_o.jpg

It is a very nicely created big price tag.
Looks like someone was trying to make a "joke" or convey a "message".
Unfortunately that person got some fact wrong. The cauldron did not cost $554 million to contruct.

[DKaz]

I just realized that I never received my cheque for selling my ticket on the fan-to-fan marketplace yet.

[Waders]

Originally Posted by DKaz

I just realized that I never received my cheque for selling my ticket on the fan-to-fan marketplace yet.

I haven't received my Vancouver 2010 Commemorative Book from VANOC yet.
I hope they didn't run out of money!

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by Waders

I walked by Jack Poole Plaza today and saw something on the fence surrounding the 2010 Olympic Cauldron.

Here is the picture I took:


Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2762/4532087297_e1ba982510_o.jpg

It is a very nicely created big price tag.
Looks like someone was trying to make a "joke" or convey a "message".
Unfortunately that person got some fact wrong. The cauldron did not cost $554 million to contruct.

Someone needs to slash a big red X onto that figure and write "Creative Accounting". I don't understand how these people can simply tag every infrastructure investment we've made over the last 8 years onto the Olympics, as if the city would have stood still with a spending freeze without the Games...sounds sooooo logical.

[mr.x]

Juan Antonio Sammaranch has passed away at an age of 89. He was the most influential IOC President in history with a term of over 20-years, responsible for both the commercial success of the Games and its scandals.

[johnjimbc]

Will the Olympic Thread ever be back to normal?

I know the Olympics are over, but it might be nice to go back and reference the information, photos, and such without having to sort through of that < really bizarre garbage >threads

[johnjimbc]

I've been assuming that since they said payment by the end of April, that the payments will be sent out at the end of the month. But I am curious . . . has anyone received payment yet?

It's funny that they've shut down so much of the site - can't log into account anymore and such. I had thought they might leave access up so you could check status on-line. The FAQs address a lot but say nothing about the Fan to Fan payment process (be nice if it did since that's probably the only thing people care to access the site for at this point .

We used most of our tickets directly, but did sell a couple that conflicted with other events. It would be nice to get the funds back.

[Yume-sama]

No, I have not received any money, or the commemorative book(s).

I'm sure they will be coming eventually!

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by mr.x

Juan Antonio Sammaranch has passed away at an age of 89. He was the most influential IOC President in history with a term of over 20-years, responsible for both the commercial success of the Games and its scandals.

YMMV:

His, not Pierre de Coubertin’s, was the true face of the modern Olympic Games, an old, unrepentant Spanish fascist who understood the art of consolidating power behind closed doors, who didn’t see what he didn’t want to see, and who had a remarkable gift for making a buck.

By the time Juan Antonio Samaranch completed his two decades as the unchallenged strongman of the Olympic “movement” in 2001, de Coubertin’s quaint 19th-century ideals of pure amateurism, the transcendent value of competitive effort and the improvement of the whole person through sport had long been swamped by millionaire professional “dream teams,” performance-enhancing drug and bribery scandals, and vast television and sponsorship riches, transforming the five rings into one of the most powerful brands on Earth....
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/worl...for-better-and-for-worse/article1542668/