Then in 1976 at the Montreal Olympics came the biggest mess the Olympic committee had ever seen. Montreal wanted all brand new state of the art facilities, so they could look the best. The also needed to tighten up on security because at the last Olympics in Berlin the was a terrorist bomb, and Montreal didn’t wont there games to be ruined. Things began to go wrong and costs began to escalate this wasn’t only because of the security but because of over billing. There was poor organization and they were not checking the building programme correctly, so the lorry drivers where driving to the sight where the stadium was being built then driving off again and not leaving the goods they where meant to be delivering. So they ended up paying for goods that they weren’t receiving and this just continued also they where having to pay for the miles that the lorries where covering. In the end the games was planed out to cost $310 million but because on the over billing its grew to an astonishing $1.2 billion. This led to a few things happening the first one was that the stadium wasn’t completed in time for the opening, so builders where still building while the opening ceremony was being staged, there was also too much security that they had to pay for but wasn’t needed. The Montreal government also had the problem of the huge debt that had been made, to pay this they had to increase taxes. So the public ended up paying for the cock up that the government had paid and they only jus finished paying the debt off a few years ago. The IOC had to rethink and reorganize the funding for the future games. They knew they didn’t have to worry about the 1980 Olympics because in Moscow where it was being held, they where a communist society so they had all the payments covered. This gave the IOC extra time to get it sorted before the 1984 Los Angeles games, but they soon realized that they would have to go against amateurism in the fight to save the games.
The IOC decided to bring in Peter Uberoth he was appointed to the task of making the 1984 game viable, for the USA and the IOC. His overriding aim was that the games shouldn’t cost the city’s people a cent. To achieve his goal he realized he had to make a lot of money and to do this he would sell everything to do with the games. He charged $225 million for the TV rights; ADC TV paid 45% of the cost of staging the games. Radio rights where sold for more than double the TV rights, he also persuaded private enterprises to build the major facilities, including the Olympic pool. The festoon was the sale of the iconic logo of the games that is the sale of the five rings. Uberroth and the LAOOC (Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee) raised $130 million from the different corporate sponsors, and this was no cheap sponsor they all had to pay a minimum of $4 million. Here are just a few of the sponsors Gm cars donated all vehicles required, Xerox covered all the photocopying costs. Also official products where introduced the official hamburger was MacDonald’s, the official drink was coca-cola, official snack food was mars, official shop was 7 eleven and the official photo film was Fuji film because of all these the Los Angeles games was nicknamed the hamburger games. In doing all this Ubberoth created the Golden triangle of TV, Sponsor and Event this showed the dominance of sports and Americanization.
It is now accepted that in a financial way that peter Ubberoth saved the Olympic games. A interesting point is that Peter Ubberoth was born on the day that Pierre De Coubertin died, this could be a sign saying that its was the death of the old Olympics and the rebirth of the new Olympics. Ubberoth in doing what he has done by linking the Olympics and business world together he has secured De Coubertins dream. Peter Ubberoth not only saved the Olympic games he brought the globalization of sport forward, it created a media market that has became one of the biggest business in the world with the amount of money that is know put into sport.
Funding for sport is at the moment is at its highest it has ever been, in my view I cant see it getting much bigger now I think the only way it can do is down. For example footballers are paid massive amounts and it is ridiculous for what they do, some of the top players earn more in a week than average people do in year. All sports I feel will go back to there roots so it will do a full circle and competitors will have to take part in there sport for the love of it not the money because people cant carry on funding the high wages etc like they are doing now. All sports money mad and this craze is also visible in everyday things like petrol, food, clothes etc. at the moment people are paying the prices that are being asked but I feel that it is all going change and people are going to start to refuse to buy things for prices just like owners will stop paying managers and players, this is showing that society reflects sport.
