The Olympic Games have been going on since August 5th. And they are about to end as you read this. If you have been watching, you know that NBC identifies them as the 31st Olympiad. You also know that it has been most interesting so far. The “final Five” won women’s gymnastics in a breeze. An interesting mixture of older Olympians and rookie Olympians have won medals. Most likely you have lost a little sleep.
This Olympiad vs Olympic Games is rather interesting. Officially the Olympiad is a four year period. This one started January 1 of 2016. The 31 count is dated from 1896 when the “modern” ones started.
Most of us remember that the first Olympics were in Greece. Some may even remember that was back in 776 BC. They were four year cycles between their Olympic games. That was one of their calendars.
The one in 1896 was in Athens Greece as well as those early ones. Fortunately, Mother Nature has kept the year the same. However, things like empires falling, wars, and Dark Ages broke up the pattern of an Olympiad every four years. If not, the ones in Rio would be the 698th not the 31st.
The Olympic Games are not the Olympiad, well not exactly. For instance the Winter Olympic are just games. There are several other Olympiads, i.e. important events. Some examples are Cultural, Music and Language Olympiads. It is not clear when those started or whether they count them. But it is clear that the Olympic one (ads or games) are big business.
NBC paid $1.2 billion for this year. They have also paid over $7 billion for the ones that go through 2032. Now that’s a big bet. They tell us they have made their money back for 2016. If you counted the commercials while you are watching, you’re not surprised.
The people who receive the money are the International Olympic Committee. They also get money from other TV networks and media from all over the world. The TV networks are from several countries, the alphabetical list goes from Albania through Zimbabwe. Goodness knows how much the IOC actually collects.
To their credit, they give the money back to the individual countries Olympic committees to the tune of 90 percent. It is likely that they spend the rest on the international committee.
While the athletes don’t get pay for participation, those who win medals get a prize. The US pays their medal winners in thousands, $25 for gold, $15 for sliver and $10 for bronze. Other countries pay more. It’s not bad for winners; not so sure how the ones who don’t win score.
That is not the end of the costs. The hosting cities have to build stadiums and other venues like housing for the 10,000 athletes.
It really is a big business thing. I for one am glad folks are willing to do it. It is most enjoyable to watch and cheer for USA.
