weekthreehighlights

FINAL OLYMPIC HIGHLIGHTS
Jon Kemp, Research Coordinator, Utah Travel Council
Tuesday, March 05, 2002

Internet Gold
The Olympics and Olympic-related icons were among the most searched topics during the final weeks of February and the first week of March. Making its debut in the first week of January, "Olympics" climbed to the top of the Lycos 50 most common searches for the week ending February 23rd. With nine consecutive weeks among the top 50, the Olympics captured the attention of Internet users. Also making appearances in the top 50 were athletes Apolo Anton Ohno, Jamie Sele, Michelle Kwan, and Sarah Hughes and the celebrated Olympic Hockey tournament. Other popular Olympic searches included personalities Anni Friesinger, Sasha Cowen, Jeremy Bloom, David Pelletier, Alexei Yagudin, and Timothy Goebel. Although seven of the top ten most popular Olympic athlete searches were figure skaters, figure skating as a sport lagged behind snowboarding and curling. Also notable was the more than 500% increase in searches for Roots, the clothing company responsible for outfitting the U.S. and Canadian Olympic teams (and the makers of the beret).

Visa Spending
Visa's sponsorship of the Games made it the only card accepted at Olympic venues. Consequently, the credit card company enjoyed huge increases over previous years due to Olympic spending. Between February 1st and Closing Ceremonies on February 16th, consumer spending topped $172.7 million, up 31% from the same time last year. January's total spending of $140 million was also 23% higher than last year. Daily spending was approximately $917,000, more than 10% higher that daily spending in Sydney. At specialty and clothing outlets, including the Olympic Superstore, Visa sales volume reached nearly $43 million ? 77% higher than last year and up 60% over January's sales. Area restaurants also did well, with a reported $15 million in sales up 57% over February 2001 and 46% better than January this year.

Ratings Finale
Closing Ceremonies attracted about 38.7 million viewers, making it the third most watched night of the Olympics (behind the 45 million of Opening Ceremonies and the 43.3 million who watched the women's figure skating finals). The closing night was more watched than either of the two previous Olympic finales in Lillehammer or Nagano and was more watched than the Closing Ceremonies in Atlanta. The gold medal hockey game between the US and Canada attracted 38 million viewers, the most to see a hockey game since the 1980 gold medal game in Lake Placid.

In all, the Games attracted an incredible 187 million viewers. Overall, NBC's average ratings of 19.2 exceeded the mark promised advertisers (16.9) and were a record 149% above regular network programming (by comparison, Lillehammer boosted ratings 130%). NBC's estimated profits from its broadcast of the Olympics total $75 million, $20 million more than expected. The network sold $740 million in ads during the Games, including $20 million sold after Opening Ceremonies. Advertisers are paying an estimated $600,000 for 30 seconds of airtime during the Games, far less than the peak price of $1.9 million for the Super Bowl, but well above the $350,000 average for a 30-second spot during "Friends." In addition, the "Olympic halo" boosted ratings for everything from the "Nightly News" to "The Today Show" to "Dateline" to NBCSports coverage of the Daytona 500 and the NBA. According to a study by Sponsorship Research International through the first two weeks, coverage was split into roughly four equal parts: live events, taped events, commercials and promos, and nonevent news coverage and features.

On cable, CNBC's Olympic coverage nearly tripled its regular ratings (averaging roughly 1 million viewers per day); MSNBC more than quadrupled its usual numbers (averaging roughly 670,000 viewers per day).

Worldwide, coverage of the Salt Lake Games was 50% greater than in Nagano and 170% greater than in Lillehammer. Canadian broadcaster CBC achieved an overall increase of 19% on the Nagano Games with the highest viewership coming during pairs figure skating, and men's and women's gold medal hockey games. Eurosport has broken all of its audience records with its 24-hour coverage of the Games. The network reports 120 million different viewers have tuned in for some of the Games. Other European broadcasters have all reported major increases over Nagano with the BBC gaining nearly 6 million viewers for late night women's curling and German broadcasters ARD and ZDF regularly exceeding audiences of 10 million. Final ratings will be available from the IOC's marketing department sometime in March.

Olympic Boom or Bust
Economists disagree whether the Olympics will prompt an immediate influx of capital spending, tourism, and business development. In the current year, pockets of Olympic spending will likely be offset by business activity that was sluggish during the Games. In the long term, the outlook is brighter, with most officials anticipating an Olympic windfall as increased awareness translates into increasing business and tourism opportunities.

Take it to the Bank
The week following Closing Ceremonies, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee returned nearly $100 million to the state of Utah in promised reimbursements. An endowment of $40 million would go to the Utah Athletic Foundation to run and operate the Utah Olympic Park and Utah Olympic Oval after the Games. The $59 million taxpayer-funded loan to SLOC was also repaid in full. SLOC reported that it expected a small profit from the Games, praising the huge success of its volunteer program and the effectiveness of its operational procedures (and some good luck with the weather). By the end of June, SLOC's 1,500 full-time and 4,000 part-time staff will have dropped to 40. By September, only 10 staffers will remain to clear the remaining contracts and ensure the completion of the organizing committee's few remaining commitments.

Balance the Books
A breakdown of the $1.9 billion SLOC budget includes (in millions): $382 for security, transit and highways; $225 for Olympic village, roads and venues; $413 for venue construction; $840 operating budget; and $80 for the Paralympics. The $1.9 billion budget included $500 million in state and federal aid for security, infrastructure, and transportation; $500 million from corporate sponsorship; $440 million from broadcast rights and $180 million from ticket sales.

The Volunteer Games
Media coverage throughout the Olympics has commented widely on the effectiveness and friendliness of volunteers. Salt Lake was the first Olympic host city to deploy volunteers as fully trained staffers. Organizers received more than three applicants for each position, screened everyone through a rigorous interview process and indoctrinated them with at least six hours of hospitality training. The result was an unprecedented caliber or unpaid staff, say people who've been around Olympic productions for decades, regarded as far superior in terms of commitment and skill level than the typical low-wage earners they replaced. Indeed, the volunteer dropout rate was just 2.5%, lower than its paid work force and much lower than the 11% to 15% of Olympic Games.

Almost Perfect
The organization of the Games performed better than even the highest expectations. Venues, technology, security and transportation each performed very well, with only a few minor miscues throughout the entire 17-day event.

A breakdown of security issues during the Games reveals that roughly 600 "suspicious" parcels and bags were investigated. None was a bomb or other threat. Several hundred other incidents, from traffic accidents to trespassing were also logged. Just 15 arrests were made at Olympic sites, including trespassing, public drunkenness and unlicensed ticket scalping. Outside the venues, a few other minor incidents occurred as well. Five protesters were arrested for trying to block President Bush's motorcade and 20 people were arrested following an incident outside Bud World. Roughly 200 people were sent home from the downtown party after having "too much to drink." An anthrax scare disrupted the Salt Lake International Airport , but was a false-positive test. A sniper rifle was found in a mountain forest that was unconnected to the Games. Broken vials of fluid in a downtown ticket exchange turned out to be harmless stink-bomb chemicals. Six aircraft breached the no-fly zone during the Games, but none were an intended threat.

The most significant transportation issues were a traffic build up at Snowbasin that caused some spectators to miss out on the medal winning runs and had SLOC President Mitt Romney directing traffic and longer-than-expected delays following the conclusion of the Games at the Salt Lake International Airport that resulted in approximately 500 missed flights and many unhappy travelers.

The two most common complaints in regards to the Games: no regular bus service between Salt Lake City and Park City and the negative impact on many local businesses outside the core Olympic region.

A recent poll found that support for the Games peaked during the competition, with between 83% and 91% of residents favoring the Olympics in Salt Lake City. One week following the Games, the figures have declined slightly to 76% favoring the Olympics, still an overwhelming majority.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Paraphrased from a commentary in the New York Times, "Riveting Sport and Angry Backlash", by Bill Pennington (February 24, 2002)

These were the fun Olympics, the safe Olympics, the friendly Olympics, the compact Olympics, the demographically blessed Olympics, and the telegenic Olympics. But these were also the sour grapes Olympics, with a revival in cold war antagonism fast-forwarded through cyberspace. Scarring the 17-day competition were protested results, manipulated judges, threatened withdrawls, angry email messages, and new-age doping techniques. Nonetheless, for most Americans, these were the Winter Games that worked. Ultimately, the Salt Lake Games conferred upon the Olympic movement a modern blueprint for how to run Winter Games that are cozy, attractive to a younger audience and with significance and sizzle.

Fastest Ice on Earth
The Utah Olympic Oval saw nine world records set in ten events, topping the previous high of seven world records set during the 1988 Calgary Games. Not a single Olympic record was left standing. Skaters also set 193 personal records and 86 national records.

Salt Lake and the Olympics: A Win/Win Partnership
A survey commissioned by the IOC revealed that 74% of respondents named the fun atmosphere of the Games a key element in their Olympic experience. This compares to 67% in Sydney and 17% in Atlanta. The survey also showed that 96% of respondents believed the Games would have a positive impact on the image of the state of Utah. Nearly two-thirds (76%) also said their opinion of the Olympics had improved since arriving in Salt Lake City and participating in Olympic events.

Souvenirs
The most common souvenirs thus far have included cowbells, mascots, t-shirts and of course, the berets. Pin trading has become a $30 million industry at the Games. Olympics merchandise will generate more than $500 million in sales for 67 official licensees. SLOC's cut of the sales should add a better than expected $25 million to their $1.9 billion budget. Concessions alone at the Games have reached over $16 million in sales with the Olympic Superstore reporting sales of over $10 million. In its quest to protect official licensees, the U.S. Customs Service has seized more than 50,000 phony items worth several hundred thousand dollars in more than 58 seizures of counterfeit merchandise bearing the Olympic rings, Salt Lake Games logo or other Olympic brands.

Program Notes - the next 1,000 Days
An estimated 1.5 million people saw the Utah-sponsored van that accompanied the Olympic torch through 46 states. It was also part of receptions held in 10 cities along the way in which 3,600 business contacts were made. During the Games, Utah officials hosted 325 to 350 investors and venture capitalists, leaders from 77 countries and seven members of the president's Cabinet. In addition, the Utah Business Club hosted 79 events involving about 8,000 business executives and representatives from 42 Utah companies. The state also co-hosted 84 international events involving 18,400 people. The Utah Media Center, serving non-accredited broadcast, print and electronic media including CNN, ESPN, ABC, CBS and EBU, registered approximately 1,600 journalists from around the world. More than 2,000 stories were filed from the Center; 82 news conferences were held featuring Olympic athletes, government officials, VIPs, and unique Utah story ideas. Journalists were assisted by 21 sponsors and 275 staff and volunteers. During the final week of the Olympics, a Utah-sponsored ad touting tourism following the Games aired in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego reaching 6.1 million people. The ad was intended to tie the Utah! brand to the Olympics, declaring "Utah welcomed the world? an now we welcome you." These programs launched the Governor's 1,000-day plan for economic development in the state of Utah, during which the state will attempt to leverage the exposure, awareness and relationships the Olympics have created.

Olympic Notes - Week One Highlights
Olympic Notes - Week Two Highlights

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