ABSTRACT
There is sufficient evidence that the Olympic Games are the preeminent international sporting event in the world. For example, the 2008 Olympics in Beijing had 4.7 billion television viewers globally, 70 per cent of the world’s population; the 2004 Games had 3.9 billion viewers; while Sydney in 2000 had 3.6 billion. The 2012 London Olympics ranked as the most viewed television event ever in the United Sates with a total audience of 211 million, or an average daily audience of 27 million people. Along with this impressive data, De Bosscher et al. (2008) noted that in recent years the Olympic Games themselves have grown in size in terms of participating countries, number of athletes, sports on the programme and countries with the capability of winning medals. Chappelet and Kubler-Mabbott (2008) noted that the Olympic Games have also grown in the revenue generated from broadcast rights, sponsorship, ticket sales and licensing. Mickle (2012) reported that the 11 Olympic Partner Programme (TOP) sponsors for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) each paid an estimated $100 million, for a grand total of $1 billion, and the IOC generated an estimated $3.9 billion for broadcasting fees between 2008 and 2012.
