The 2016 Olympics have no doubt lost their luster for potential U.S. television partners.
The city of Chicago was eliminated from contention in the first round of voting for the site of the 2016 Olympics. Chicago had been one of the front-runners to host the ’16 Games. The 2016 Olympics will instead take place in Rio de Janeiro.
With the television rights for the ’14 and ’16 Olympics up for bid, the prospect of an Olympics in the 3rd-largest U.S. television market was tantalizing for U.S. television networks.
Even while noting that “no one’s ever made any money [off the Olympics],” News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch conceded that the prospect of a Chicago Olympics would “be pretty tempting.”
Chicago’s elimination figures to have a major impact on U.S. TV rights negotiations for the ’14 and ’16 Olympics. Prior to Friday’s vote, CNBC’s Darren Rovell said via Twitter that “US TV rights are worth about $250 million less if Rio beats Chicago for ’16 games.”
If Chicago had been selected as the site of the ’16 games, it would have marked the first Olympics in the United States since ’02 (Salt Lake City), and the first summer games in the U.S. since ’96 (Atlanta).
