BRISTOL, Conn. Standing on a deck overlooking the ESPN headquarters, executive vice president of content John Skipper delivers some bad news to network TV competitors about the upcoming bidding war for U.S. TV rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games. "We'll be there. We're having discussions with them," Skipper said.
After scoring big with its coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, you'd think NBC would have the inside track on TV rights to the 2014 and 2016 games. But ESPN/ABC will likely be a strong competitor. Without blinking an eye, ESPN outbid Fox by more than $100 million for the rights to college football's Bowl Championship Series (BCS) from January 2011 to January 2014.
As it celebrates its 30th anniversary, the once rinky-dink and now incredibly deep-pocketed cable network seems hungrier for the validation an Olympics would bring. "There's no question the Olympics would continue the process of establishing ESPN as the home of championship sports and great sports," Skipper said.
The International Olympics Committee has assured ESPN, said Skipper, that it will have a seat at the table when bidding begins in earnest for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in a still-to-be-determined host city.
To show it has the chops to handle a global event, ESPN will give its 2010 FIFA World Cup coverage the Olympic treatment. ESPN is already planning to send anchors Chris Fowler, Mike Tirico and Bob Ley to South Africa for the entire event, said Norby Williamson, executive vice president of remote/studio production.
"What we're hoping to bring to (the World Cup) is Olympic-quality production," said Skipper. "Not just the cameras but the feel of it. That it feels big. That it feels international. That it feels about more than just competition. It's competition. But it's also culture. And human drama."
ESPN's competitors won't roll over and play dead. Fox wants the games. NBC is expected to go to the mat to protect its franchise. CBS is also expected to bid.
"The Olympics are one of the premier sporting events in the world and we will absolutely be a part of the bidding process when the time comes," said Fox spokesman Dan Bell on Sunday.
While NBC did a "spectacular job" in Beijing, Skipper thinks the Peacock was both lucky and good. "You've got to give them credit for getting swimming at night. And you have to give it to them for orchestrating it so that Michael Phelps was a big story. Like all of us, they had the good fortune to be there when an unbelievable story unfolded, right? Michael Phelps every night. So they had a good run."
