Oh dear! I escaped London for the warmth of Provence and find myself watching endless interviews and documentaries about French athletes – I have nothing at all against them but would welcome a little freedom to choose please!
We now have the internet but those that sell TV rights ignore it. On French TV I have one channel showing the Olympics. Say I want to watch the USA basketball team play – no chance. I can’t even pay to see it on the Web. The UK had a real opportunity to change the way the Olympics are delivered. Not only did they (I am not a fan although a citizen) give most of the good tickets to sponsors. Of course the statistics show that very few tickets were given to the sponsors and VIPs – statistics we know can show anything you wish – almost. What is not clear is how many sponsors were given tickets to the South Korea vs France women’s football – the seats were almost completely empty! One may not have realised given that the camera angles that cut off the crowd just above the advertising around the ground.
The UK had such a great opportunity to force a big change in how the Olympics was brought to the people – it failed! Coe failed. I can only hope that some country in the future will have the courage to bring the games to the people not to the sponsors.
As an aside, how many athletes do actually drink Powerade during the Olympics?
