"Flying Start" for Lillehammer; $200 Million for NBC Olympics; Turin Track Set for Dismantling

"Flying Start" for Lillehammer YOG

The IOC Coordination Commission has glowing reviews of the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Games so far.

After the first formal visit to the YOG host city, a statement from the IOC said the organizing committee is in the "foundation-planning phase", and the Commission spent time visiting each of the venues for the Games and reviewing the strategic blueprint.

"We are very impressed with the work already completed in such a short time," said Co-Comm chair Angela Ruggiero.

"LYOGOC is leveraging the foundations of Lillehammer 1994 while gathering knowledge from the hosts of the first Winter YOG, Innsbruck 2012. We have full belief in Lillehammer to not only deliver a successful Games, but also leave a legacy for youth sport development long after the Games have concluded."

NBC Earns $200 Million from London

NBC Universal earned $200 million from the London 2012 Olympics.

Third quarter earnings reports from parent company Comcast say $1.2 billion in broadcasting revenue was generated by the Games. NBC is believed to have spent $1 billion for its London Olympic coverage.

In a statement, Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, highlighted the importance of the Olympics.

"NBCUniversal's results highlight the strong performance of the Olympics and steady progress in its businesses as we invest to build value. The London Olympics exceeded all our expectations and our entire company contributed to their success, proving how effective we can be when we bring together our unique assets and capabilities."

Overall, revenue for Comcast increased 15.4 percent in the third quarter of 2012 to $16.5 billion.

The Olympics seemed to have impacted how Americans watch movies. Coinstar, which operates Redbox, a network of instant DVD rental stations in the United States, says the 2012 Olympics were one of the "temporary headwinds" that led to a decrease in movie rentals from July to September.

"The third quarter posed a greater challenge than we anticipated as the Olympics' impact served to drive lower physical, digital and theatrical viewership across the board," said J. Scott Di Valerio, chief financial officer of Coinstar.

Turin Track Set for Dismantling

Cesana Pariol, the sliding venue for the 2006 Olympics in Turin, is set to be dismantled.

Cesana Torinese Mayor Lorenzo Colomb told the Italian winter sports federation on Thursday the course would be dismantled due to its $2 million annual operating costs.

On the schedule for the venue in December is a luge World Cup event. Its fate is yet to be determined. International Luge Federation secretary general Svein Romstad says the FIL spoke with Italian officials, who claim the race "will take place as scheduled so we are in a ‘wait and see’ mode."

Lukashenko Takes Blame for Olympic Failures

Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritative president of Belarus and the country’s NOC president, placed blame on his shoulders for what he deemed to be the team’s poor Olympic performance.

"Of course the blame is first of all on the President of the country, not just the Olympic Committee," he said at Friday’s meeting of the Belarus National Olympic Committee, according to Belorussian media reports.

"But let us remember about responsibility. I would like to remind you that the President of the country has every right and authority to hold each one, starting from an athlete to a top-ranking executive, responsible."

Belarus targeted 25 medals in London, but won 12. At the Beijing Games, the country won 19.

"It is clear that we need to drastically revise our approaches in this field. The upcoming Olympics will be held in the neighboring Russia, and success there is a matter of prestige. Society will not tolerate such failures of our national team as we witnessed this summer in the U.K.," he added.

"Belarus was 26th in the unofficial medal scoreboard in London. This is certainly not a disaster. However, evaluating everything that is done for the sport in our country, we have the right to expect better results."

Public Ranks Sports Cities in New Index

Voting is open for the inaugural Sports Cities Index, presented by Around the Rings and TSE Consulting.

The comprehensive biannual ranking is built around a group of 50 cities selected through criteria such as staging recent and upcoming Olympics or other major multi-sport Games, hosting professional sports teams as well as organizing major championships or world-class events such as tennis Grand Slams and Formula 1 races.

Though the initial batch is already set, it’s up to the public to help sort them out 1 through 50 based on their perceptions of the cities as having hosted major events, having quality facilities and being healthy and active places to live.

An online survey open through Nov. 11 asks respondents four brief questions on those themes and then gives them the opportunity to suggest other cities for inclusion in future editions.

A group of 100 "TSE Survey Experts" drawn from international federations, National Olympic Committees, sports media and other influencers will also respond to the survey.

Answers from these experts will be combined with those from the general public to produce the final Sports Cities Index, to be released Nov. 16 at the City Events Conference in Lausanne. ATR subscribers will receive results via email Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. ET.

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.

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