Now that the decision has been made to hold the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without spectators in the capital and three neighboring prefectures, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn't seem so concerned about spectators, because the broadcasting rights fees that account for a large part of its revenue are secured.
The IOC has been keeping a safe distance from the issue of the number of spectators to be allowed at Games venues. In March, when the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games decided not to accept overseas visitors, the IOC issued a statement, saying, "Our Japanese partners and friends did not reach this conclusion lightly."
In June, it also said it supported the policy set by the Japanese side when the organizing committee decided to cap the number of spectators at 10,000.
"As long as the Games are held, a huge amount of broadcasting rights fees will be generated. Therefore, regardless of whether the Games are held with spectators, or how many would be allowed, the IOC doesn't have to financially sacrifice itself," said a senior official of the organizing committee.
According to the IOC's 2019 financial report, its revenue from 2013 to 2016 totaled 5.7 billion dollars (about 630 billion yen), 73% of which came from broadcasting rights fees.
According to some U.S. media and other sources, the broadcasting rights fees that the IOC contracted with the U.S. television network NBC for the United States market is 4.38 billion dollars (about 480 billion yen) for the four Winter and Summer Games since the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, and 7.65 billion dollars (about 840 billion yen) for the six Winter and Summer Games scheduled to be held from 2022 to 2032.
Last spring, when coronavirus infections began spreading rapidly, the IOC as a Games organizer repeatedly declared that it would not cancel the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Now that the cancellation of the Games is highly likely averted and the broadcasting rights fees are secured, the IOC no longer needs to repeat its stance amid any criticism.
Every time the Japanese side expressed its intention to hold the Games by adjusting the number of spectators, the IOC would become more confident, making more demands.
A source close to the organizers said that the IOC has demanded that "IOC officials and sponsors among other concerned parties be allowed in the audience as a 'separate category.'" The IOC also demanded the Japanese side cooperate in restoring its reputation by "making the IOC's efforts more widely known in Japan, such as that it has offered to pay for the venue relocation for marathons and race walking events," according to the source.
IOC President Thomas Bach has said, "We stand shoulder to shoulder at the side of our Japanese partners and friends."
However, the organizing committee, which is responsible for the management of the Games, is caught between the policies of the IOC, the government and local governments, as well as public opinion at home and abroad, and is unable to draw and present a complete picture of what the Games will be like even half a month before the opening ceremony.
Sugino is based in Geneva.
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