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IOC coffers swelling

COPENHAGEN - The International Olympic Committee has secured a record $3,8billion (about R2,83billion) from broadcasting-rights deals for the 2010-2012 Games package and expects to top that for 2014-2016, IOC chief Jacques Rogge said yesterday.

COPENHAGEN - The International Olympic Committee has secured a record $3,8billion (about R2,83billion) from broadcasting-rights deals for the 2010-2012 Games package and expects to top that for 2014-2016, IOC chief Jacques Rogge said yesterday.

The figure represents a $1,2 billion (about R8,9billion) increase from the 2006-2008 two-Games package.

The broadcasting rights are the IOC's biggest source of revenue and Rogge told an IOC session in the Danish capital that efforts were being made to maximise audiences on new platforms including the Internet and mobile phones.

"Our television rights revenue is $3,8billion for the period 2010-2012," Rogge said of the deals already signed for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and 2012 London Summer Olympics.

He said deals worth $920million (about R6,8billion) had already been agreed on for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games in Russia and the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics.

The single biggest broadcasting contract, worth several billion dollars alone, with a United States broadcaster, had yet to be negotiated.

The 2010-2012 deal with NBC brought in about $2,2billion (about R16,4billion).

IOC officials said this week that a deal with a US broadcaster should come in the forthcoming months or year, depending on the improvement in the economic climate.

The Olympic body has also yet to conclude 2014-2016 Games deals for the major European territories France, Britain and Germany, which are worth several hundred million dollars.

"By the end of 2008 we were facing the most severe crisis for decades.

"We maximised our revenues. Our income from marketing and television has increased significantly," Rogge said. - Reuters

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