Over-Commercialization of the Olympics 1988: The Role of U.S. Television Networks

Abstract

In the recent history of the Olympic Games, the price of the United States television rights has increased for each successive Game and the Olympic organizations have become heavily dependent financially on the United States networks. During the preparation for the 1988 Olympic Games, the United States networks realized how dependent the Seoul Olympic Organization Committee was; they requested and succeeded in changing the schedule of events for their television prime time in order to ensure that they could make a profit by broadcasting the Olympic Games. This further accelerated the process of commercialization of the Olympics.