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The Olympics-Irrelavant or not?

autumnlphillips
Nov 15, 2017
3 min read

The Olympic Games are a global phenomenon that has always captured the attention of people across the world; families, athletes, children, and students watch this large sporting event every 4 years. From the commercials and marketing to the athletes and training, there is so much that goes into promoting and planning the Olympics. A little background information on the Olympics would start with the fact that it was founded on a love for competition, sport, unity, and an ancient tradition of fitness. The main symbols that represent the Olympics and that you will always associate it with is the flaming torch and the five colored rings. The logo that was designed for the Olympics was created in 1912, by Baron Pierre De Coubertin.

When it comes to marketing in the Olympics, there is a lot that goes into promoting and advertising this kind of large-scale event. One example is the platforms that commonly known Olympic athletes have and how they use them to market. In the you-tube clip I have inserted below, the discuss how known athletes, for example, Michael Phelps and Gabby Douglas, are sponsored by brands, and that attracts people to want to become more interested in athletes and the Olympics in general. She also mentions how they mainly do it for the pay, and just becoming so large with the deals that are partnered with, brings attention and viewing to them as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBjC23thlCQ

The location of the Olympics is a huge topic that is discussed in sports marketing and that will be very talked about for years and truly makes the Olympics what is it and what it represents. In previous Olympic games, it has taken place in Athens, Turin, Beijing, Vancouver, Sochi, London, and previously Rio. For the next Olympic games in 2018, it will be held in PyeongChang. The games and their locations are already scheduled and planned for the next 4 Olympics. This gives them time to set up, market, and promote the game with the help of sports marketing and the large target market that comes with that.

Lastly, a huge topic that has become very talked about is whether or not the Olympics is starting to become irrelevant, and if it is overpriced. Some articles say that from 2012 to 2016, there has been a significant drop in how many people said they plan to watch “a fair amount” or some of the Olympics. According to Gallup, 30% say they plan to watch “not much” of the Olympics, and 21% said “none at all”. This has been the highest percentage of non-watchers since Gallup has interviewed since they starting doing it in 2000. When it comes to the price of the Olympics one article wrote that the founder, Baron De Coubertin, expected the final expenses of creating the game to be about 10 million, in todays’ terms. After Rio, it is estimated that it cost about 20 million. In my opinion, I do agree that the expense of what goes into the Olympic games is very expensive and that has to be coming out of our tax dollars, and worse than that, that money could be used for nations that need help or are recovering from national disasters. I know the Olympics should cost a good amount of money, but 20 billion is way too much, and in my opinion, much too pricey. When it comes to the relevancy of the Olympics, I do believe that it is relevant, and I think it is a great way to unite our nation all together and have friendly competition between different countries. Even though many articles say people are caring less about the Olympics and may not watch it as much anymore, I think we should continue to support our countries and the hard-working athletes who compete in the Olympics.