SportHistory Review, 1996,27,111-138 0 1996 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

Television Rights Negotiations and the 1976 Montreal Olympics

Stephen R. Wenn WiIfrid Laurier U~iversity

"The Montreal years, from the time the Canadian city was awarded the Games of the XXIst Olympiad until their opening in 1976, were agonizing years for the Movement and, of course, for me."-Lord Killanin (1) Introduction In the twenty-first century, scholars dedicated to studying the mod- ern Olympic movement from a sociocultural perspective will continue to focus their attention on the presidential tenures of Pierre de Coubertin (2), Avery Brundage (3),and Juan Antonio Samaranch (4). The philosophical basis of Olympism established over 100 years ago by the diminutive French aristocrat will attract steady reflection and reinterpretation in light of the evolutionary changes in the Olympic movement regarding issues such as athlete eligibility, the use of performance-enhancing drugs, the size of the seemingly ever-burgeoning Olympic program, and its financial founda- tion (television rights fees and corporate sponsorship). This paper will investigate the effort of Lord Killanin (IOC president, 1972-1980) to mediate troubled negotiations between the Montreal Olym- pic organizing committee (COJO) and the world's television networks. An analysis of International Olympic Committee (IOC) archival material re- veals that these negotiations were precedent-setting and precipitated changes in the IOC's managerial approach to television matters that chal- lenged the IOC's carefully crafted image as an organization that eschewed commercialism. Killanin initiated a process that resulted in a shift in the balance of power in future negotiations, with the IOC emerging as the prin- cipal negotiating body with television networks. Olympic organizing com- mittees no longer enjoy the opportunity to sign contracts prejudicial to the interests of the Olympic Tripartite. Subject to much criticism for his corpo- rate agenda, Samaranch, along with colleagues such as Richard Pound, an

Stephen R. Wenn is with Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Physical Education, 75 University Ave. W, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5. IOC vice president and chairman of the new sources of finance commis- sion, benefited from the knowledge gleaned by Killanin during, and as a result of, these negotiations. The process assisted them in their attempt to further the IOC's financial aims in the 1980s.

Background Much can be learned about the IOC and its involvement with the television industry by assessing the attitudes and actions of Avery Brundage, Lord Killanin, and Juan Antonio Samaranch. Brundage has provided his- torians with a fascinating portrait of an individual devoted to the Olympic cause and Coubertin's ideals, one who battled commercial influence on the Olympic Games and the intrusion of world geopolitics and resisted seeking a course for the Olympic movement (especially with respect to the amateur code) that reflected changes in contemporary society. Brundage established the IOC's first television policy after a personal investigation of the industry in the 1950s (5). Samaranch's agenda-the subject of both praise and scorn and marked by changes in the IOC's approach to interac- tion with the world's political leaders, athlete eligibility, and Olympic fi- nances, including the IOC's television negotiation procedures-will be grist for future analysis. Lord Killanin, whose presidential tenure bridged the years between Brundage (1952-72) and Samaranch (1980-), has not been ignored by Olym- pic scholars, but his leadership has not been subjected to the same degree of scrutiny as that of Brundage and Samaranch (6). This research trend has been driven by the fact that Brundage and Samaranch, along with Coubertin, remain the three longest-serving IOC presidents. Perhaps this situation has also been due, in part, to the fact that their distinctive person- alities overshadowed that of the affable Irishman. Nevertheless, Killanin's term was replete with challenges, including Olympic boycotts, the need to liberalize amateur regulations, and the responsibility for repairing strained relations between members of the Olympic family (IOC, National Olym- pic Committees, and International Sport Federations). Olympic preparations in Montreal, the host city for the 1976 Summer Olympics, also tested Killanin's leadership abilities. "The Montreal Olym- pics," wrote Bruce Kidd, "are often remembered for their extravagant mis- management and unfulfilled expectations, usually attributed to the city's flamboyant Mayor Dean] Drapeau" (7).Jean Drapeau's grandiose and ex- pensive plans for the festival, cost overruns, and construction problems have been well-chronicled (8). Drapeau "planned for the Olympic Games as if he were a Roman emperor rather than an elected official," concluded Allen Guttmann (9). For Lord Killanin and the IOC, the prelude to the Montreal Olympics was defined by days of worry and aggravation. Al- though Killanin maintained a brave face during media interviews and pro- fessed his belief that the financial and logistical difficulties encountered by