(4/14/99)
Money troubles.
That's the backdrop for all the Olympic politics happening in Washington.
The hope is that the McCain Committee will push the IOC to change and help bring the sponsors back to support the 2002 Games.
The big question is, what if that doesn't happen?
News Specialist John Daley reports.
Indeed that's the big question.
Because if sponsors don't come to the table with the hundreds of millions that are needed--organizers will be faced with some very unsavory choices.
Moneywise, when it comes to the Olympics, is the glass half empty or half full?
The most watchful Olympic watchdogs will tell you things are looking somewhat precarious.
Critic Steve Pace says it's bad and may get worse.
"This is one of those things where the arrows are all pointing down as far as Olympic finances are concerned. And I think they'll continue going that was for awhile."
But--Olympic board member Ken Bullock sees all this as perhaps the storm before the calm.
"At this point, we have every reason to be nervous, but we have three years to work out of this hole that we're in," Bullock says.
Climbing out of that hole is becoming an uphill battle for organizers.
They need to raise upwards of $300 million from corporate sponsors to break even.
But because of the scandal, they've gotten cold feet.
Down the road this presents three scenarios--two of them scary.
The "SUPER SCENARIO":
Organizers raise the needed cash--all is well.
If not--the "SAD SCENARIO":
Utah hosts a streamlined, scaled-back Olympics.
Or the "MAD SCENARIO":
The Games run way over budget, leaving MAD taxpayers with the bill.
So how'd we get here, when for years, we'd been told Olympic finances were so rosy?
Bullock, for one, says organizers promised too much to too many people--the IOC, the USOC, the athletes, the media and the sponsors.
"It got away from people, it got away," he says.
Looking ahead, Pace is the perennial pessimist.
"I think they're going to cost much more than they've said. That'll be a big price tag for taxpayers and there will be much fingerpointing and recriminations from the people who've been backing this thing."
Pace for one is predicting there could be some major political fallout--from these financial troubles.
He says look for the 2002 Money Crisis to play a role in Salt Lake's upcoming mayor's race.
