Selling The Five Rings: The IOC and the Rise of the Olympic Commercialism / Edition 1

by Robert K Barney, Stephen R Wenn, Scott G Martyn

Overview

The original scheme for the modern Olympic Games was hatched at an international sports conference at the Sorbonne in June 1894. At the time, few provisions were made for the financial underwriting of the project—providence and the beneficence of host cities would somehow take care of the costs. For much of the first century of modern Olympic history, this was the case, until the advent of television and corporate sponsorship transformed that idealism.

Now, linking with the five-ring logo is good business. Advertising during the Olympic Games guarantees a global audience unmatched in size by any other sports audience in the world. However, if the image begins to tarnish and the corporate sector loses interest, television companies can’t sell advertising to business interests. This was the greatest threat posed by the scandal surrounding Salt Lake City’s bid.

Selling the Five Rings outlines the rise of the Olympic movement from an envisioned instrument of peace and brotherhood, to a transnational commercial giant of imposing power and influence. Using primary source documents such as minutes of the IOC General Sessions, minutes and reports of various IOC sub-committees and commissions concerned with finance, reports of key marketing agencies, and the letters and memoranda written to and by the major figures in Olympic history, the authors track the history of a fascinating global institution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874808094
Publisher:	University of Utah Press
Publication date:	08/17/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	442
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert Barney is professor emeritus and founding director emeritus of the International Center for Olympic Studies, School of Kinesiology, University of Western Ontario.
Stephen Wenn is associate professor and chair of kinesiology and physical education at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Scott Martyn is associate professor human kinetics at the University of Windsor.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	1
1.	The Roots of the Modern Olympic Games	18
2.	The Cool Games: The Winter Olympics, 1924-2002	41
3.	The Gendering of the Winter Olympic Games	87
4.	Miracles, Modernization, Debt, and Even Disney on Ice and Snow: The North American Contribution to the Olympic Cultural Topography	110
5.	When Amateurism Mattered: Class, Moral Entrepreneurship, and the Winter Olympics	127
6.	Television, Corporate Sponsorship, and the Winter Olympics	155
7.	Visions and Versions of American Culture at the Winter Games	185
8.	Toward a Cosmopolitics of the Winter Olympic Games	225
9.	Flame and Fanfare: Victory Award Ceremonies and the Olympic Torch Relay	252
10.	The Winter Paralympics: Past, Present, and Future	281
11.	Salt Lake City 2002: XIXth Olympic Winter Games	304
	Contributors	317
	Index	321

Editorial Reviews

"This is an exhaustively researched and richly detailed examination of how the IOC decided to go for the gold by marketing the Olympic Games and its identifying marks and symbols...A must-read for anyone interested in the nature of the modern Olympic movement."—Larry R. Gerlach, University of Utah

"The most comprehensive account of modern Olympism to date. As the Olympic saga evolves, historians will look back to Selling the Five Rings as the most authoritative account of the Olympic Games' formative first century."—Sport History Review

"A must read for anyone interested in the changing face of the Olympic movement or competitive sports in general, a beautifully written book."—CHOICE

"An important history, and an important contribution to understanding the modern leviathan of sports."—Chicago Tribune

From the Publisher

Using International Olympic Committee meeting minutes, reports, letters, memoranda, and other primary source documents, the authors trace the rise of the Olympic games from what was meant to be an instrument of international peace to a transnational marketing giant. It was a transformation of idealism into commercialism by television and corporate sponsorship that led to bribery, corruption, scandal, and the tarnishing of the Salt Lake City games. The three authors are Canadian academics in kinesiology and human kinetics. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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