Olympics Delay to Cost IOC $800 Million

The price for delaying the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is becoming more clear. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said he expects the organization to bear costs of up to $800 million.

Bach said $650 million would be set aside to put on the games in 2021, with another $150 million going to support International federations and National Olympic Committees, which have seen revenues dry up without action this year. If the Olympics are canceled next year, it’s been reported the “economic damage” would be $42.1 billion.

The IOC burden does not count costs incurred by Tokyo organizers or the Japanese government. The postponement has added more than $2.7 billion to the original $12.6 billion budget for the Tokyo Games.

The ramifications of the delayed games extend beyond lost revenue for athletes and national sports bodies – networks airing the events and advertisers, including those with planned product launches, stand to take a hit.

NBCUniversal was in the final year of a $4.4 billion deal with the IOC for the U.S. media rights. While Olympic broadcasters don’t make the bulk of their payments until the games air, the network will miss out on profits. NBCUniversal said it had sold more than $1.25 billion in ads around the Tokyo Games, and had planned to launch its new Peacock OTT platform around the events.