With the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics now in the books and in the conversation with Lillehammer 1994 as among the best in Winter Games history, it's time for our sport business scorecard for the most watched sports event -- and television event -- in Canadian history.
The Top 10s of Vancouver 2010
10. The Richmond Oval as the most impressive new sport venue in Canada since the opening of the Air Canada Centre in 1999 and VANOC's general approach to competition venues - smartly relying on upgrades to BC Place, Pacific Coliseum and General Motors Place/Canada Hockey Place; all completed on time, well in advance of the Games...an unusual feat for Olympic host cities;
9. Family marketing campaign centered around mascot team of Quatchi, Miga, Sumi and MukMuk, which engaged kids and schools in the Winter Games and kick-started strong merchandise sales and branding, smartly backed by the official colour pallette of wintry blues and greens symbolic of Canadian west coast;
8. Event ticket sales, surpassing previous record set in Salt Lake City 2002 (although it was still disappointing to see unfilled sections of IOC family seating at indoor venues, including for otherwise sold out hockey games at Canada Hockey Place);
7. In what amounted to the two single largest global branding opportunities in the history of Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada before worldwide audiences on television, computers and mobile phones, the staging of the opening and closing ceremonies of both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were solid (despite the mechanical failure of the indoor cauldron February 12th and a slight excess of cheese February 28th);
6. Domestic sponsorship sales which met and exceeded VANOC's $750 million in budget projections, despite impact of global economic recession, with kudos to Executive Vice-President Dave Cobb and his marketing team;
5. A host sport medical platform almost unanimously regarded by athletes and coaches as second to none in Winter Games history, engineered by the likes of VANOC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jack Taunton, Rick Celebrini, Dr. Mike Wilkinson and a team of British Columbian and Canadian leaders in their fields;
4. At 106 days, 45,000 kilometres and coast-to-coast-to-coast coverage, the longest domestic Olympic Torch Relay in history, with kudos to RBC and Coca-Cola for their classy activation around 12,000 torch bearers;
3.
Own The Podium for provoking a change in the way we view our athletes and our capacity for success on the world stage, not to mention $110 million in training and technology support for Canadian Olympic team;
2. Vancouver 2010 merchandising and licensing campaign, especially by official retailer HBC and hot sales of Canadian Olympic team apparel, most notably the sea of red created by Hockey Canada's Nike jerseys;
1. John Furlong's strategic vision of Vancouver 2010 as "Canada's Games", a leadership position which rubbed off on Olympic Torch Relay presented by RBC and Coca-Cola, record television ratings, strong domestic sponsorships, provincial agreements, record ticket sales and record levels of Winter Games merchandising, not to mention expressions of patriotism and flag-waving like we've never seen before in Canada.
Bottom 10s of Vancouver 2010:
1. Tragic training run death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvilli on opening day of the Games;
2. Failure of federal, provincial and municipal governments to get their marketing, hospitality and tourism ducks in a row early enough (most notably a missed opportunity to present a fully-aligned and integrated message to visitors, trading partners and investors from around the world - although the weather and televised beauty shots of Vancouver and Whistler more than made up for it);
3. Inability to deliver a direct cash legacy for sport development like that of Calgary 1988, which would have been the ultimate follow-up punch to BC's 2010 Legacies Now and Canada's Own The Podium before the Games (shouldn't the IOC follow through with $22.5 million US or even $30 million US, the amount it fell short on its own worldwide partner budget for Vancouver 2010?);
4. Poorly-conceived fencing plan and poorer communications spin around outdoor cauldron at honourably-named Jack Poole Plaza;
5. Lack of stronger protocols and alignment between VANOC and sliding federations to ensure safer luge, skeleton and bobsleigh track at Whistler;
6. VANOC fueling greater pushback and negativity from international media in opening days of Vancouver 2010 by not more easily acknowledging mistakes and logistical wrinkles;
7. BC Place without the retractable roof that will only come 18 months
after Vancouver 2010 and without new video screens and other bells and whistles which might have added even more pizzazz to the opening and closing ceremonies and nightly medal presentations (and further helped justify the province's hefty $563 million tab for the long-overdue stadium renovation);
8. Missed opportunity to "open" the opening ceremonies by creating a staged opportunity for tens of thousands more Canadians, British Columbians and Vancouverites -- unable to afford or otherwise access tickets priced at up to $1,100 a pop -- to witness Wayne Gretzky and a final procession of torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame from BC Place to the outdoor cauldron on opening night February 12th (instead of what came across as an afterthought, with only television audiences watching the Great One scrambling away in a pick up truck to the outdoor lighting at Cole Harbour);
9. Some questionable calls on overseas hires and foreign contracts when highly-touted and capable Canadian talent was ready and willing, in areas such as design, sport operations and, yes, Cirque de Soleil;
10. Community disconnects in the period leading to Vancouver 2010, ranging from misplaced aggression on trademark protection (especially in the early years) and VANOC not making the most of the opportunity to fully engage BC sports stakeholders to the exclusion of the global children's charity
Right to Play and the BC government's wrong-headed decision to announce cut backs to the provincial sport system six months before Vancouver 2010 (despite boasting of its commitment to create the healthiest jurisdiction to ever host the Winter Games).
Net score: "Excellent and Friendly Games", with big wins at the international, domestic and local levels, where Vancouver's DNA will forever carry the designation of Olympic and Paralympic city and usher in a new era of sport business opportunities for the Pacific Gateway city.
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