Sunday, August 16, 2009

USOC delays launch of its TV network

Tribune:
The United States Olympic Committee has managed to defuse another dispute with the International Olympic Committee, one that threatened to blow up on Chicago's 2016 Summer Olympic bid.

After its chairman, Larry Probst, met here Saturday morning with IOC President Jacques Rogge, the USOC announced Sunday it will hold off indefinitely on the planned 2010 launch of the U.S. Olympic Network, its television venture.

By conceding to the IOC's demand that it delay implementation of the network until a variety of issues can be resolved, Probst has allowed the Chicago bid to stop being on the defensive as it was forced to explain the USOC's actions to the voters who will choose the 2016 host Oct. 2.

Speaking with a handful of U.S. reporters in Berlin as the statement was being released Sunday, Probst said, "The USOC wants to do everything it can to help support the Chicago bid. If this meeting with President Rogge and the decision we have made is going to be beneficial to the bid, I think that is terrific."

Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan applauded the action in a composed public statement while undoubtedly doing verbal cartwheels in private.
What are the odds that Chicago may host the Olympics in 2016?

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