Equestrian Downgraded a Notch Under 2016 Olympic Revenue Sharing Proposal
12 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Equestrian Downgraded a Notch Under 2016 Olympic Revenue Sharing Proposal
Equestrian is being downgraded a notch under a proposed formula for distributing to international sports federations at least a half billion dollars in revenue from television, sponsors and other sources from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The Olympic equestrian sports of dressage, eventing and jumping are governed by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The 26 summer sports that appeared at the London Games last summer shared $519.6 million (£341 million/€398.2 million), according to figures released by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations this week.
The total for 2012 was 75.5 per cent higher than from Beijing 2008, where the sports shared $296 million (£184 million/€227 million). Revenue from the Games makes up between 35 and 40 per cent of the income for most sports.
Although the association does not give a breakdown for each sport, reports indicate that almost 10 per cent of the 2012 money went to athletics as the current sole top tier sport.
The system of four different groups–A through D–that had been in effect since Atlanta in 1996 was applied for distributing funds from London. Equestrian was in Group C.
However, under a new formula proposed for the Olympics in Rio de Janiero in 2016, five groups will be established–A through E.
Equestrian will be dropped to Group D, the category that also includes canoeing, fencing, field hockey, handball, taekwondo, triathlon, sailing and wrestling.
It is not known whether the new formula will lead to less Olympic money for the FEI.
Sports were judged according to six criteria, each given a weighting factor.
* Television: the television audiences that each sport attracted during the games – Factor 40
* Internet: the number of internet page views and social media mentions – Factor 20
* General public: favorite sports, according to a survey – Factor 15
* Spectators: ticket requests in the host territory – Factor 10
* Press: number of favorable press articles – Factor 10
* Universality: number of national federations – Factor 5
