Spending wild

While the economy is sputtering in the US, it seems from the outside that the economy is going strong in China, even if their stock market is in a nose dive. In China they are building the world's fastest train (236 miles per hour), they will spend $62 billion on 97 new airports to be completed by 2020, and building at least 3,107 miles of expressway this year which would make China second only to the US in terms of total highway miles. One of the unique new buildings is a 682 foot tall Ferris wheel that will open in 2010. The attraction in Beijing will cost $290 million and and dwarf the London eye which is only 443 feet. The devise will have 48 air conditioned capsules and on a good weather day (if that is possible in Beijing) there should be a nice view of the Great Wall.
Gil-

Post Olympics Glow

Have the Olympics hurt or helped China? My feeling after seeing all the changes and developments in China is that they have taken several steps forward. They are still developing and implementing new ideas so the end benefit might be several years away. However, the process is starting and I look forward to significant growth in the China sport market.

Chinese Clean-up

The efforts to make Beijing cleaner are underway and they seem to be making only a minimal impact on the "fog" that hangs over the city and the games. The Minister of Environmental Protection announced yesterday new regulations to close down additional factories, steel plants, and coal-fired power plants if the air quality does not improve. Further measures include taking more cars off the road and possibly stopping additional construction. While these efforts are needed, long-term solutions are the more important goal and as someone who has witnessed first hand the conditions in Beijing, I applaud any long-term strategies that can make the air and living conditions better for all the city residents.
Gil-

Beijing to allow protests

The director of security for the Beijing Olympic organizing committee has confirmed that demonstrations will be allowed at three parks around Beijing. Even though the protest areas will be several miles from most Olympic venues, this is nothing new. I am not talking about China, I am talking about pushing protests away from sport venues in the United States. Several years ago a women's group wanted to protest a major golf tournament and the city and police pushed them away to an area a mile from the club and in an area where no one could see them. A court later held that the rules adopted by the city purportedly to insure safety, were designed to limit free speech.
Gil-

Olympic Security

In order to help provide a safe Olympic games, the Chinese government has mobilized an anti-terrorism force of 100,000 to protect the games. This is in addition to 500,000 citizen volunteers who will be street corners monitoring activity and suspicious activity. The Chinese government has also offered a significant cash reward to anyone who tips the police about potential terrorist threats. Lets hope it will be a safe games.
Gil-

Freedom of Press?

While NBC was hoping for greater access, only time will tell how much freedom the press will have. With the Olympic just around the corner, we should get ready for significant changes to how the American viewing population has become accustomed to watching the games. In a recent article the Wall Street Journal highlighted that satellite application for western broadcasters have been denied for those wishing to broadcast live from non-Olympic venues. This move can minimize the potential for political opposition being broadcast, but could also lead to fewer feel good stories that the American viewing audience has grown to love. Such vignettes have been a great source of information for Americans to learn about other cultures/people.
Gil-
p.s. with Miller and Coors joining forces and having one shared office in Chicago they will spend less on sponsorship and GM just announced significant cuts in sponsorship spending, including Cutting spending on NASCAR. On July 17, AB executives told the Associated Press that sport spending will stay the same...and maybe even increase under the new ownership group.

AB-Bust

While Anheuser-Busch is considered an American company, it is now being acquired by inBev and will be part of a strong global conglomerate. Is this good or bad news for sports? My take is that it is bad news. The more competition the better for sports since companies will compete against each other for the best properties and to buy the best opportunities. While the beverage competition will decrease, the word on the street is that InBev will try to make its money through reducing costs and watching every penny. That can signal a major disaster for sports in the US. According to a USA Today article A-B spent $218 million on sport advertising in 2007 and an additional $300 million on sport sponsorship. When you add the total impact of A-B it is more than 1/2 a billion dollars. If that budget is cut in half over the next couple years (combined with a down economy), the entire sport industry could be left searching for another sugar daddy.
Gil-