On our 10th anniversary, GamesBids.com is releasing our first ever Top Ten Olympic bid Stories list for 2008. These stories, from the mainstream to the obscure, impacted the course of Olympic bids and formed an interesting plotline for 2008. Today we count down #10 and #9.
#10 – Student Tries To Break Olympic Monopoly Of The Internet
In a story that first developed during the Beijing Olympics in August, the International Olympic Committee’s legal domination of Internet domain names became uncertain and current and future bid cities may soon find themselves in a bind.
A Chicago student who registered the domain Chicago2016.com fought back after the United States Olympic Committee filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He claimed that his domain was registered before the Chicago Olympic bid had any legal right to the domain and that he intended to use the domain to foster open discussions about the bid.
WIPO sided with the student and agreed that the dispute should be heard in the United States court system and not with the International Arbitrator. In the past, WIPO has frequently put such disputed domains into the control of the IOC citing their international trademark registrations and powerful branding and goodwill.
The U.S. courts are expected to be less accommodating to the IOC and the domain may remain in the hands of the original licensee – a precedent-setting move that will have major ripple effects throughout the Olympic movement and cities bidding to host the Games.
In bid application documents, the IOC requests that bid cities use any legal means required to gain control of all key Internet domains with the city and year combination (i.e. Chicago and 2016 in this case). And there is good reason for this.
Leading up to the Beijing Games, fake Olympic ticket selling Websites were set up and had some credibility with consumers due to the fact they had legitimate sounding Internet addresses because they used combinations of the words Beijing, Olympics and 2008. Victims later tried to recover their losses by suing the IOC.
The same student who registered Chicago2016.com also registered Tokyo2016.com. Madrid and Rio de Janeiro have already secured their equivalent domain names. Moving forward the IOC may have to reconsider their Internet branding strategy.
#9 – Birmingham, Alabama To Bid For 2020 Olympic Games
On June 21, the Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, USA announced his intention to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games.
In a move that seemed more like a publicity stunt than an organized attempt to host the Games – the Mayor seemed to grossly underestimate the cost and effort required to mount a bid and organize the Games. He also disregarded the sensitivity of the fact that the United States Olympic Committee was already supporting a bid by Chicago to host the 2016 Olympic Games – a serious faux pas.
Later, he tried to make amends by claiming he supported Chicago’s efforts, but that didn’t stop him from announcing that he had already organized a bid committee and appointed its leadership. The Mayor then trumpeted his own achievement of giving the area “global news coverage” about its Olympic aspirations.
Take note, Denver is pursuing its renewed Olympic dream quietly.
Tomorrow we count down #8 and #7.
