Viewing page 206 of 516

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

The Olympic Flame Returns to Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, the City of the Angels, in 1932 hosted the Games of the Xth Modern Olympiad. Forty-six years later the International Olympic Committee (IOC), governing body of the Olympic movement, awarded the rights to host the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad to Los Angeles. The formal agreement was signed October 20, 1978, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., by IOC President Lord Killanin (later succeeded by Juan Antonio Samaranch) and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. The signing represented an unprecedented break in Olympic tradition: the responsibility of organizing and financing the 1984 Games would rest with an independent, ,nonprofit corporation, not with the city of Los Angeles.
Olympic Games and the right to host them had always been awarded to cities that assumed the financial responsibility for organizing and staging the Games at the risk of financial losses. With representatives of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), leaders of the effort to bring Olympic Games back to Los Angeles developed the idea of a private organizing committee, whose performance would be guaranteed by the USOC. Initially the IOC balked at this proposal, unsure of the ability of a private group to successfully stage an Olympic Games. Ultimately, Rule 4 of the Olympic Charter, which requires the host city to be responsible for financing and organizing an Olympic Games was declared not applicable to Los Angeles, and Olympic history was made.
The return of the Olympic Flame to Los Angeles was the result of decades of persistence by a group of dedicated people and their organization, the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games (SCCOG). Formed in 1939, the SCCOG's sole purpose was to return the Olympic Games to Los Angeles. For many years, Los Angeles was unable to obtain even the designation as the United States' city to bid for the Olympic Games, losing each time to Detroit, Mich. Los Angeles was designated by the USOC the U.S. city to bid for the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Games. The 1980 and 1984 bids were a joint effort between the SCCOG, led by President John Argue, and the City of Los Angeles, led by Mayor Tom Bradley. The bid efforts were financed entirely by the SCCOG. When IOC deposit monies were due, Argue and SCCOG member John R. MacFaden guaranteed loans to help meet the financial requirements. 
Los Angeles negotiations with the IOC were handled by a blue ribbon committee of seven, appointed by Tom Bradley. It consisted of John Argue, chairman; Howard P. Allen; Justin Dart; William Robertson; Rodney W. Rood; David L. Wolper and Paul Ziffren. Additional talks involving the committee of seven, the USOC and IOC led to a final agreement that was signed March 1, 1979, by Court de Beaumont and IOC Director Monique Berlioux for the IOC, USOC President Robert Kane and Director F. Don Miller for the USOC and Argue and Rood for Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC) was then activated, and Argue was elected its initial chairman.
A nationwide talent search produced LAOOC President Perter V. Ueberroth, and the Games were on their way. Paul Ziffren was then elected chairman, succeeding Argue. The organizing effort began on March 26, 1979, 1,951 days prior to the opening of the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad. The 1984 Olympics will take place July 28 to August 12.

Financing the 1984 Olympics
The LAOOC is financing the 1984 Games without the aid of the two most traditionally significant sources of revenue for an Olympic Organizing Committee: government subsidies and proceeds from an Olympic lottery. A Los Angeles City Charter provision approved by voters in November 1978 forbids any capital expenditures by the city on the Olympics that would not, by binding legal commitment, be paid back. Lotteries are illegal in California.
The Revenues necessary to organize and administer the 1984 Games will come from three primary sources: the sale of television broadcast rights, corporate sponsorships and tickets. Further income will be obtained from LAOOC licensing agreements and the sale of commemorative Olympic coins.
The first television broadcast rights awarded were to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) for $225 million on September 26, 1979. ABC will broadcast the Games throughout the United States and also serve as the Host Coordinating Broadcaster for the 1984 Olympics. Television rights have also been arranged with the European Broadcasting Union ($19.8 million). Network 10/Australia ($10.6 million), T.V. New Zealand ($500,000), Kanlaon Broadcasting System of Philippines ($400,000) and the Los Angeles Olympic Japan Pool ($16.5 million).
A limited number of major corporations will enter partnership agreements with the LAOOC. This partnership arrangement is known as an Official Sponsorship, whereby the corporation agrees to support the Games by providing money and material goods and services necessary for the operation of the 1984 Olympics. In return, these sponsors have the right to use symbols of the 1984 Games in their advertising and marketing including the Star-in-Motion logo of the 1984 Games and Sam the Olympic Eagle, Official Mascot of the 1984 Olympic Games. In contrast with recent Olympic Games that have had hundreds of Official Sponsors, in 1984 they will number no more than 35, marking a significant reduction in the commercialism of the Olympics.
The estimated operating budget of the 1984 Games is $450-$500 million. The LAOOC expects to realize a surplus of revenues over expenditures. Organized amateur athletics in the United States will be the beneficiaries of the LAOOC's remaining assets, to be distributed as follows: 40 percent to the United States Olympic Committee; 40 percent to amateur sports in Southern California; 20 percent to the United States Olympic Committee for distribu-

[[image- black and white headshot of a man]] 
MAYOR TOM BRADLEY
204