Believe it or not, the Summer Olympics are supposed to start in a little over two months in Tokyo. Amidst a sluggish vaccine rollout and growing COVID-19 case counts, negative feedback towards the Games continues to grow in the host country.
But despite the worrying trends in Japan, one entity doesn’t seem at all concerned that the Olympics won’t happen.
NBC, which owns the broadcast rights to the Olympics in the US, isn’t publicly worried about another postponement (or cancellation). In fact, during Monday’s upfronts, NBC pressed forward with business as usual regarding the Olympics, per Deadline.
“NBC will be bringing all of it to America,” declared Mike Tirico today at the 2021 virtual NBCUniversal upfronts presentation. Pitching hard for an Olympics that is just over two months away from starting, NBC Sports’ top frontman listed off an arsenal of NBC Sports programming coming over the next year, including a Super Bowl being played right in the middle of a Winter Olympics for the very first time.
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Promising to be “super sizing our summer” off the rescheduled XXXII Olympiad top executive Susan Rovner leaned in strong in the opening minutes of the presentation to the Games occurring.
Noting that the Comcast-owned media giant has both the postponed summer games and the Beijing-hosted Winter games, plus LA-set Super Bowl LVI in February 2022, the Chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming displayed no hesitation in telling Today co-host Hoda Kotb that the Olympics would launch as planned and provide hefty launch pads for NBCU programming.
I understand the need for optimism, but whether or not the Olympics actually happen this summer isn’t an NBC decision, and maybe the network should publicly hedge their bets a bit more.
NBC also announced a pre-Olympics special starring the Jonas Brothers, because why the hell not?
The Olympic torch is Burnin' Up because they're going for the gold! 🔥 “Olympic Dreams Featuring @jonasbrothers” premieres Wednesday, July 21 at 8/7c on NBC! 🥇 pic.twitter.com/neCXHzVe3A
— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) May 17, 2021
And then there’s the issue of the Winter Olympics in Beijing next February, which are faced with a boycott thanks to China’s deplorable actions towards Tibet, Hong Kong, and Uyghurs regionally. NBC burying its head in the sand regarding those games won’t win over any fans outside of China and the IOC.
But hey, aside from all that…things are going great with the Olympics!
[Deadline]
