Video games, new events planned by IOC in 2020+5 reforms

The International Olympic Committee last week approved a range of reforms to the Olympic movement and to its Games host bidding process, as its president Thomas Bach said they were required in a world ‘changed…in fundamental ways’ by the Covid-19 epidemic.

Among the more eye-catching plans are that the IOC will help international federations develop virtual versions of their sports, which will be considered for inclusion at future Olympic Games, and the creation of new multi-sport qualifier events. The reforms were approved at last week’s virtual IOC Session, the general assembly of IOC members.

A set of 15 reforms, building on the organisation’s existing Agenda 2020 reform project initiated in 2014, outlined priorities and early details of plans in areas including: continuing to attract the best athletes, creating new rights and responsibilities for athletes, using Olympics branding to raise the profile of qualifying events, creating video gaming ‘products and experiences’, remodelling the Olympics’ websites and online presence, and fostering the sustainability of Olympics Games events.

The IOC said the reforms would guide the Olympic movement for the next five years. Thomas Bach said the organisation would during this period begin operating in a world that would be hugely changed from that before the pandemic:

“The world will never again be like it was before. Even once we have finally overcome the health crisis, we will face the far-reaching social, financial, economic and political consequences…

“As leaders of the Olympic Movement, we must prepare ourselves for this new world. In order to shape our future, we need a vision of how this new world will look like.”

The IOC said the 15 reforms were built upon ‘robust research’ that had identified five trends “likely to be decisive” in the post-pandemic world:

– Solidarity – between countries and institutions

– Digitalisation – which creates both opportunities and ‘great risks’

Sustainability

– Credibility – in a time where there has been “a growing erosion of trust in governments, social institutions, business and organisations like the IOC”

– Economic and financial resilience with reference to repaying the debts being incurred during the pandemic and the need for the IOC to work with “similar purpose-driven companies…maximising not profit, but value for society at large”.

Also, at last week’s IOC Session, the committee said its members approved the new ‘targeted dialogue’ approach to appointing new Olympics hosts, which has manifested in the recent talks with Australian city Brisbane to host the 2032 Summer Games.

The IOC noted that the old process: “was like applying for a franchise with the IOC setting the conditions for the tender. Potential candidates wanting to outbid each other spent tens of millions in the process and, when not elected, were considered as losers at home and could not justify a future candidature. Some also faced ethical problems because of lobbying misconduct. As a result, there were fewer and fewer candidates and the IOC’s reputation suffered.”

Addressing the IOC Session, Bach said: “The new approach is focused on keeping costs to a minimum and it prevents undue influence and lobbying. Our revolution had immediate positive results. Soon after you approved the reforms in 2019, we received declarations of interest from more parties than we had seen for many, many years.”

Plans glimpsed

The documents that the IOC has published on the 2020+5 reforms give glimpses of a range of potentially significant and interesting plans.

Planned changes to the commercial activity of the IOC include the consideration of “alternative transmission methods, such as free digital, to complement traditional free-to-air television”. Free-to-air television is currently the backbone of Olympic Games media rights distribution around the world.

The IOC’s top-tier sponsorship programme, the TOP Programme, will seek “purpose-led partnerships recognising the role of sport as an important enabler for the Sustainable Development Goals”.

The committee notes the trend towards purpose-led marketing in recent years, saying it: “has become one of the most impactful tools for companies, institutions and rights-holders to position themselves to target audiences, with a focus on the ambitions, purpose and values of the company, rather than solely putting their products or services at the heart of their marketing strategy.”

A centralised Olympic hospitality programme is to be created, extending the reach of the IOC’s centralised commercial rights management, which currently covers media rights, the TOP sponsorship programme and certain licensing rights.

The IOC wants to explore the creation of new, multi-sports Olympic qualifying events in collaboration with international federations. The committee says: “These events, grouping sports by type or by culture (e.g. combat sports, urban sports), could also serve to build excitement for the Olympic Games”. It wants to introduce some of these events for the Paris 2024 qualification process.

More broadly, the IOC wants to develop the Olympic Games qualification process into something that is Olympics-branded and gives opportunities for athletes and other stakeholders to better communicate the Olympics connection. It says: “Today, there are very few opportunities to connect these events with the Olympic Games through branding and other initiatives. The Olympic and OCOG brands effectively have no visibility and therefore the Road to the Olympic Games is not as visible as it should be”.

New video games based on Olympic sports are planned. The IOC says it will “assist IFs to develop virtual and simulated forms of their sport”. The virtual versions of sports will even be considered for entry as events at future Olympic Games. The objective, says the IOC, is to encourage sports participation and promote Olympics values, particularly targeting young people.

The committee will also seek strategic partnerships with video gaming communities, and offer to support them with it experience in sports governance issues such as gender equality, mental and physical health, competition integrity and career transition.

The IOC suggests it is planning to remodel the Olympics website, including by adding the Olympic Channel – currently a separate website – as the central website’s video section in order to increase traffic to the latter. Currently separate Olympic Games websites and apps are to be merged into a “single Olympic platform” online. A separate IOC website, ioc.org, will be created “for the IOC as an institution featuring its work and programmes to deliver on its mission”.

IOC 2020+5 reforms

The full list of 15 reforms, which are set out in detail here, is:

– Strengthen the uniqueness and the universality of the Olympic Games

– Foster sustainable Olympic Games

– Reinforce athletes’ rights and responsibilities

– Continue to attract best athletes

– Further strengthen safe sport and the protection of clean athletes

– Enhance and promote the Road to the Olympic Games

– Coordinate the harmonisation of the sports calendar

– Grow digital engagement with people

– Encourage the development of virtual sports and further engage with video gaming communities

– Strengthen the role of sport as an important enabler for the UN Sustainable Development Goals