Newswise — Sports management professor Stephen Dittmore, who was a staff member for the 1996 and 2002 Olympics, comments on changes in the Olympics, including the need for the International Olympic Committee to consider the impact of increasing professionalism:
"For a long time, the Olympics were strictly for amateurs. Now the games embrace professionalism, and I think the IOC needs to consider the long-term impact this has on the Olympic Games. For athletes in sports such as skiing, luge, and figure skating, for example, competing in the Olympics may be the pinnacle of their careers. But for sports like ice hockey in the winter and tennis in the summer, the Olympics seem like another competition.
“The NHL is reconsidering its involvement in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and I think that would certainly hurt the ability of the IOC to secure premium revenues from media rights and sponsorships."
In addition to academic publishing, Dittmore, assistant professor of recreation and sports management at the University of Arkansas, maintains a blog at http://stevedittmore.wordpress.com/.
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