“There is clearly a Chicago/Rio coalition here, where a group of IOC members favored these two cities over the other two cities. In the first round, Madrid had the most votes; but once Chicago was eliminated, Rio took a commanding lead. The rise in 20 votes corresponds to receiving all the 18 Chicago votes, plus the addition of the two US delegates who were eligible to vote once Chicago was out. This coalition is a natural fit because both Chicago and Rio would both serve prime-time television markets in the US to maximize sponsorship revenue. From this perspective, it’s obvious that the Madrid and Tokyo never had a shot, and that it only took a few members of the tightly split coalition to be swayed one way or the other. If five members had changes their votes, it’s Rio who’s ousted in the first round, not Chicago.”
It didn’t occur to me how much of a win Rio is for NBC or whoever has the Olympics coverage for 2016.
