CAS, IOC, and the Research Center oh my! -Jeff Slawson

Our second day in Switzerland was probably our most meaningful day on this entire trip. We began our day by visiting the CAS (court of arbitration for sport), followed by the IOC (International Olympic Committee), and then finished it off with a visit to the Olympic Research Center. All of the places we visited gave us incredible insight into the business of not only the Olympics, but world wide organized sports as well. 

Brent Nowicki gave us our tour of the CAS as our first event. He went on to explain how the CAS is essentially an independent court system that works to resolve issues quickly for athletes. The problem that international athletes run into is that they will need an arbitration done quickly, because they need to be playing for the next day. They do not have time to wait for months or a year for a court date, they need quick results. The CAS will take a ruling that is being questioned by any sport that has an international federation, and then deliberate on the case to come to a conclusion within 24 hours. We were given examples of cases that they deal with such as player eligibility, and media rights. 

The CAS sees over 500 cases per year, and will deal with cases from sports like football (soccer for all you Americans) and curling. They are there to stand up for the athletes, and be an unbiased view. Unlike the NFL where the commissioner is the arbitrator, the CAS brings in three different "judges" to make the ruling more fair and controlled. 

After the CAS we ventured over to the IOC to have a presentation by the TMS (television, and marketing services). Holy acronyms. We are incredibly lucky to be given this opportunity as we are only one of about four schools in the world that are allowed to do this tour. In the presentation, we were briefed on the marketing strategy of the Olympics, and how they work to spread the brand of the Olympics. The interesting thing about the Olympics is that their brand is completely global. After learning about the work they do to complete the brand, we found out that the Olympic Rings logo is actually one of the most widely known logos in the world, and 93% of people recognize them, and their significance. 

We had the chance to speak to an Olympian who was at the Sochi 2014 Olympics for the women's bobsled who expertly told us what being an Olympian means. As an Olympian, Olympic Rings mean so much not only to the athletes or the individuals who work for the IOC, but to the world and competitive sports. These Olympians stand for hard work and determination, and for that short time are huge roll models to millions across the world. 

Once our time at the IOC was done, we went to the Olympic Research Center to take a look at their massive collection. All of the material they have, if it was laid out, would span over 1 km. Our tour guide thought it would be cool to grab some papers from when New York was lobbying for the Olympics, and happened to stumble upon a letter from then Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt with his signature at the bottom. The woman said this happens very often as only about 40% of the materials have been catalogued. I feel bad for the interns. 

Today was an absolutely exhausting day with an early wake up and a lot of guest speakers. Each speaker, however, gave us a different view of the Olympics. It's nice to see the Olympics as an actual business entity, instead of just games and medals.