How much of the Winter Olympics in Sochi did you watch? And how -- on a television, tablet, desktop computer, or phone -- did you watch them?

    It's the second question that may prove more important to NBC (CMCSA). The way we consume broadcast sports is evolving rapidly, but regardless of how we'll tune in to Olympic events or highlights in 18 years, executives at "the Peacock" are confident that we will still tune in. So confident, in fact, that they spent $7.75 billion this week to extend the network's exclusive coverage of the event until 2032.

    Yes, that's 18 years from now -- though many news stories playing up the length of the deal fail to acknowledge that it's really just a 10-year extension of NBC's $4.38 billion contract, inked in 2011, to cover the Olympic Games through 2020. That was a four-event (Sochi, Rio, Pyeongchang, Tokyo), nine-year deal, and a record one at that -- the most expensive rights deal in the history of the Olympics. The new extension, at 10 years and including six Games (three in the summer, three in the winter) and at higher cost, tops that.

    But is it the longest duration sports-broadcast deal ever? The answer is no -- but it's close. In 2010, CBS and Turner Sports coughed up for a 14-year, $10.8 billion deal with NCAA to broadcast the NCAA men's basketball tournament. That's more years, and more money, than this NBC gambit. Last year, ESPN (DIS) signed an 11-year deal to show U.S. Open tennis exclusively, starting in 2015. That deal is longer than NBC's new Olympic extension, but the cost isn't comparable: $825 million. (Previously, CBS (CBS) had shown the U.S. Open since 1968; in 2011, it renewed its contract through 2014.)

    Today's NFL broadcast contracts are just barely shorter than NBC's Olympic extension. In 2011, NBC, Fox, and CBS all signed nine-year extensions of their NFL broadcast packages. Each network had rights through 2013 and extended those rights to 2022. The NFL was making nearly $2 billion a year, in total, from its deals with those three networks, and those fees went up with the new round of contracts. Those renewals were the longest agreements for NFL rights in television history, besting the eight-year deals that CBS, Fox, and ABC had signed for 1998 to 2005.

    And there have been longer-lasting relationships than the one between NBC and the Olympic Games. CBS, for example, has been the primary broadcaster of PGA Tour events since 1970. It has shown The Masters ("A tradition like no other" is the network's oft-repeated, hallowed slogan) every single year since 1956. (But The Masters operates only on one-year contracts.) NBC has only been the home of the Olympics since 1988 (for the Summer Games) and 2002 (for the Winter Games).

    The fact that NBC was so game to own coverage of the Games until 2032 shouldn't be a shock. Much of this is about branding and reputation; NBC sees value in being the sole network associated with them, even though it has often been a losing business proposition: The network lost $223 million on the 2010 Vancouver Games, and only broke even on the 2012 London Games. (The Sochi Games this past winter turned a profit, though a Businessweek headline jokingly called the profit "bronze at best.")

    索契冬季奥运会期间，你观看了多少场赛事？你是通过什么途径观看的？通过电视、平板电脑、台式机还是智能手机？

    对于美国全国广播公司(NBC)来说，第二个问题或许更加重要。我们消费体育转播的方式正在迅速演变，但无论我们在18年后采用什么方式观看奥运赛事或精彩时刻，“孔雀”公司（孔雀为NBC台标——译注）的高管们相信我们依然会收看。事实证明，他们很有信心。就在上周，NBC斥资77.5亿美元，将这家广播电视网拥有的奥运会独家报道权延长到了2032年。

    是的，2032年距现在还有18年，但许多竭力渲染这笔交易所涉时间长度的新闻报道都没有指出一个事实：它仅仅是把当前转播合同往后延续了10年。NBC曾于2011年投资43.8亿美元，购买了截至2020年的奥运会独家转播权。2011年签署的转播权合同涉及4届奥运会（索契，里约热内卢，平昌和东京），时长9年，并创下了一项纪录——奥运会历史上最昂贵的转播权交易。这笔新展期合同的涵盖期限为10年，包括6届奥运会（3届夏季，3届冬季），交易价格也大大超过前者。

    但它是不是有史以来持续时间最长的体育转播交易呢？答案是否定的，但它已经非常接近。2010年，哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS)与特纳体育公司(Turner Sports)咬紧牙关，与全美大学生体育协会(NCAA)签署了一项为期14年，价值108亿美元的男子篮球锦标赛转播合同。相较于NBC的奥运转播权交易，这笔合同的时间更长，成本更高。去年，ESPN签署了一项从2015年开始生效、为期11年的美国网球公开赛(U.S. Open)独家转播权合同。这笔交易比NBC新签署的奥运转播权展期合同更长，但成本没有可比性，仅为8.25亿美元。（自1968年以来，美网的转播权一直归CBS所有；2011年，这家广播电视网将转播合同续签至2014年。）

    当前的全美橄榄球联盟(NFL)转播合同只比NBC的奥运转播权展期合同短一点点。2011年，NBC、福克斯电视网(Fox)和CBS相继把各自的NFL转播权合同延长了9年，延续至2022年。它们此前拥有截止2013年的转播权。NFL现在每年能够从这三家电视网身上获取合计20亿美元的转播权销售收入，新一轮合同进一步推升了转播费用。这些新展期合同是电视史上持续时间最长的NFL转播权交易，CBS, Fox和美国广播公司(ABC)此前曾签署过一项为期8年（1998年至2005年）的转播权合同。

    事实上，比NBC的奥运会之恋更为持久的转播合作关系一直存在。比如，自1970年以来，CBS一直是职业高尔夫巡回赛(PGA Tour)的主要转播机构。从1956年开始，这家电视网每年都在转播美国名人赛(The Masters）——CBS经常重复一个神圣的口号：“这是一项无可比拟的传统赛事”。但美国名人赛每次只给予转播方一年的合同。而自从1988年（夏季奥运会）和2002年（冬季奥运会）以来，NBC一直在转播奥运赛事。

    NBC一举拿下直至2032年的奥运会独家转播权，的确是勇气可嘉的大手笔，但我们完全没必要大惊小怪。此举在很大程度上是出于品牌和声誉的考虑；NBC深知作为奥运会独家转播机构的价值，就算它往往是一笔亏损的生意：转播2010年温哥华冬奥会让这家电视网亏损了2.23亿美元，到了2012年伦敦奥运会，它也只是收支相抵。去年冬天的索契奥运会终于开始盈利，但《商业周刊》(Businessweek )的一则头条新闻以戏谑的口吻写道，那点利润“充其量也只是个铜牌”。

    NBC's extension is great news for U.S. viewers because it may increase the likelihood that one of the Games between 2020 and 2032 will be in the United States. (There is currently no location set for the Games after the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.) Steven Cohn, the editor of Media Industry Newsletter, says that there's no guarantee the International Olympic Committee will do NBC any favors, but the network is still likely counting on it. "Hopefully the IOC will help them out," Cohn says. "I think it's a pretty safe bet that one of those Games are going to be here in the U.S., either Winter or Summer in the next 15 years. But maybe not. It would be a huge help to NBC."

    Cohn points out that the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, could actually be an influence and indicator on future Olympic locations. "Rio is a good location for the World Cup because it's closer to the Eastern time zone," says Cohn. "But South Korea [where the 2018 Winter Games are] is not good."

    This leaves just one question: Did NBC overpay for its future Olympics coverage? It might look that way now, but there's no way to know for sure. No one knows how we'll watch live sporting events in eight years, much less in 18. But even if we won't be watching on a traditional TV screen, you can bet that NBC will do whatever it has to in order to provide access to the Games on every platform, whether that means creating new and better mobile apps or catering to some entirely new device. And NBC's bet is that the price of broadcast rights for the Olympic Games will continue to go up, and that it's getting a better deal now than in the future. A gold-medal business decision? We'll find out.

    对于美国观众来说，这项转播权展期合同是一则好消息，因为它可能会增加2020年至2032年之间某届奥运会在美国举办的可能性。（2020年东京夏季奥运会之后的奥运会主办国目前还没有确定。）传媒产业时事通讯(Media Industry Newsletter)编辑史蒂芬•科恩表示，谁也无法保证国际奥委会(International Olympic Committee)一定会帮NBC一把，但这家电视网很可能依然在指望这样的帮助。“但愿国际奥委会将帮助他们摆脱困境，”科恩说。“我认为在未来15年里，美国十有八九会主办一届冬奥会或夏奥会，但也不一定。如果美国真的能够获得主办权，那将给予NBC巨大的帮助。”

    科恩指出，即将在巴西里约热内卢开幕的2014年世界杯足球赛其实有可能成为确定未来奥运会主办国的一个影响因素和指标。“里约是一个举办世界杯的好地方，因为它更接近东部时区，”科恩说。“但韩国（2018年冬奥会主办国）就不那么好了。”

    现在只剩下一个问题：NBC开出的未来奥运会独家报道权价格是不是太高了？现在看似乎是这样，但我们无法肯定。没有人知道8年后我们将采用什么方式观看体育赛事直播，更遑论18年之后。不过几乎可以肯定的是，即使我们未来不会通过传统的电视屏幕收看比赛，NBC也会使出浑身解数，让奥运赛事进入每一个播出平台，无论这是否意味着要创造新的、更好的移动应用，还是要迎合某种全新的设备。NBC赌的是，奥运会转播权的价格将持续上涨，现在达成交易比未来再谈更划算。这是不是一个能够赢得金牌的商业决策？我们拭目以待。（财富中文网）

    译者：叶寒