Richard Carrion, the chairman of the IOC's Finance Commission, made the admission here today as the dust began to settle on the decision to so spectacularly snub Chicago by eliminating them in the first round of voting with only 18 votes.

He said: "Obviously the domestic (US) Games would be more valuable."

US networks, including NBC, ABC-ESPN and Fox, were expected to enter a bidding war for combined rights to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and a 2016 Chicago Games.

But Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox, warned last month that they would bid only if Chicago were awarded the Games because he claimed they were over-valued.

NBC paid $2.2 billion (£1.3 billion) for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and 2012 London Games.

The IOC gets more than half its revenue from broadcasting deals, and US deals alone have been worth more than the rest of the world's broadcasters combined.

In 1995, NBC had obtained the rights to five Olympics from 2000 to 2008 in a pair of deals worth a total of $3.5 billion (£2.3 billion).

Carrion, an IOC Executive Board member from Puerto Rico, said the timing of US negotiations was not dictated by the vote on Friday and that there was no rush to open the negotiations. 
 
He said: "We have plenty of time and it doesn't have to be in 2010.

"We could conceivably do a deal as late as 2012.

"I've always said it's more a matter of where the economy is heading rather than the selection of the host city."

Carrion claimed he did not expect the Olympic's popularity to suffer a backlash from American viewers and advertisers after the manner of Chicago's defeat.

He said: "It's still a premium brand.

"I would not read much into it that they were eliminated in the first round."

Just 18 of 97 IOC voters supported Chicago despite personal pleas in the final presentation Friday from President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

Carrion said: "I don't think this will affect the television discussions.

"This is a competition like any competition.

"But there is only one gold medal, and no silver and bronze."

He said Rio's time zone, one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time in New York City, was "not bad" for the American market.

NBC, majority owned by the Olympic TOP sponsor General Electric sold more than $1 billion (£540 million) in commercial time during the Olympics, and notched record viewership, largely thanks to swimmer Michael Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals.


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