The criticism comes from Michael Payne, the former marketing chief for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) who is widely recognised as having transformed the finances of the Games.

 

Payne says that the Davies Report’s recommendation to "de-list" the Winter Olympics is ill-informed, unrealistic and not based on any likely bidding procedure.

 

"If the IOC was ever to try to sell the rights for the Winter Games separately from the Summer Olympics, then there might be a point," Payne told insidethegames, "but that does not seem likely to happen, for good commercial reasons."

 

The work of the Davies working group, which took nine months to put together its 110-page report, has already been criticised by organisations as disparate as the BBC, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Scottish Football Association (SFA).

 

On Sunday, insidethegames reported how, despite receiving evidence that recommended keeping the Commonwealth Games on the "Crown Jewels" protected list, Davies's report recommended de-listing the Commonwealth Games, at a potential cost to the 2014 organisers of up to £20 million.

 

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was due to issue the response to the Davies Report from Ben Bradshaw, the Secretary of State, last Friday.

 

A spokesman for the DCMS did not give a reason for the delay in issuing the Minister’s response, which triggers the start of a formal three-month consultation period.

 

One source involved with winter sports described the suggestion to de-list the Winter Olympics as "deeply disappointing", since it would adversely affect the profile enjoyed by winter sports if the Games were not available free-to-air, as they have been through the BBC for nearly 50 years.

 

No television agreement for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics has yet been settled in Britain, but the IOC is in negotiations with the BBC for a free-to-air package for both the Sochi and Rio de Janeiro Games.

 

The IOC has already secured deals in Spain (with TVE), Italy (with Rupert Murdoch-owned Sky Italia) and Turkey (with Fox Turkey, another Murdoch-owned broadcaster) for 2014 and 2016 jointly, including minimum guarantees of at least 200 hours of free-to-air programming from the Summer Olympics.

 

An IOC spokesperson confirmed that his organisation would continue to seek four-year TV rights and commercial deals.

 

"It is something that works very well for us," the Lausanne official said.

 

Lying behind that is the view that the Winter Games TV rights would not attract as much revenue unless they came as part of a package with the Summer Games.

 

Payne (pictured) does not believe that the Davies Report's recommendation to de-list the Winter Olympics would create competition among bidders.

 

"In this particular case, I would not hold my breath for there to be a terrific amount of competition," he said.

 

"How is a broadcaster who doesn't have a major sports department realistically going to enter into the bidding for a concentrated, multi-sport Games which occurs over a period of just a few days just once every four years?

 

"It is not like bidding for football or cricket, where you can build your audience over the course of a series of matches during a season.

 

"I am not sure how much competition there would be in the bidding.

 

"The IOC has always leveraged the rights for the Winter Games on the back of the Summer Games, and I don't see that about to change any time soon." 

 

Steven Downes, a former editor of TV Sports Markets, has won awards for his written and television work, including the Royal Television Society award for sports news
 

 

 

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