EXCLUSIVE It could be like the Olympics without the torch.
With about 10 months until opening ceremonies, the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee and broadcaster NBC are scrambling to find a new sports Web partner to replace Quokka Sports, which announced last week that it is shutting down.
Like many sports sites, Quokka had been on life support for months. Even before its abrupt shuttering, the peacock network had been entertaining offers from Web publishers interested in providing a series of official sites for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, which open in February in Salt Lake City. As many as 15 prospective partners have been interviewed, and NBC hopes to name a new Web site provider within two weeks, according to people familiar with the discussions both at the network and at the prospective partners.
In order to attract a partner willing to take on the task, NBC is reportedly waiving the rights fee that it would normally charge, the sources said. But it does expect the new partner to spend between $5 million and $7 million to build and maintain the sites.
The inducement could prove lucrative. Because NBC will push traffic to the site from its Olympic broadcasts, there's as much as $10 million in potential advertising revenue to be had, though some of it will be split with NBC.
Front-runners in the discussions, which cover rights for NBCOlympics.com and Saltlake2002.com, include Yahoo, MSN, AOL and its CNN/SI sports site, along with Ignite Sports Media, which does many NFL and NHL team sites. SportsLine also has been in talks with NBC.
Conspicuously absent is ESPN, the most popular of sports sites and one with experience operating sites for the NFL, NBA and Nascar. However, ESPN Internet Group is currently operating under a Disney-wide austerity program that has most new business ventures on hold. In the interim, the SLOOC is operating the SaltLake2002.com site, along with Logictear, at its own expense.
Quokka, which has told its former partners that it will file for bankruptcy soon, isn't the only sports site to run into trouble. Since the beginning of the year, Broadband Sports, MVP.com, Rivals.com and UltimateBid.com have also closed their doors, while SportsLine recently laid off 20 percent of its staff.
