Sports, tourism, fans .. all good angles for the Olympics

Little more than a month remains until the Feb. 12 opening of the XXI Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

It hardly seems like four years have passed since the last Winter Olympics medal was awarded in Torino, Italy, but this year’s games will bring a nice lift to the February doldrums and can easily launch a few picturesque biz features in the meantime.

Here’s the official site of the Olympics movement; also features a lot of helpful information.  Keep in mind that the Paralypmics games will run in the same venues in March.

Obviously if your news organization is within striking distance of Vancouver you’ll likely have more local angles from which to choose than, say, a journalist in Miami.  But with a little creativity you can find a tie-in despite geographic hurdles.

Some ideas include:

Tourism. Angles would include local charters and package deals taking fans and athletes to the games, as well as any spin-off business your region might get from overseas tourists making the most of a trip to North America.  Maybe they’ll jaunt to New York City or Las Vegas or New Orleans after the games.

Here’s a site operated by the Pacific Northwest Economic Region that might point you to knowledgeable sources even if you’re working elsewhere.  You can also check with airlines in your region on the reservation status of Vancouver-bound flights, and with travel planning companies like Orbitz and Expedia.  I’d ask them how demand is from travelers in my market.

See if any collectibles are being produced or touted in your area, and how officials are planning to prevent licensed-merchandise fraud.

The business of sports.  Your sports department likely will cover any local ties to actual athletes, coaches, referees and other participants in the games themselves.  But you still can spin some biz stories out of the Olympics by looking at the state of training schools, camps and other local facilities that specialize in the same sports Olympic competitors will perform.

For example, how are local figure-skating schools and coaches faring in the current economy?  Are lessons being jettisoned from family budgets?  Same goes for local ski, amateur hockey and snowboarding venues.  How’s traffic; how are interest and participation levels holding up?  Groups, clubs, specialty publications – all might be grist for the business pages.

Don’t forget equipment sellers and other ancillary businesses.  How are sales holding up? What’s the latest in skate, ski or snowboard technology?  Any local engineers or inventors prominent on the equipment scene?  (Devices for Paralympians might be especially interesting; look for local prosthetic experts who specialize in helping amputees ski, for example.)  What’s new in the business of operating a ski lift, or maintaining an indoor ice arena?  What marketing and promotion campaigns are such facilities using?

And of course, any story about the business of sports practically screams for video, video and glitzy gold-medal graphics!