1. 2018 Winter Games
Fun Facts

2. 3
It took three attempts for the village of PyeongChang to wi the rights to host the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. After receiving two rejections in 2003 and 2007, the South Korean mountain village was voted a winner without a second round needed. Third time’s a charm!

3. 2
PyeongChang introduced 2 mascots for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic, “Soohorang”, a white tiger long considered Korea’s guardian animal (‘Soohoo’ means protection in Korean), and “Bandabi”, an Asiatic black bear (“Bi” stands for celebration of Games)

4. 35,000
The Olympic stadium built for the Pyeongchang Games has a seatingcapacity of 35,000. It will host the opening and closing ceremonies for both the Olympics and the Paralympic Winter Games (held in March)

5. 40,000
The motto of Pyeongchang county, which is home to 43,706 residents is "Happy" – which stands for: Health, Amusement, Peace, Party, and Young. Almost 10,000 of the county's residents live in the town of Pyeongchang.

6. 7,500
The Olympic Flame will crisscross its way throughout all of South Korea’s major cities, towns and regions before arriving in Pyeongchang in time for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Some 7,500 runners are to take part in the Olympic torch relay through the country.

7. 22,400
Over 22,000 volunteers have been enlisted at the different sites of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Almost 91,000 people from all around the world applied for those positions. Fourteen percent of applicants were from overseas.

8. 92
A record 92 different countries will compete in the 2018 Winter Games when the best athletes from all over the world head to PyeongChang, South Korea to compete in their respective winter sports

9. 3,000
Almost 3,000 athletes will compete for the medals at Pyeongchang, but a Russian team won't be among them – at least not officially. Following a ban on Russian athletes imposed by the International Olympic Committee over allegations of state-sponsored doping, Russians deemed to be clean are to compete under the designation "Olympic Athlete from Russia."

10. 15
The winter athletes will compete in 15 different sports, including the biathlon, bobsled, alpine skiing, cross country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, hockey, luge, nordic, speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping and snowboarding

11. 4
No new sports were added to the 2018 Winter Games programming, but 4 new events were added: Big Air in snowboarding, mass start in speed skating, mixed doubles in curling, and a team skiing event

12. $164,203
9,659 ounces of silver was used for both gold and silver medals. With silver prices currently trading around $17 an ounce and gold around $1,314 an ounce, the total value of all the medals is an estimated $164,203.

13. $37,500
For this year’s games, U.S. athletes who come home with the gold will get paid $37,500 per medal, up from the $25,000 payout during the Rio Games. A silver medal earns an athlete $22,500, while a bronze winner gets $15,000. Paralympic athletes will earn $7,500, $5,250 and $3,750 for gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

14. 12
A total of 12 venues will host all of the events of the Winter Games, divided between the mountain cluster in PyeongChang and the Coastal cluster in Gangneung (both areas are within a 30-minute drive from the Olympic Plaza)

15. 77%
Sales of the more than one million tickets for various Olympic events had been much slower than anticipated, but by mid-December almost half of them had been purchased and Olympic officials have suggested 77% have been sold with the Games just two days away

16. 826,000
The Olympic organizing committee says between 7,000 – 10,000 tickets are being sold daily (on average) with a total of around 826,000 tickets sold so far

17. $6,000
Ticket prices for the Opening Ceremony on StubHub were selling at a range of $400 to $6,000 for a front row seat

18. 5
The village of Uiyaji in the district of PyeongChang became the first village in the world to be equipped with 5G. It will allow the public to experiment with some innovations such as virtual reality and drones.

19. 1st
For the first time in broadcast history, viewers in all time zones in the United States will have access to live coverage of the games, instead of delays and replays

20. $12 B
The estimated cost of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics is around $12 billion, five times less than the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, which were reportedly the costliest ever

21. $40 B
The Hyundai Research Institute predicted that PyeongChang could benefit from as much as $40 billion in tourism spending and an additional one million foreign visitors every year for the next decade thanks to the Games (that figure has since been downgraded)

22. $7.75 B
In 2011, NBC agreed to a $4.38 billion contract with the IOC to broadcast the Olympics through the 2020 games, the most expensive television rights deal in Olympic history. NBC then agreed to a $7.75 billion contract extension in 2014 to air the Olympics through the 2032 games.

23. 706
NBC has deployed over 700 cameras to broadcast the PyeongChang Games to fans in many formats, including 4K and VR (content will also be streamed on all of NBC’s digital platforms)

24. $900 M
NBC Sports is on track to surpass $900 million in total ad revenue for the 18-day competition, topping the mid-$800 million it raked in during the Sochi Games in 2014

25. 8,000
In addition to NBC, the International Broadcast Centre (IBC), which will house more than 50 broadcasters and more than 8,000 personnel, and the Main Press Centre (MPC), the Games-time home to over 2,900 accredited media from around the world

26. $100 M
While terms of Olympic sponsorship are not disclosed, a source who negotiated previous IOC sponsorship deals said that top global sponsors like McDonald’s spend about $25 million a year or about $100 million for a four-year period that includes a summer and winter games.

27. $918 M
Olympic organizers have suggested that sales of domestic sponsorships have exceed $918 million, nearly $100 million more than their original sponsorship goal of $823 million

28. $0.00
McDonald’s, an Olympic sponsor, will carry on its tradition of serving athletes free food at the Olympics, offering its famous burgers and fries at two Olympic locations (including one restaurant that's shaped like a burger, fries, and a drink)

29. Discussion Questions

30. Discussion Questions
What type of news stories have you heard about the 2018 Winter Olympics leading up to the Games?
Were those stories positive, negative, or both? Did they influence your opinion of the Games in PyeongChang?
Do you plan to watch the Winter Games?

31. Discussion Questions
How do you think the publicity leading up to the Games might impact viewership for the Games?
Why would PyeongChang want to host the Olympic Games? Despite its costs, do you think it will be worth it?
Why do you think Olympic organizers care how many people tune in to watch the Winter Games? How about NBC?

32. Discussion Questions
What is sponsorship? Why do you companies sponsor mega-events like the Winter Olympics?
Why is sponsorship important to the Olympic Games?
Why do you think tickets for the game have not yet sold out? Do you think they will? Why or why not?

33. SOURCES USA Today CNN Associated Press WalletHub DW.Com
pyeongchang2018.com
AdWeek
CNBC
Reuters