Charles H. Lundquist College of Business Sports Marketing Faculty Member Chosen by National Media as Expert on China's Olympic Bid

When the debate raged in the media about whether the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should award Beijing, China the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, The New York Times turned to the Charles H. Lundquist College of Business for comment.

Presenting the "pros" and "cons" to Beijing's bid in the Sunday (July 8) "Back Talk" section of The New York Times, Sports Editor Neil Amdur tabbed Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Executive Director Rick Burton to square off against California Democratic Congressman Tom Lantos. Burton, who has traveled to China numerous times and taught classes in sports marketing at Fudan University, presented the argument supporting the Chinese city's selection.

"There are more than a billion people in China and the world's businesses are eager to go there. Ideally, the Olympics can serve as a symbolic invitation to the world that China is open for business and ready for diverse political and cultural thought," Burton said in the 700 word guest column. "It is why American Business schools constantly hammer home the concepts of 'global economy' and economies of scale. China is the ideal case study for sport and capitalism."

Burton's arguments didn't focus solely on business reasons why Beijing would be the logical choice instead of Istanbul, Osaka, Toronto, or Paris, but also addressed the human rights question.

"Rather than guessing at issues like human rights, pollution and political leanings, sport, in the form of the Olympics, would send a withering array of news media members to investigate China for the next eight years. For China to stonewall these visits would invite international scorn."

Apparently, IOC members agreed with Burton. Four days later they gave the city its seal of approval and selected Beijing as the host for the 2008 Games.

In addition to writing the guest column for The New York Times, Burton was also quoted about Beijing's bid in stories reported by National Public Radio, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The BBC, Bloomberg and ESPN.com. He also made a presentation to the China Institute in New York City about Beijing's Olympic bid.

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