Not Just Horsing Around

Every Olympic Games, it seems, has its breakout TV sport.
You know, the event that turns into a bit of a cult hit, if you will, for viewers. Remember, for example, the way curling's ratings startled the bigwigs at NBC during the Salt Lake Winter Games back in 2002?
(of course, we Canadians always knew better about the roaring game, didn't we?).
To hear a Peacock Network executive tell it, equestrian sports could spin a similar tale when it gets widespread exposure as part of NBC's 2,200 hours of live Beijing Games coverage on NBCOlympics.com.
"Some of the early returns we've seen already for equestrian content have been through the roof," Perkins Miller, vice-president of digital media for NBC Sports & Olympics, told Sports Business Daily.
Miller added "we expect soccer and tennis to do very well and wrestling, I think, is really going to open some people's eyes. Track cycling, too."
More than 20 Olympic "niche sports" will be featured as part of NBC's Internet offering. Meaning even more surprises are possible.
"It's, of course, hard to know exactly what's going to take off," Miller told SBJ. "But with the structure we have, the stories of the Olympians wherever they are will be showcased."