Bidding on the Olympics

Case Study Prompt

Our client, a major TV Network, wants to know how much to bid on the TV rights for the 2030 Winter Olympic Games. Bid will need to be paid in 2024.

The amount of programming is as follows: 

• 16 days total
• Opening Ceremonies on a Friday: 8pm – 11pm
• 14 days of programming for 10 hours a day,  9am – 12 pm, 2pm – 5pm, and 7pm -11 pm M-F
• 11am – 9pm on the Weekends
• Closing Ceremony on the following Saturday from 8pm – 11pm

Additional information:

• This only includes the rights to U.S. programming, overseas programming is out of scope
• Assume they will only show the Olympics on their one flagship channel
• Olympic programming will replace regularly scheduled programming
• Prime Time is considered anytime after 7pm on a weekday, and all day during the weekends.

How much should they bid on the TV rights for the 2030 Winter Olympic Games? Remember that bid will need to be paid in 2024.

Case Study Overview

In this BCG case interview, your client is looking to you for guidance. They have the opportunity to score the 2030 Olympics but they need to know what to bid. It’s up to you to dive into the profitability of the case – weighing all the factors including revenue they may lose if they lock in the bid – and make a solid recommendation.

The Profitability Framework will prove very useful for this case, but don’t stop there. The best candidates combine frameworks and their own business acumen to create a custom structure specific to the case.

There are no math exhibits in this case. The qualitative difficulty is 3 out of 4, making this a more advanced case interview you would likely find in a second round BCG interview.

BCG Interview Tips

BCG is looking for candidates that can bring structure to the table and can talk about how they built the structure.

When going through the case, make sure that your structure is crystal-clear, and that you verbalize every part of your process. Don’t focus as much on the actual answer, but on how you got to the answer.

To get the most out of this case, focus on the following:

• Time yourself. Spend 4 minutes to build and present your structure, 2 minutes for brainstorming, and 2 minutes for a final recommendation.
• Refine your communication and polish as you present.

Book an hour with an ex-MBB coach for out-loud case practice with an expert.