The Face of the Olympic Games

6:00 AM PDT 7/17/2012 by Marisa Guthrie

NBC has put $1.18 billion behind the London Games, and Bob Costas in front of them. Today one of sports' most powerful (and pugilistic) figures, he opens up about Jerry Sandusky, his dad’s gambling and the act of defiance he has planned.

On June 5, 2011, at the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, NBCUniversal presented a whopping $4.38 billion bid for four Olympic Games, the biggest rights package to date (by more than $2 billion) for the world's most popular sporting event. Bob Costas -- NBC's pre-eminent sportscaster, the primetime host of the Games since 1992 and the only on-air personality in the network's 19-person delegation -- was seated smack in the middle of the rectangular table formation, directly across from the IOC's autocratic president, Jacques Rogge. NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke introduced Costas, who spoke last.