Beijing Games could break records

Opening ceremony may reach over 1 billion

By CLIFFORD COONAN

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The Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony on Aug. 8 could become the first sporting event to attract more than 1 billion viewers, according to research company Initiative Sports Futures.

The world's most-watched sporting event in 2007 was the Super Bowl, with an average of 97 million viewers tuning in at any one time during the football game, according to Initiative. By comparison, the final of soccer's 2006 World Cup in Germany drew an average live audience of 260 million.

Beijing's Olympic organizers will hold the first dress rehearsal of the 3½-hour opening ceremony on June 10 at the National Stadium. Event is helmed by Zhang Yimou and assisted by Steven Spielberg; Australian Ric Birch, director of the opening and closing ceremonies at the Sydney Games in 2000; and Yves Pepin, president of French company ECA2, artistic consultants for the ceremony.