Moist of the planet's inhabitants who have access to a television set will be watching the Sydney Olympic Games, according to viewing projections released by the IOC.

"Olympic coverage will be broadcast to practically the entire world and is expected to reach 3.7 billion of the 3.9 billion people in the world who have access to a television," the IOC modestly declared in a statement.

The sale of broadcasting rights fees for Sydney will provide the Olympic movement with $1.3 billion, a 49 per cent increase on Atlanta and 109 per cent more than they received at Barcelona. And the members do it all for the love of sport.