Why does the Premiere League start up while the Olympics are underway?
The live rights are held by pay TV subscriptions who have very limited live content during the games so they really do need the football. The audience doesn't necessarily overlap that significantly.
Well, indeed, because Olympic football is an absolutely minor event in the grand scheme of things. As mentioned, virtually no Premier League players are involved due to the contrived format, and most football fans have no real interest in Olympic football, I certainly don't.
As also suggested, there simply isn't the time for the season to begin any later either. I do know that in 2000, Serie A didn't start until after the Olympics and so didn't get underway until October, and carried on until mid-June, but it's pretty much unworkable the rest of the time. There's plenty of other sport going on during the Games, England are still playing test matches and there are Grand Prix and so on. People can happily watch both. The Premier League also runs at the same time as many other sporting events every year, like the Ryder Cup.
Rights news...
Channel 4 will show the BDO World Darts championships, after the BBC threw the towel in at the of this years competition.
Although it is worth pointing out that the Beeb are still covering darts, but from the PDC, which is a much higher standard. Quality rather than quantity. I've said this before here but I haven't got a clue what C4's sporting strategy is or how it fits into their remit. I don't know how Formula One fitted given its appeal to mostly white middle-class men, hardly an underserved audience, and now there's darts. Popular with young BAME audiences, is it?