There's more verdant than gold at stake in the Winter Olympic Games.

There's more verdant than gold at stake in the Winter Olympic Games. General Electric Co.'s NBC which sustained loads of make-goods following subdued ratings for Sydney's 2000 Summer Games, is beneath enormous pressure to deliver sound ratings for the Salt Lake City games, held Feb 8-24 The stakes are stupendous for global sponsors such as McDonald's Corp. and Visa International, which paid an estimated $100 million apiece for 2000 to 2004 Olympic global marketing rights-not including advertising and promotional spending.

``This is going to be interesting,'' said a media buyer who asked not