UK’s BBC has lost the rights to broadcast the Olympic Games in Europe from 2022 to Discovery which will air the games on its Eurosport channel. The deal will be effective for most of Europe from 2018, and in France and the UK from 2022. BBC has helped televise the Games in one capacity or another since 1948 but the new deal means that it may have to take a backseat from 2020 onwards.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that it has struck a £922 ($1.45 billion) million deal with Discovery for the rights to the 2018-2024 Summer and Winter Games, meaning Eurosport will now become the default place for all things Olympics related. Discovery and Eurosport confirmed they will develop a new Olympic TV Channel across Europe. If the BBC still wants to broadcast the Olympics in future it will now have to negotiate with its arch-rival Discovery. But even if the BBC is ultimately able to sub-license some of the rights, it will no longer be able to market itself as the home of the Olympics across all platforms.
[blockquote cite=”David Zaslav, CEO, Discovery Communications” type=”left”]“Today is a historic day as we proudly add the Olympic rings to Discovery Communications’ portfolio of offerings. The long-term programming commitment with [IOC] President [Thomas ] Bach and the IOC reaffirms Eurosport’s position as the leader in sports across Europe, and will significantly enhance Eurosport’s presence on all platforms” [/blockquote]
This deal is yet another blow for the BBC, which has seen a number of high-profile sporting events, including golf’s British Open Championship and a large share of Formula 1 coverage, stolen away in recent years. For decades, it’s marketed itself as the UK home of the Olympics, but in the coming years it won’t be able to do that. For Discovery, it signals its intent to deliver more of the world’s biggest sporting events. After acquiring Eurosport in May 2014, the company sought to enter the bidding for Premier League TV rights, but ended up leaving Sky and BT to spend a record £5.14 billion to deliver live coverage from now until the 2018/19 season.
Historical partnership between the IOC & @Discovery. Olympics will be on @Eurosport in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024 pic.twitter.com/5vuKgdTjdZ
— arnaud simon (@arnaudsimon) June 29, 2015
The 2016 Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and the 2018 Winter Olympics will be Pyeongchang, South Korea, while 2020’s event will take place in Tokyo, Japan.
The host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics will be announced at the end of July.
[blockquote cite=”Thomas Bach, President, International Olympic Committee ” type=”left”]”This is a significant agreement for Discovery and the IOC, and we are excited to have Eurosport, the pan-European home of Olympic sports, as a partner. This agreement ensures comprehensive coverage of the Olympic Games across Europe, including the guarantee to provide extensive free-to-air television coverage in all territories” [/blockquote]
