NBCU Retains Olympic Games Rights

NEW YORK/LAUSANNE: NBCUniversal has reached a deal with the International Olympic Committee to broadcast the Olympic Games in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020, for $4.38 billion.

NBCU has been the long-time home of the Olympics in the U.S.; by 2020, the company will have covered a total of 17 editions of the games, beginning in 1964. The new deal covers the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as well as the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games, which have yet to be awarded to a host city. NBCU has acquired the broadcast rights across all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile. NBCU already has a deal in place to cover the 2012 Olympics from London. In its new bid, it beat out proposals from ESPN and News Corp.

“We are delighted to have reached an agreement with our longstanding partner NBCU,” said Jacques Rogge, the president of the IOC. “We received three excellent bids and would like to thank each broadcaster for their presentations. In the end we were most impressed with NBCU, which not only has a track record for broadcasting the Games that speaks for itself, but also has a clear and innovative vision of where it wants to take the broadcast of the Games between now and 2020. We look forward to continuing to build on our already strong relationship beginning in London next year.”

“We had an obligation to pick the best bid on behalf of the entire Olympic Movement,” said IOC Executive Board member Richard Carrión. “We assessed each bid against a thorough set of criteria and believe that the long-term nature of this agreement will not only ensure fantastic Olympic broadcast coverage in the U.S., but also support the long-term financial stability of the Olympic Movement as a whole. NBCU has proven its worth time and again over the years and we’re very excited to continue working with them.”

Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of NBCU parent Comcast, commented, "We are honored to continue as the U.S. Olympic broadcaster for the remainder of this decade. The vision for our new Comcast-NBCUniversal was to create new platforms and technologies to distribute the very best content. Every two years the Olympic Games provides iconic content for us to deliver on all platforms. We are proud to continue the rich heritage and long association that NBC has had with the IOC and I personally want to thank President Rogge and Richard Carrión for their long-term trust."