Australia Olympic TV Rights Deal On Hold Until NRL Contract Is Negotiated

The IOC is holding off negotiating the next Olympic TV rights deal for Australia until "after the National Rugby League broadcasting deal is done," according to Glenda Korporaal of THE AUSTRALIAN. Foxtel and the Nine Network paid a reported $128M for the rights to broadcast the '10 Winter and '12 London Games. The IOC said that negotiations for the next rights package for the '14 Winter Games in Sochi and the '16 Summer Games in Rio de Janiero "have not yet begun." Seven Chair Kerry Stokes is "understood to be keen to win back the Olympic rights." But both Nine and Seven are "in a more difficult financial position" than they were when the last deal was struck in '07. IOC TV Marketing Services Managing Dir Timo Lumme said that "the IOC would wait until the end of the London Games." Lumme: "We want to see the rugby league deal done. That helps. That means clear air for us." Lumme "rejected the suggestion that the disappointing performance of the Australian team in London might adversely affect the price" of the next TV rights deal (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/9).