NBC today signed a $7.65B deal with the IOC to keep the rights to the Olympic Games through '32. The deal was announced today following a signing ceremony at the IOC HQ in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is the first major TV agreement struck by IOC President Thomas Bach, who was elected last fall, and it comes on the heels of NBC generating $1.1B in revenue off the '14 Sochi Games. Bach in a statement said, “This agreement is excellent news for the entire Olympic movement as it helps to ensure its financial security in the long term. ... We are thrilled we will continue to work with [NBC] through 2032.” In addition to agreeing to pay an average of $1.3B for six Olympics between '22-32, NBC committed a $100M signing bonus to be used by the IOC to promote the Olympics and Olympic values between '15-20. The IOC has not named the host cities for any of the Olympics that NBC committed to broadcast. Comcast Chair Brian Roberts said, “Our long-term commitment to and investment in the Olympic Movement are a reflection of our belief in the future of broadcast television, as well as our confidence that our partners at the IOC will continue to deliver great Games and that the Olympics will remain the world’s premier sports event.”
ALL IN THE DETAILS: The IOC typically holds an elaborate bidding process for its TV rights. It most recently did that in '11, and ESPN, Fox and NBC brass all traveled to Lausanne to pitch the IOC. NBC won the rights then with a $4.4B deal that covered the '14-20 Olympics. The new agreement, which represents a 15% increase on average per Games, was struck preemptively and is reminiscent of the agreement former NBC Sports Chair Dick Ebersol negotiated with the IOC in '00. He flew to a track competition in Sweden overnight and pitched then-IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch on the organization’s first billion dollar deal, a 56% increase over the prior agreement. They agreed in principal to the deal on the spot.
