NBCUniversal and the International Olympic Committee have extended their partnership through the 2032 Olympic Games.
The network now has the next nine Games locked up across all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile.
The agreement from 2021 to 2032 is valued at $7.65 billion, plus an additional $100 million signing bonus “to be used for the promotion of Olympism and the Olympic values between 2015 and 2020,” according to an IOC release.
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In 2011, NBCU had acquired the right to broadcast the Olympic Games until 2020, including Rio in 2016, PyeongChang in 2018 and Tokyo in 2020. The host cities through 2032 have yet to be elected.
In addition, NBCU also has acquired the broadcast rights for every edition of the Youth Olympic Games through to 2032. By 2032, NBCU will have covered a total of 23 editions of the Olympic Games, since its first Games broadcast in Tokyo in 1964.
IOC President Thomas Bach, who led the negotiations, said in a statement: “This agreement is excellent news for the entire Olympic Movement as it helps to ensure its financial security in the long term, in particular future host cities of the Olympic Games, the athletes of the 204 National Olympic Committees and the International Sports Federations.”
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In an internal NBCU memo, CEO Steve Burke called Wednesday, the day of the announcement, “one of the most important days in NBCUniversal history.”
Burke spoke about the growth in historical Olympic hours covered (“from 171 hours on one network in 1996 to more than 3,500 hours from London”) to ratings. “In 2014 we not only beat the combined primetime network competition by 45 percent in viewership, but also won every single night,” the NBCU chief boasted. “Not one competitive show beat the Sochi Olympics in primetime.”
“It is truly an honor for us to be entrusted with the Olympics every two years,” Burke concluded.