Pic: Getty
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that all media rights in Europe for the four Olympic Games in the 2026-2032 period have been awarded to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Following the IOC’s launch of a competitive tender, the EBU and Warner Bros. Discovery presented a joint bid to acquire all media rights across 49 territories in Europe for the XXV Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad Los Angeles 2028, the XXVI Olympic Winter Games in 2030 and the Games of the XXXV Olympiad Brisbane 2032, as well as for the Youth Olympic Games in the period.
Commenting on the award, IOC president Thomas Bach said: “We are delighted to have reached a long-term agreement with two of the world’s leading media companies. The EBU and its members provide unparalleled broadcast expertise and reach across Europe, and Warner Bros. Discovery, through the recent combination of Warner Media and Discovery, represents one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies across all programming genres and platforms. It demonstrates the ongoing appeal of the Olympic Games across Europe. As the IOC redistributes 90% of the revenues it generates, this long-term agreement also provides critical financial stability to the wider sporting movement and ultimately supports the athletes themselves”.
The first IOC partnership with the EBU and its members dates back to 1956. In 2015, the IOC partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery across Europe for the 2018-2024 Olympic Games.
This new agreement guarantees FTA reach for the games through the EBU’s network of public service broadcasters, the vast majority of which continued Olympic Games coverage across the past three games in partnership with the IOC and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Starting in 2026, the EBU will hold FTA on television and digital platforms. Every EBU member will broadcast more than 200 hours of coverage of the Olympic Summer Games and at least 100 hours of the Olympic Winter Games on TV, with a broad range of radio coverage, live streaming and reporting across web, app and social media platforms.
Welcoming the agreement, Delphine Ernotte Cunci, president of the EBU and CEO of France Télévisions, added: “We’re proud to have secured the Olympic Games for audiences to enjoy free to air until 2032. This deal is a game-changer for public service media and demonstrates the abiding strength and solidarity of our Union.
“Through its members, the EBU has the potential to reach over 1 billion viewers across Europe via linear and non-linear platforms. And that’s why I’m so pleased to welcome this partnership with the IOC and Warner Bros. Discovery, which will ensure the Games will be available to the widest possible audience across Europe”.
For Warner Bros. Discovery, the announcement extends its position as “Home of the Olympics in Europe” and follows record audiences and digital viewership growth across the past three Olympic Games, with the Olympic Games Paris 2024 ahead. Under the new agreement, it will continue to be the only place to present “every moment” of the Games on its streaming and digital platforms, such as its leading sports and entertainment streaming service discovery+, and hold full pay-TV rights, including for its owned and operated Eurosport channels.
Commenting on the continuation of their partnership with the IOC, Andrew Georgiou, president and MD for Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “As the ‘Home of the Olympics in Europe’ for the last three Olympic Games, we are pleased to be extending our relationship with the IOC through 2032. Ahead of what promises to be a magnificent Olympic Games Paris 2024, we are delighted that Warner Bros. Discovery will remain the only place where fans can get every moment of the following four Olympics
“We are grateful to be partnering with the EBU and its members on the next stage of our Olympic journey, extending our commitment made together with the IOC in 2015 to reach more people through broad-reaching and accessible coverage. Viewers throughout Europe will continue to have extensive choice and the ability to access the games across multiple platforms, setting an outstanding foundation to build on the record audience and engagement delivered for Europe for the past three games”.
