The International Olympic Committee is inviting bids from pay-television broadcasters and agencies for Olympics rights in the UK beyond this summer’s London 2012 Olympic Games.
The IOC has set a June 29 deadline for bids for the UK rights covering at least the next two editions of the Games, in 2014 and 2016. The Daily Telegraph newspaper said UK public-service broadcaster the BBC – the long-term incumbent rights-holder for the event – will face a fight to retain its rights.
Pressure on the BBC to reduce spending on sports rights against the backdrop of a licence-fee freeze will make it more difficult for the IOC to secure a large rights fee increase in the UK.
The Olympics is reserved for free-to-air broadcasters in the UK by listed events legislation, but Olympic officials believe some sort of split of the rights between a free-to-air broadcaster and a pay-television broadcaster is still possible.
IOC president Jacques Rogge told the Daily Telegraph that listed events “was not a big issue,” in terms of limiting potential buyers. He said the 5,500 hours of television coverage of the summer Olympics would allow “for plenty of room for a public broadcast but still… interest from other companies who may buy most of other hours [sic] or niche events.”
Rogge also said: “Agencies could buy the rights. It is not necessarily limited to a broadcast company. But what we look for is the guarantee of the coverage and the quality.”
The IOC’s UK tender has offered companies the opportunity not only to bid for the 2014 winter Games in Sochi and the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but also to bid for the following two editions of the Games, in 2018 and 2020.
A deal is expected to be announced just before the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics on July 27.