Sportfive opens Olympic tenders in Eastern Europe

The Sportfive agency invited offers for the rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games in the Eastern European markets of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and the Ukraine. Bids must be submitted by 5pm central European time on April 2.

The International Olympic Committee appointed Sportfive to sell rights for the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2016 summer Games in Rio de Janeiro on a market-by-market basis across 40 European territories.

Sportfive replaced the European Broadcasting Union as the IOC’s rights distribution partner in the territories in February 2009 in a deal that guaranteed the governing body €250 million ($327.5 million). The EBU had held the rights since 1964.

The IOC has negotiated directly with Europe’s largest markets and has sold rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey. A deal has not yet been reached in the UK.