Olympic Games

Political turmoil, arguments over price and the beginning of Turkish Süper Lig negotiations has created a logjam in the Turkish sports-rights market, badly affecting rights-holders including the International Olympic Committee and the English Premier League.

Pay-television broadcaster SportsMax approximately doubled the value of the Olympics in the Caribbean in order to win rights to the 2018 and 2020 Games.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has recouped CNY200m (€27.3m/$30m) of its outlay on the Rio Olympics in digital rights deals this week.

Czech public-service broadcaster Česká Televize acquired rights to the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games from Discovery Communications this week, paying substantially more than the value of the 2014 and 2016 Games in the country.

An eight-Games deal with Brazilian media group Globo has helped the International Olympic Committee lock in the gains of Rio 2016 for the long-term.

Many of Europe’s public-service broadcasters are likely to provide a similar amount of linear coverage of the Olympic Games from 2018 compared to previous editions, despite having lost out on the rights to Discovery Communications.

Canadian public-service broadcaster CBC paid a small increase to extend its deal with the International Olympic Committee to cover the 2022 and 2024 Games.

Interview with Timo Lumme, the International Olympic Committee’s director of television and marketing, on Olympics rights deals signed in Asia, Mena and sub-Saharan Africa.