The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded all media rights in Europe for the four Olympic Games in the 2026-2032 period to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Following the IOC’s launch of a competitive tender in February 2022, the EBU and Warner Bros. Discovery presented a joint bid to acquire all media rights across 49 territories in Europe, including the UK.
The 2024 summer Olympics will be hosted in Paris, France. In 2028 they will be staged in Los Angeles in the United States and the 2032 Games will be in Brisbane, Australia.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will take place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, with the 2030 hosts still to be decided.
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.”
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.
The new agreement guarantees free-to-air reach for the Games through the EBU’s network of public service broadcasters, such as the BBC in the UK and France Télévisions in France. The vast majority of these public service broadcasters continued Olympic Games coverage across the past three Games in partnership with the IOC and Warner Bros. Discovery.
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Starting in 2026, the EBU will hold free-to-air rights on television and digital platforms. Every EBU Member will broadcast more than 200 hours of coverage of the Olympic 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, apps and social media platforms.
Under the new agreement, Warner Bros Discovery 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.
Welcoming the agreement, Delphine Ernotte Cunci, President of the EBU and CEO of France Télévisions, said: “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.”
Noel Curran, the EBU’s Director General, added: “Sport should be for everyone. We need public service media to bring audiences together to enjoy big national moments, to inspire the next generation of athletes and to grow fanbases for new and emerging sports.
“No other media brand can guarantee so much multi-platform exposure to so many people. This deal just highlights the incredible power of public service media when we all pull together.”
Andrew Georgiou, President & Managing Director, 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.”
For the past three editions of the Games, Warner Bros. Discovery oversaw broadcast partnerships with more than 45 free-to-air partners and EBU Members.
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