British Olympic and Paralympic associations to launch OTT platform

The British Olympic and Paralympic governing bodies will unite to launch a new OTT broadcast platform after the Tokyo 2020 Games. 

The upcoming dedicated service will host live event coverage, behind the scenes footage and interviews backed by a group of leading National Governing Bodies which have partnered with UK Sport, the British Olympic Association (BOA) and British Paralympic Association (BPA).

The collective has appointed former BBC and Discovery director Dominic Coles as the chair of the newly incorporated GB Sport Media, the organisation that will manage and take the rights to the platform to market.

Coles will be responsible for driving negotiations with broadcast and media platforms, and publishers, while the delivery of GB Sport Media is taken to a competitive market tender.

The platform will be home to more than 2,600 hours of content across 26 sports, and will include rights such as domestic British Championships, national and regional competitions, all of which will be supplemented by international competition following agreement with several international federations to secure non-exclusive rights.

In a statement, Coles said: “I am delighted and honoured to be asked to lead this exciting and ground-breaking new venture, transforming the coverage of the some of the best of British sport.

“I have been privileged to have worked with Olympic and Paralympic sports throughout my career at both the BBC and Discovery, and to have helped bring Team GB and ParalympicsGB’s remarkable achievements in recent Games to our screens.

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“Now, for the first time, there will be a single destination for many of these sports between Games, giving fans the opportunity to continue to follow their heroes and rising stars as they compete for domestic and international honours.”

The project has been in the making for two years according to the announcement the concept has also been developed in conjunction with advertising network Omnicom Group, led by their sports consultancy, Fuse.

British Rowing chief executive and Nominations Committee for GB Sport Media chair Andy Parkinson commented: “It is fantastic to see this ground-breaking project go to the next stage with the appointment of Dominic.

“Over the past two years National Governing Bodies have come together with the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association to work collaboratively to provide sports fans with a home for Olympic and Paralympic sport.

“Dominic’s skill, expertise and in-depth knowledge of the broadcast and media sector means we are able to now seek partners to make our plans a reality and drive more value out of our collective media rights.”

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