Team USA enters the stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)
Warner Bros. Discovery Extends European Olympic Games Media Rights Through 2032
January 16, 2023
The International Olympic Committee Jan. 16 announced it has awarded Warner Bros. Discovery and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) exclusive joint European media rights across 49 territories for the XXV Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad Los Angeles 2028, the XXVI Olympic Winter Games in 2030 and the Games of the XXXV Olympiad Brisbane 2032, as well as for the Youth Olympic Games in the period. Financial terms of the extension were not disclosed.
Comcast-owned NBCUniversal holds the exclusive U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2032 as part of $7.75 billion agreement signed in 2014.
For Warner Bros. Discovery, the announcement extends its position as “Home of the Olympics in Europe” and follows record viewership growth across the past three Olympic Games, with the Olympic Games Paris 2024 ahead. Under the new agreement, WBD will distribute the Games across its streaming and digital platforms, including Discovery+ and owned-and-operated Eurosport pay-TV channels.
“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,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement.
WBC’s deal underscores the ongoing viewer appeal of the Olympic Games across Europe. In 2015, the IOC partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery across Europe for the 2018-2024 Olympic Games.
“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 European fans can get every moment of the following four Olympics,” said Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director for Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe.
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. Together with its own platforms, this drove record audiences, as 372 million people across Europe engaged with the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, 175 million of whom did so on Warner Bros. Discovery’s platforms such as Discovery+, while the number of Europeans who visited its platforms for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 — 156 million — was over 19 times more than the previous Winter Games edition.
Warner Bros. Discovery and the EBU have a long history of collaborating on coverage of major sporting events, most recently with the International Biathlon Union World Cup and World Championship events, in addition to a host of summer sports events, including the World Athletics Championships and cycling’s Tour de France and La Vuelta Grand Tour bicycle races.