The International Olympic Committee expects to make an announcement by noon ET on which American broadcaster won the bid for Olympic TV right for the 2014 Sochi Games and 2016 Rio Games, reports Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Journal. The three networks bidding for the Olympics -- longtime rights-holder NBC, the ABC/ESPN family of networks and Fox -- had the option of submitting bids for the next four Olympiads, as well, meaning that the IOC could hand off the rights to the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2020 Summer Games -- neither of which currently have a site -- on Tuesday.
Olympic TV Rights Announcement Expected Tuesday; ESPN, Fox In Play To Take Games From NBC
The networks converged on Lausanne, Switzerland, this week to make two-hour pitches to an IOC panel and deliver sealed bids. NBC traveled without recently resigned Dick Ebersol, the longtime chief of NBC Sports who many felt inflated the cost of Olympics rights to terrible effect; NBC is said to have lost hundreds of millions on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and will likely lose serious coin on the 2012 London Games. Whether that will result in a much lower bid from NBC or discounted offers from all three networks remains to be seen.
If the bids are close, it’ll be interesting to see whether the IOC rewards loyalty by staying with NBC, or looks to move forward under a new partner.
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