Warner Bros. Discovery and EBU Land Olympics transfer the rights in Europe

Warner Bros. Discovery and the European Broadcasting Union won the auction for broadcasting rights for the 2026-2032 Olympic Games.

Following a tender by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the two’s joint bid was successful and the rights will be acquired in 49 territories.

These include the Milano Cortino 2026 Olympic Winter Games, LA 2028 Olympic Games, Brisbane 2030 Olympic Winter Games and Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, and the Youth Olympic Games over a period of six years.

WBD, in its former form as Discovery, first acquired the rights to the games in 2015 in a €1.5 billion deal acquired by subsidiary Eurosports for the period 2018-2024. Subsequently, these rights were broadcast or sublicensed across the continent.

The agreement guarantees that the Games will continue to be available for free across Europe, giving each EBU member more than 200 hours of Olympic Games coverage and 100 hours of Winter Olympics coverage across TV, streaming, radio, social media and websites. In the UK, where the games must be broadcast free-to-air by law, the BBC has already renewed its deal with WBD and will remain the local host broadcaster until at least 2032.

There is more to come.