Sky NZ, the country’s pay-tv giant, has confirmed that it is in discussion to secure broadcast rights for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (LA28).
The broadcaster confirmed this week that it is in “constructive discussions” with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over a new media rights agreement for the next edition of the showpiece multi-sport event.
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This came after media reports through the week that suggested that Sky was close to beating out free-to-air network TVNZ for the rights once again.
Sky has held rights to all editions of the summer and winter Olympics since 2010, taking over from TVNZ, which held the rights up until 2008 (and sub-licensed the event from Sky in 2020).
The most recent agreement, covering the 2018-24 period, extended across the Pacific region, including the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Independent State of Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Earlier in 2025, Sky NZ also retained the exclusive rights to the Commonwealth Games multi-sport event for its 2026 edition.
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By GlobalDataThe 2026 edition of those games will take place in Glasgow, UK, from July 23 through August 2, and will only feature 10 different sports (as well as para-iterations of six of those sports) staged across four venues.
This is due to Victoria, Australia (the original host of the event) pulling out of its commitment, forcing a short-term solution with Glasgow hosting a scaled-down running of the quadrennial games.
Sky NZ also held rights for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. Free-to-air broadcaster TVNZ had rights for the Gold Coast 2018.
Earlier this year, Australia’s free-to-air Seven Network snapped up exclusive media rights in the country to the 2026 and 2030 editions of the Commonwealth Games.
Although it has once again likely lost the Olympic rights to Sky, TVNZ did, however, land the rights to soccer’s elite FIFA World Cup 2026 back in August, replacing Sky and hotting up the pair’s media rights arms race.
