The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has today launched a tender covering media rights to the next four editions of the Olympic Games, across the Indian subcontinent.
The tender covers the Winter Olympics next year - to be held in Northern Italy - and then the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, US, while there is then an option to bid for rights to the 2030 Winter (French Alps) and 2032 Summer (Brisbane, Australia) Games as well.
This comes soon after Indian representatives met counterparts from the IOC and - reportedly - discussed the country's bid to host the Summer Games in 2036. That bid is currently paused, as the election of Kirsty Coventry to the IOC's presidency has resulted in an overall review of the body's host city selection process.
The tender also takes place in the context of cricket, far and away India's favorite sport, set to return to the Summer Olympic program in Los Angeles for the first time in 128 years. As such, the IOC is likely to be expecting a significant Indian media rights boost for the next cycle.
There is a deadline for bid submissions of August 13, with interested parties first required to sign a confidentiality agreement that can be requested by contacting mediasales@olympic.org.
The Indian subcontinent is one of the key markets in which no media rights agreements for the next Olympics cycle have yet been secured.
In total, three packages are on offer - one covering multiplatform rights (both TV and digital), one covering linear TV only, and the third only covering digital.
Specifically, the tender covers India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
For the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Viacom18 network held broadcast rights in the subcontinent, with the deal unveiled in late 2022 - and valued by GlobalData Sport at $31 million.
India is also one of the countries bidding to host the 2036 Olympics, with the city of Ahmedabad set to be the proposed host venue, and a delegation reportedly lobbied the IOC to that effect earlier this week.
In total, the country won only six medals at the Paris Olympics last year, and it is understood that the IOC is cautious about allocating the Olympics to a nation that generally does not feature at the top end of the medal table.
In terms of other recent IOC media rights activity for the next cycle, meanwhile, in February TelevisaUnivision secured exclusive rights to the next four Olympics in Mexico.
The following month, long-time US broadcast partner NBC extended its IOC tie-up for the 2034 Winter and 2036 Summer Olympics.
Remaining markets in which rights for the next quartet of Olympics have not yet been allocated include New Zealand, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), India, the Caribbean, Brazil (although only on a non-exclusive basis for 2028), and in-flight/on-ship.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will take place in the Milan-Cortina region of Northern Italy between February 6 and 22.
