The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has begun a tender process in sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa covering media rights for the 2026-32 period.
The Olympic governing body has set a deadline of November 5 for responses to this tender, Sportcal (GlobalData Sport) has been told.
The process - which covers 45 countries overall - is understood to cover the 2028 (Los Angeles, US) and 2032 (Brisbane, Australia) Summer Olympics, as well as the Winter Games in 2026 (Milan-Cortina) and 2030 (the French Alps).
Interested parties should contact mediasales@olympic.org.
For the most recent Olympics, the summer games earlier this year in the French capital of Paris, sub-Saharan African distribution rights were held by the Infront agency, while in South Africa the event was covered by both free-to-air SABC and pay-TV heavyweight SuperSport.
The Infront tie-up - unveiled in mid-2019 - had covered the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, as well as this year’s summer edition. Sportcal understands Infront is currently assessing the relevant tender documents for the next cycle, and evaluating its options.
The SuperSport and SABC deals, meanwhile, were unveiled in mid-2017.
In terms of a sub-Saharan African TV audience, the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics will likely see the largest audiences, due to a more favourable timezone than the US’ West Coast in four years, and then Australia in 2032.
Other markets in which rights for the next quartet of Olympic Games 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 rights.
Indeed, Sportcal understands another tender for the upcoming cycle is set to launch within the next week.
In terms of major deals already tied up for the next Olympic cycle, meanwhile, last year saw Infront tie up distribution rights through 2032 in Central and Southeast Asia, Warner Bros Discovery and the European Broadcasting Union do so in the latter region, while Australia’s Nine Network also snapped up rights.
