NBC and the International Olympic Committee announced Thursday that they have reached a $3 billion deal to extend and expand their long-running partnership.
The new deal, which was approved by the IOC’s executive board Wednesday, will go into effect this year and give NBC exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights across platforms − including its streaming service, Peacock, which has played a more prominent role in the network’s programming in recent Games. It also adds four more years to NBC’s previous broadcasting deal, ensuring that the network will be the U.S. television home of the Summer and Winter Olympics through at least the 2036 Summer Games.
‘There is no event like the Olympics. Its power to bring joy, and the unifying spirit it embodies, are truly unique,’ Comcast chairman and chief executive officer Brian Roberts said in a statement. ‘We live in a time when technology is driving faster and more fundamental transformation than we’ve seen in decades. This groundbreaking, new, long-term partnership between Comcast NBCUniversal and the International Olympic Committee not only recognises this dynamic but anticipates that it will accelerate.’
NBC has become nearly synonymous with the Games for the better part of the past three decades. The network has televised every iteration of the Summer Olympics since 1988 and added Winter Games broadcasting rights in 2002. (The network’s parent company, Comcast, is also a major sponsor of Team USA.)
The company’s investments in Olympic coverage over the years have also come with a massive price tag. Prior to the $3 billion deal announced Thursday, NBC’s previous rights deal with the IOC, signed in 2014, was valued at $7.75 billion and had been scheduled to run through 2032.
The new TV rights deal comes as the U.S. is slated to host two of the next five iterations of the Olympics: The 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. And it comes on the heels of a strong performance last summer in Paris. NBC said its coverage reached an average of 67 million total viewers per day during the 2024 Summer Olympics and featured 23.5 billion minutes of streaming on Peacock, where it experimented with new approaches like a real-time highlights show and content involving non-athlete influencers.
‘The media landscape is evolving rapidly and, by partnering with one of the world’s leading media and technology companies, we will ensure that fans in the United States are able to experience the Olympic Games like never before,’ outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement.
IOC members are due to elect Bach’s replacement as president at a session in Greece next week.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.
