Following preliminary “fact-finding” meetings between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and American television executives this week, Michael Payne, IOC marketing head said that negotiations will being later this year on a multi-games TV rights package for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and beyond.
IOC president Jacques Rogge has said the IOC could wait until 2005 or later to begin negotiations, but all sides appear set to start sooner.
Payne also said he expects the next deal will cover at least two Olympics – the 2010 Winter Games and 2012 Summer Games.
Prior to NBC’s five-Games deal, the IOC awarded rights of one Olympics at a time. But Payne said, “the longer-term quadrennium basis makes a lot of sense. It would be unlikely that the next rights will be for 2010 alone”.
Payne said the situation will be reviewed by the IOC executive board at its next meeting in Lausanne next month.
He added, “after that we’ll decide on the timelines and the process. This week’s meetings were to look at the future and get into a little more details before we finalize things. There were no negotiations or anything, just talking through the key issues”.
The IOC is maintaining its principle of assuring “free-to-air” Olympic coverage for global viewers, said Payne.
