Viacom18 bags 2024 Paris Olympics broadcasting rights for Rs 250 cr

Deal also includes 2024 Youth Olympics; will cover India and neighbouring countries

After the 2022 Fifa World Cup, Reliance-backed Viacom18 network has bagged the broadcasting rights of the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2024 Youth Olympics (to be held in China) for the Indian subcontinent, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday. This includes the markets of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the body said.

While IOC did not specify the deal size, media experts peg the deal at Rs 200-250 crore. Viacom 18 had won the broadcast rights of the recently-concluded Fifa World Cup for Rs 450 crore, according to industry experts.

Like it did under the Fifa World Cup deal, Viacom18 will provide "multi-platform", or both television and digital coverage of the Olympics. The broadcaster will also provide free-to-air television coverage within the region for the Olympics Games, the IOC said.

"The Olympic Movement is getting stronger in India, buoyed by tremendous medal-winning performances by Indian athletes and their inspiring stories, a growing sporting culture and an exponentially increased access to top-level content for millions of Indian sporting fans on their devices,” said Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj.

Media experts say Viacom 18 is slowly but steadily building viewership with multiple sporting events.

"For a channel that was launched in April 2022, Viacom18 is picking up sporting properties across the spectrum in a bid to aggregate viewership. Instead of restricting themselves to cricket, which can be prohibitive in terms of price, the idea is to have a wider base of sporting properties to ensure audience sampling and therefore viewership," Sajal Gupta, chief executive officer of Gurugram-based Kiaos Marketing, said.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics saw India take home a total of seven medals including one gold, two silver and four bronze. This was India's best-ever medals haul at the Olympics, surpassing the six-medal haul at the London Games in 2012.

"As a dynamic sports and media market, this is an important strategic region for Olympic broadcasting, and this new media rights agreement will help us inspire fans across these countries to engage with Olympic sports," IOC President Thomas Bach said.

"The Olympic media partnerships contribute valuable revenue that ensures the long-term financial security of the Olympic Movement. The IOC retains just 10 per cent of these revenues, with the rest being distributed to support the staging of the Olympic Games, promote the worldwide development of sport and the Olympic Movement, and assist with the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020 and Olympic Agenda 2020+5," Bach added.