ESPN buys South American 2010 and 2012 Olympic rights

12 November 2009 | Posted in Broadcast, Olympics | By Adam Fraser

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded a range of broadcast rights in South America for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games to ESPN.

ESPN will acquire free-to-air television and radio broadcast rights in Argentina for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games and the London 2012 Olympic Games, including minimum free-to-air exposure guarantees; pay television rights to air the Games on cable and satellite platforms in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay for the same period; and satellite-only television rights in Venezuela for the same period.

"The popularity of the Olympic Games in South America is growing rapidly, and we want to ensure that audiences in the region have the best possible broadcast experience," said IOC president Jacques Rogge. "We are delighted to announce this agreement with ESPN and look forward to working with them."

Russell Wolff, managing director of ESPN International, added: "This is a tremendous milestone for ESPN's business in South America. This agreement expands our relationship with the IOC and adds the Olympic Games to the schedule of world class events we cover. The Olympics is on the world's most inspiring events and we are very excited to bring it to sports fans around South America."

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ESPN did not release figures for this deal. Industry figures have suggested that the IOC was hoping to secure between US$30 and US$40 million, but press reports claim that the deal is worth as little as US$10 million.

'South and Central American rights holder and regional representative OTI (Organización de TelevisiónIberoamericana) paid US$29.75m for the rights to the '06 Turin and '08 Beijing Games,' noted SportsBusiness Journal. 'Those rights included every country in South America for that quadrennial. But for the '09-12 period, the IOC sold the rights for Brazil separately and collected US$60m.'

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