Nine takes Olympics TV rights from Seven as cricket mulls its future

Nine Entertainment Co has won the race for rights to air the next wave of Olympic Games events, including Brisbane 2032, after submitting a higher bid than incumbent broadcaster Seven West Media.

International Olympic Committee officials visited Australia earlier this year and are set to finalise an agreement for the rights in the coming weeks. Nine offered more than $300 million for the next three summer games and the winter events during that period - a figure significantly above Seven, according to sources familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations are confidential.

The sources said two bids were submitted before the deadline on Wednesday evening.

The next round of rights will include the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.Credit: AP

Seven West Media made its offer for the next round of rights last August, and was refusing to increase the dollar figure, which sources said is between $230 and $250 million. Seven was informed late on Friday that it was the unsuccessful bidder, with Nine chosen as the preferred partner. Both offers are below the expected value IOC had been hoping to receive - $400 million. The new IOC deal does not include the Paralympics, which is sold in a separate rights package that is yet to be negotiated.

Seven and Nine declined to comment. The IOC was approached for comment. Nine owns a range of television, radio, streaming and publishing assets, including this masthead.

The IOC’s bid deadline passed at a key juncture for the Australian television industry. Cricket Australia is finalising its broadcast arrangements, with Paramount currently considered the frontrunner. A deal before Christmas is now considered unlikely.

Olympic Games are usually a loss-making event for a television network. In 2017, Seven wrote down the value of the games by $70 million (the original deal was reported to be worth $200 million). And, despite it breaking audience records in 2021, the Tokyo 2020 Games still led to a $50 million loss for the network. Production costs about $150 million. Seven told staff on Friday evening that it had pulled out of the race because the economics of a deal did not stack up.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games broke ratings records for Channel Seven. But the company still made a loss.Credit: AP

IOC officials spent two days in Sydney last month meeting with the country’s largest commercial television networks about broadcasting the next group of events which includes the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, as well as the Winter Olympic Games over this period.

Seven and Nine were joint broadcasters of the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, which was the first to be televised in Australia. Since then, Seven has been the preeminent broadcaster, televising events in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.

Seven briefly lost the rights from 2010 to 2014 to rival broadcasters Nine, Network Ten (now owned by Paramount) and Foxtel before signing a deal from 2016 to 2020. It is unclear if Ten’s owner Paramount ended up submitting a bid. Paramount sources previously said they weren’t interested in securing a long-term deal given the media market is constantly changing and audiences are increasingly watching sports content online.

The IOC was the last major sporting body to try and secure a lucrative broadcast deal from this market in the current cycle and the arrival of its key broadcast executives coincided with negotiations between Cricket Australia and broadcasters about its new deal.

Paramount and Network 10 were in the box seat to win CA’s media rights auction because they have offered the largest sum of money, but multiple media and cricket sources have said CA is hesitant to leave incumbent partner Foxtel, whose parent company News Corp owns The Australian, The Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph.

Seven and Foxtel have so far been unable to match Paramount’s $1.5 billion offer for rights to Test matches, one-day internationals, T20s, the Big Bash League and the Women’s Big Bash League. And with most media executives now on holidays, it is unlikely a deal will be done before Christmas.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday Nine had held talks with Foxtel about a potential tie-up, but any deal between the two companies is highly unlikely. The main reason for this is Nine’s bid for the cricket was not solely for free-to-air rights to Tests - it included games for its streaming service Stan, which competes with Foxtel for subscribers.

Upcoming deals with CA and the IOC are complicated by several other highly lucrative agreements, including Nine’s extended agreement with Tennis Australia for more than $400 million, and Seven and Foxtel’s historic $4.5 billion AFL deal in September.

HBO owner WarnerMedia is also in the market weighing up what to do with its content, which includes hit shows such as House of Dragon, Succession and White Lotus. Its existing deal with Foxtel expires next year.