The International Olympic Committee have launched the tender process for broadcasting rights covering most of Europe for the 2017-2020 Olympic cycle ©Getty Images

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has now, as expected, launched the tender process for broadcasting rights covering most of Europe for the 2017-2020 Olympic cycle.

In its announcement, the IOC asked for bids to be submitted by June 15.

In a probable sign of things to come, potential European media partners are being asked to outline how they would work with the Olympic Channel, whose launch was approved by IOC members in Monte Carlo late last year.

The IOC originally served notice in March that this tender process would shortly be launched.

Rights in France and the United Kingdom are excluded from the tender, as they have already been sold.

With both the 2018 Winter Games and the 2020 Olympics taking place in Asia, in Pyeongchang and Tokyo respectively, this is set to be a challenging quadrennium for European rights holders, with prime time in Japan and South Korea coinciding with morning in lucrative West European markets.

The 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2020 Games are both due to take place in Asia which could cause problems for European broadcasters
The 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2020 Games are both due to take place in Asia which could cause problems for European broadcasters ©Getty Images

With this in mind, it will be interesting to see if the IOC can again raise more than $1 billion (£637 million/€887 million) from European markets, as it is understood to have done in 2014-2016, up from $848 million (£540 million/€752 million) in the cycle ending with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The IOC appears to be taking pains to be as flexible as possible, underlining that it would "consider bids on a multi-territory or on a country-by-country basis".

It is also understood to be open to deals stretching more than a single Olympic quadrennium, a concept which broadcasters in Germany, Hungary and Italy, in particular, might conceivably be interested in; Hamburg and Rome have already entered the race for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, and the Hungarian capital Budapest may follow.



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