Good to see the IOC has acknowledged the NRL is a roundabout sort of way...
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...ct-is-negotiated/story-fn91v9q3-1226446271250
Olympic TV rights deal on hold until NRL contract is negotiated
THE IOC is holding off negotiating the next Olympic television rights deal for Australia until after the NRL broadcasting deal is done, according to Games marketing boss Timo Lumme.
Foxtel and the Nine Network paid a reported $128 million for the rights to broadcast the 2010 winter and 2012 Olympics, but the IOC says negotiations for the next rights package, to cover the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, have not yet begun.
Kerry Stokes's Seven group, which was the long-time Olympic broadcaster until the Nine/Foxtel consortium beat it for the 2010/2012 rights, is understood to be keen to win back the Olympic rights. But both Nine and Seven are in a more difficult financial position than they were when the last deal was struck in 2007.
Speaking in London yesterday, Mr Lumme told
The Australian that the IOC would wait until the end of the London Games before turning its attention to the Australian rights deal for the next Games.
"We are gradually turning our sights to Australia," he said.
"We haven't made any decision on that, but it is something that we will be focusing on after the end of the Games.
"We want to see the rugby league deal done. That helps. That means clear air for us."
Australia is one of the last major countries to finalise an Olympic broadcasting deal for the 2014/2016 Games.
Mr Lumme said he expected the IOC to begin consideration of an Australian TV rights deal "before the end of the year, but we haven't taken a decision as yet as to when we are going to go ahead".
Senior Nine executives, including managing director Jeff Browne and chief executive David Gyngell, have been in London for the Games, along with Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein.
Mr Lumme said he had heard that Ryan Stokes, son of Kerry Stokes and a former member of the IOC televison commission, might be in London as well, but he had not had any discussions with him during the Games.
He said the IOC felt "very comfortable" with the attractiveness of the Olympics as a product for television in Australia.
"We all know that broadcasters need premium content, so we feel very comfortable that we will be premium content," he said.
He rejected the suggestion that the disappointing performance of the Australian team in London might adversely affect the price of the next television rights deal.
"Yes, there have been a few less gold medals, but the overall performance is strong and will remain strong in the future. It is a very potent package.
"We are very confident that we will get the right value for the market."
The first big deal was struck last year with long-time US Olympic broadcaster NBC, which will pay $US4.38 billion ($4.15bn) for the 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 Winter and Summer Olympics rights.
The IOC has since announced a string of deals around the world, most of them for the 2014 Winter Games and the 2015 Summer Games as a package. While the IOC does not release the details of its deals, market estimates are that it has struck deals for France worth $US125m, for Germany worth $US187m, for Spain worth $US93m and for Italy worth $US220m.
On the eve of the London Games, government owned broadcaster BBC retained the rights to the next four Olympics in a $US100m deal. It followed up with a deal with CCTV for the Chinese TV rights for a reported $US160m.
The Canadian television rights package is understood to have just been wrapped up for between $US75m and $US80m, almost half the estimated $US150m paid for the current 2010/2012 Games package.
The IOC does not announce the amount it receives for individual television deals, but Mr Lumme agreed yesterday that there was "always going to be a blip" in the Canadian television rights fees for the next Games as the 2010/2012 package included the Vancouver Games, and home Olympics command a premium.
The question for Australia could be whether the deal is for a package of two Games or for a package of four Games. In an interview with
The Australian earlier this year, Mr Lumme said the IOC was expecting an increase of at least 10 per cent on the $128m negotiated for the Australian television rights for 2010 and 2012.
However, the Canadian rights deal, which was struck at a much lower level, is a warning to the IOC that its quest for ever-increasing rights fees runs into the economics of broadcasting the Games when the economic environment is uncertain.
It is understood that the private consortium holding the Canadian rights for 2010 and 2012 has made a loss on the deal despite the fact that the winter Games took place on Canadian soil.
Government broadcaster CBC has regained the rights in the latest deal, following two low-ball bids which were rejected by the IOC.
Mr Lumme said the IOC had grossed almost $US4bn from the television rights deals for the London and Vancouver Games, some 50 per cent more than the $US2bn it raised from the rights to the 2006 Winter Games in Turin and the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
Brent Read ‏@brentread_7 
