London Olympics broadcast rights top $1 billion
Posted by ZA on August 22, 2008
What does it cost to broadcast the Olympics? The 2012 Olympics in London, England are the first Olympic Games in history to cost more than $1 billion dollars in U.S. broadcast fees. NBC agreed to pay over $2 billion for the 2010 and 2012 Olympics, which includes certain global sponsorship rights.
Below is a look at the cost for Olympic broadcast rights across the history of the Olympic Games. The fees were originally just television but now include TV and online. The amounts listed are for the U.S. broadcast rights provided by USA Today.
| Year | Olympics | Location | Network | Broadcast Fee Paid |
| 1896 | Summer Olympics | Athens, Greece | - | – |
| 1900 | Summer Olympics | Paris, France | - | – |
| 1904 | Summer Olympics | St. Louis, Missouri | - | – |
| 1908 | Summer Olympics | London, England | - | – |
| 1912 | Summer Olympics | Stockholm, Sweden | - | – |
| 1916 | Summer Olympics | Berlin, Germany | - | – |
| 1920 | Summer Olympics | Antwerp, Belgium | - | – |
| 1924 | Summer Olympics | Paris, France | - | – |
| 1924 | Winter Olympics | Chamonix, France | - | – |
| 1928 | Summer Olympics | Amsterdam, Netherlands | - | – |
| 1928 | Winter Olympics | St. Moritz, Switzerland | - | – |
| 1932 | Summer Olympics | Los Angeles, California | - | – |
| 1932 | Winter Olympics | Lake Placid, New York | - | – |
| 1936 | Summer Olympics | Berlin, Germany | - | – |
| 1936 | Winter Olympics | Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany | - | – |
| 1940 | Summer Olympics | Cancelled due to WWII | - | – |
| 1940 | Winter Olympics | Cancelled due to WWII | - | – |
| 1944 | Summer Olympics | Cancelled due to WWII | - | – |
| 1944 | Winter Olympics | Cancelled due to WWII | - | – |
| 1948 | Summer Olympics | London, England | - | – |
| 1948 | Winter Olympics | St. Moritz, Switzerland | - | – |
| 1952 | Summer Olympics | Helsinki, Finland | - | – |
| 1952 | Winter Olympics | Oslo, Norway | - | – |
| 1956 | Summer Olympics | Melbourne, Australia | - | – |
| 1956 | Winter Olympics | Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy | - | – |
| 1960 | Summer Olympics | Rome, Italy | CBS | $ 394,000.00 |
| 1960 | Winter Olympics | Squaw Valley, California | CBS | $ 50,000.00 |
| 1964 | Summer Olympics | Tokyo, Japan | NBC | $ 1,500,000.00 |
| 1964 | Winter Olympics | Innsbruck, Austria | ABC | $ 597,000.00 |
| 1968 | Summer Olympics | Mexico City, Mexico | ABC | $ 4,500,000.00 |
| 1968 | Winter Olympics | Grenoble, France | ABC | $ 2,500,000.00 |
| 1972 | Summer Olympics | Munich, Germany | ABC | $ 7,500,000.00 |
| 1972 | Winter Olympics | Sapporo, Japan | NBC | $ 6,400,000.00 |
| 1976 | Summer Olympics | Montreal, Canada | ABC | $ 25,000,000.00 |
| 1976 | Winter Olympics | Innsbruck, Austria | ABC | $ 10,000,000.00 |
| 1980 | Summer Olympics | Moscow, Russia | NBC | $ 87,000,000.00 |
| 1980 | Winter Olympics | Lake Placid, New York | ABC | $ 15,500,000.00 |
| 1984 | Summer Olympics | Los Angeles, California | ABC | $ 225,000,000.00 |
| 1984 | Winter Olympics | Sarajevo, Yugoslavia | ABC | $ 91,500,000.00 |
| 1988 | Summer Olympics | Seoul, South Korea | NBC | $ 300,000,000.00 |
| 1988 | Winter Olympics | Calgary, Canada | ABC | $ 309,000,000.00 |
| 1992 | Summer Olympics | Barcelona, Spain | NBC | $ 401,000,000.00 |
| 1992 | Winter Olympics | Albertville, France | CBS | $ 243,000,000.00 |
| 1996 | Summer Olympics | Atlanta, Georgia | NBC | $ 456,000,000.00 |
| 1998 | Winter Olympics | Nagano, Japan | CBS | $ 375,000,000.00 |
| 2000 | Summer Olympics | Sydney, Australia | NBC | $ 705,000,000.00 |
| 2002 | Winter Olympics | Salt Lake City, Utah | NBC | $ 545,000,000.00 |
| 2004 | Summer Olympics | Athens, Greece | NBC | $ 793,000,000.00 |
| 2006 | Winter Olympics | Torino, Italy | NBC | $ 613,000,000.00 |
| 2008 | Summer Olympics | Beijing, China | NBC | $ 894,000,000.00 |
| 2010 | Winter Olympics | Vancouver, Canada | NBC | $ 820,000,000.00 |
| 2012 | Summer Olympics | London, England | NBC | $ 1,181,000,000.00 |
All amounts are in US Dollars.
Edit: The 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer were mistakenly left off list above. CBS paid $300 million to broadcast the ’94 Games.
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John Feeney said
Is it me?
I see Year / Type / Location where is the so called dollar scale….
My focus is Vancouver 2010.
ZA said
John- The broadcast fees paid are in the 4th column. They are only the US broadcast rights fees that were paid, and only go back to 1960 Olympics in Rome. There is no info on broadcast rights fees paid prior to that Olympics.
ZA said
I think Vancouver 2010 will be a fantastic event, as it’s the 3rd Olympics being hosted by Canada. I was just talking about London 2012 because the Summer Games are a much bigger event for marketers, so the dollars are a lot bigger than the Winter Games.
John Feeney said
Thanks, different computer I can see the results.
London 2012 will be big. Here in Chicago we’re looking forward to July 2009 an the potential announcement we’ll host 2016.
Surveillance is our business, Bejing #1, London #2, Chicago #3 in place infrastructure for surveillance. If selected, Surveillance will explode in this city. Which will attract business from all parts of the world. A side benefit to the Olympics.
Waiting to hear some results on Apple’s effort @ streamlining the games on iPhones in China. This was a separate deal from NBC. If that trend continues, we may have witnessed the birth of a new broadcast media. Nokia will make a play.
Mark said
There is a games missing — 1994 Lillehamer Norway
ZA said
Mark-
Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve added them in at bottom.
ZA
Mike Tamillow said
The Olympics have grown as a large business and the organization involved in managing the Olympics within the United States has grown in size. Its structure is designed like a big business and it continues to grow and grow without showing any greater support to athletes or increasing considerations to sport. The USOC is responsible for the structure of the Olympics being left like this and a huge percent of this broadcasting budget the USOC sees. However, the athletes hold a lot of power within the Olympics. Being so technically sound allows them to bring home so much success. Unless the athletes realize that without changing the system they are going to continue to live with very little and even watch whatever is designated for sport get destroyed, there is no hope for change.
I am starting a movement to oppose this . Putting sports first has to be the goal.
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