The Italian public broadcaster, Rai has acquired the rights to domestically broadcast all Summer and Winter Olympic Games until 2032.
As a result of the agreement, spectators in Italy will have the opportunity to witness the summer games in Paris 2024, Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032, as well as the 2026 Milano Cortina and the 2030 Canada Winter Games, via Rai’s numerous communication channels, including radio broadcasts.
Rai’s acquisition of the rights is part of a wider sub-licencing agreement involving the US media company, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an alliance of European public service networks.
WBD’s coverage of the Games in Italy will run concurrently with Rai’s, as both have a considerable broadcasting presence in the nation, with WBD’s Eurosport channel and streaming platform Discovery+ arguably having a significantly greater reach than its media rights co-licencing partner.
Owing to a January deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the EBU and WBD collectively have the European rights to broadcast the Olympic Games in a total of 49 countries throughout 2032.
Through a separate agreement with the local commercial broadcaster, Nine Network, the IOC was able to re-establish access to the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in Australia until 2032.