When the 2034 Olympics and Paralympics return to Utah, they will be held in the same venues as they were in 2002.
And, as of Thursday, they will be broadcast by the same network.
The International Olympic Committee announced at its executive board meeting Thursday that it had reached an agreement with NBCUniversal to extend media rights to the Games through 2036. The two entities already had a contract for NBC to broadcast the Olympics through the 2032 Summer Games in Brisbane, Australia. This deal extends that commitment out through the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and the 2036 Summer Games at a site still to be determined.
“Knowing nine years out that we will have the support of Comcast NBCUniversal is a real milestone for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City-Utah,” Fraser Bullock, the 2034 president and executive chair, said in a statement. “Since the Winter Games here in 2002, Comcast NBCUniversal has been an outstanding partner in telling the story of Olympic and Paralympic sport in America.”
NBC began broadcasting the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. It has broadcast all the Winter Games since Utah last hosted them. By the conclusion of the 2036 event, it will have presented 25 total Olympic Games, including 19 consecutive editions.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach walks with Tanja Kari, as he tours the Olympic and Paralympic Cauldron Plaza with at the University of Utah, on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.
The four-year, two Games extension is valued at $3 billion, according to a press release announcing the deal. The release called it “a major contribution to the long-term financial stability of the entire Olympic Movement.”
In addition to broadcast rights, NBCUniversal is expected to bring collaboration on digital advertising opportunities in the United States. That could buoy the promise from local organizers to not use any state or local taxpayer money to fund Utah’s Games, which are expected to cost close to $3 billion.
Thomas Bach, the outgoing IOC president, also promised in a media statement the broadcaster would bring an “innovative approach” and help boost the reach of the Olympics “on all platforms from linear to streaming and digital.”
“This agreement with Comcast is groundbreaking,” Bach said, “because it goes far beyond the traditional media rights agreement which we have had for many years with our valued partner.”
The commitment was finalized a week before the IOC elects a new president to replace Bach. NBC signed its most recent Olympic rights deal in 2014. That contract covers each Summer Games and Winter Games through 2032 and was valued at $7.75 billion.
(Bernat Armangue | AP) Tara Davis-Woodhall, left, of the United States, celebrates with her husband Hunter Woodhall after winning the women's long jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France.
Coverage from the 2024 Paris Olympics reached an average of 67 million total viewers per day across NBCUniversal’s broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. According to the release, fans streamed 23.5 billion minutes of coverage, led by streaming service Peacock. That was a 40% increase over all prior Olympic Summer and Winter Games combined.
“The media landscape is evolving rapidly,” Bach added, “and, by partnering with one of the world’s leading media and technology companies, we will ensure that fans in the United States are able to experience the Olympic Games like never before.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
