NBCUniversal Statements on Keeping The Olympics

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A news conference is underway between NBC and the International Olympic Committee formally announcing the new four Olympiad agreement that keeps the Games on NBCUniversal through 2020. NBC’s bid totaled about $4.38 billion with a sponsorship likely thrown in by minority owner General Electric which has said it has wanted NBC to remain in the Olympic business.

We have the following statements from NBCUniversal, first from Comcast CEO Brian Roberts who led NBC’s delegation to Switzerland.

“We are honored to continue as the U.S. Olympic broadcaster for the remainder of this decade. The vision for our new Comcast-NBCUniversal was to create new platforms and technologies to distribute the very best content. Every two years the Olympic Games provides iconic content for us to deliver on all platforms. We are proud to continue the rich heritage and long association that NBC has had with the IOC and I personally want to thank President Jacques Rogge and Richard Carrion for their long-term trust.”

Then from NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke:

“I’m extremely pleased we will be continuing as the IOC’s U.S. media partner. Broadcasting sports events is an important part of our business and the Olympics are obviously a significant part of the portfolio. We have a talented and experienced team in place with a legacy of outstanding Olympics coverage and we are all looking forward to London next year and to Sochi and Rio after that.”

Finally from NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus:

“It is a great thrill to know that NBC’s unsurpassed Olympic heritage and unprecedented partnership with the IOC will continue through 2020. The Olympics are a significant part of NBC and the IOC again recognized NBCUniversal’s unmatched ability to promote, market, program and produce the Olympic Games. London, Sochi, Rio and the 2018 and 2020 Games will benefit from our ability to galvanize all the resources of the newly-formed NBC Sports Group to bring the Games to more homes and more platforms than ever.”

We also have the US Olympic Committee’s statement on NBC’s winning bid. The USOC had to sign off on the deal.

U.S. Olympic Committee statement on NBCUniversal’s winning bid to broadcast the Games in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020

In response to NBCUniversal’s winning bid for the rights to broadcast the Olympic Games in 2016 and 2020, and the Olympic Winter Games in 2014 and 2018, the following statements are attributable to U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Larry Probst and CEO Scott Blackmun, respectively:

Probst said, “I’d like to thank all three networks for the incredible effort that went into their presentations. Each was compelling and would no doubt successfully communicate the importance and excitement of the Olympic Games. However, the combination of NBCUniversal’s vision for presenting the Games and their significant commitment of resources to the Olympic Movement made them the winner. I’d like to congratulate the entire team at NBCUniversal for their winning bid and thank them for their continued support and partnership. We look forward to working closely with NBCUniversal and Comcast in the years to come.”

Blackmun said, “Telling the stories of the Olympic Games is a great honor, but it’s also a huge responsibility. Showcasing the world’s greatest athletes on sport’s biggest stage, and reinforcing the universal Olympic values of respect, friendship and excellence, requires large measures of both resources and skills. Anyone who’s seen NBCUniversal’s Olympic programming knows they have the skills, and today they’ve renewed their commitment.”

Patrick Sandusky, the Chief Communications Officer for the USOC gives us an insight into NBC’s presentation noting that Bob Costas closed and maybe even sealed the deal.
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More details about NBC’s plans for the Olympics. I’ll do another post for that. Some interesting stuff you’ll want to know. Coming up soon.

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