- The decision to postpone the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 until next year has left the television industry in deep trouble
- Eurosport's parent company Discovery has subsequently withdrawn fiscal estimates, as the broadcast giant expects a $200 million reduction in Olympic investment.
- NBC Sports has said that filling the gap Games postponement has produced it face a major content crisis
The decision to postpone the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 until next year has left the television industry in deep trouble. Global media giants Discovery and the US broadcast rights holder of the Olympics, NBC Sports, have announced the impact they are afraid to experience as a result of this delay.
On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee and host nation Japan had announced that this year’s Olympic Games would not be held on their scheduled dates from July 24-August 9. Revised dates and timetable are to be published in due course for some time next year.
On 24 March, the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) announced the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.https://t.co/qej1CZzpzI
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) March 25, 2020
Following the postponement of Tokyo 2020, Eurosport’s parent company Discovery has subsequently withdrawn fiscal estimates, as the broadcast giant expects a $200 million reduction in Olympic investment.
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Discovery, the owner of Eurosport’s pan-European sports channel, is one of IOC’s main media rights partners. As the Games pass into the next year, SportsPro Media has announced that the organization is expected to shift its profits and expenditures related to the Olympics to the fiscal outlook for 2021.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, the company, following earlier statements that it was covered against the danger of Games cancellation, expressed concern that expenses related to the Olympics could lead to a loss of between $175 million and $200 million in the third quarter of 2020.
Meanwhile, NBC Sports has said that filling the gap Games postponement has produced it faces a major content crisis. The company announced record revenue of $1.25 billion in broadcast sponsorship from 90% of the total inventory.
The Comcast-owned network also intended to extend its Tokyo 2020 coverage to its upcoming Peacock over-the-top streaming service (OTT), which was set to launch on July 15. If the software will yet be released this summer is uncertain.
It’s not only the Tokyo Olympics that has suffered, but major sporting events around the world are also facing a huge crisis due to the pandemic.
