From 2026, the Summer and Winter Olympics will be seen more widely and without sport restrictions. Olympic ice hockey is also returning to ‘s channels.
has acquired the Olympic rights for the years 2026–2032. The agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) covers all media rights for the Summer and Winter Olympics.
was involved in the joint bid submitted by the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and the rights were granted in Europe to the EBU and Warner Bros. For Discovery.
– This is a great day for us. has been closely involved in long negotiations to return Olympic rights to public service media companies in Europe. Finns expect exactly this kind of content from us, says the head of ‘s Sports and Events unit. Panu Pokkinen.
The new agreement covers broadcast rights to all sports of the Olympic Games, with which Olympic ice hockey, water sports and basketball will return to ‘s channels from 2026.
Conveying the Olympic Games to the public is one of ‘s core tasks, and the games are on the Government’s list of socially significant events that must be televised on free-to-view TV channels for Finns.
– We want to offer Finns the greatest unifying experiences and memories of the nation. The new contract enables this clearly more widely than the current one and is an essential part of ‘s public service mission. With the agreement, Finns will be able to see the Olympics freely for more than this decade, describes ‘s CEO Merja Ylä-Anttila.
has already acquired the rights to the next Summer Olympics in Paris 2024 together with Discovery. has the exclusive rights to the Paralympics held in Paris in the same year.
The agreement announced today adds to ‘s Olympic coverage the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane and the 2030 Winter Olympics, the organizer of which is not yet clear.
‘s channels last saw the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021 and the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. The Tokyo Olympics reached 3.7 million Finns on TV alone, and the Beijing Games reached 3.9 million Finns.