Brazilian commercial broadcaster Globo is facing up to the prospect of having to renegotiate advertising deals worth a reported R$580m (€103.6m/$113.7m) this year following the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games until 2021.
The International Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday that the Games, which had been scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9, will now be held no later than the summer of 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Globo holds Brazilian rights to the Olympics until 2032 as part of a long-term deal signed with the IOC back in 2015. The rights cover all platforms, including free-to-air television on a non-exclusive basis, and pay-television, internet and mobile rights on an exclusive basis.
Globo was in line to raise around R$580m in advertising sales from the Tokyo 2020 Games, reports the Meio & Mensagem website. Deals will now need to be renegotiated individually with the sponsors and advertisers.
The Tokyo 2020 inventory offered is said to have included Globo’s six main sponsorship spots worth R$96.9m apiece. This covered advertising on Globo’s free-to-air channel, along with sister pay-television broadcaster SporTV and the Globoesporte.com website.
In a statement, Globo said: “We were made aware of the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games by the official announcement. We were not previously consulted on the matter.
“We understand that, at the moment, the priorities are the health and safety of everyone, and that is why we respect the decisions of the event organisers.
“What we can say is that, given the current scenario and the historical relationship of respect we have with our sponsors, the plans and projects related to the coverage of the Olympic Games will be discussed individually with each one of them after the pandemic.”
Despite the expected hit that Globo will take from not showing the Olympics this year, the broadcaster is reported to have received heightened advertising interest from companies such as banks and food delivery services as more people are watching television while staying at home during the pandemic.
