NBC will continue broadcasting the Olympics through at least the next four games, according to the Associated Press. The Peacock Network won a three-way bidding war this week with a four-game deal worth more than $4 billion.
The deal comes with only the next two Olympics having host cities attached. The 2014 Winter Games will take place in Sochi, Russia while the 2016 Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro.
The winning bid for the 2018 Games is scheduled to be announced on July 6th. The candidates are Annecy, France; Munich, Germany; and Pyeongchang, South Korea. The 2020 Games will be announced in 2013 and its possible that Chicago, which lost out on the 2016 Games, will emerge as a top contender.
NBC, which has broadcast the Summer Games since 1988 and the Winter Games since 2002, had its dynasty challenged this time around as Fox and ABC/ESPN submitted aggressive bids. Eight years ago, NBC easily outbid Fox for the rights to the 2010 and 2012 games with an offer of $2.2 billion.
>Update: The New York Times reports NBC’s winning bid as $4.3 billion.