Discovery Communications President and CEO David Zaslav, said: “As President Bach has explained, the proposal among the IOC and the Bid Committee for Los Angeles, together with Paris’ candidacy for 2024, creates a win-win-win scenario for the cities, for fans across the globe and for the Olympic Games. We look forward to a final decision this September at the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru, but take this opportunity to commend both cities on their world-class bids and the IOC for its vision in seeking more winners in this process. We are especially thrilled that the 2024 Olympic Games will likely return to Europe, allowing Eurosport to accelerate its efforts to engage new and younger audiences across the continent with the world’s greatest sporting event, as we deliver against our commitment to create the first digital Olympic Games across Europe and utilize all screens to deliver every minute of the action.
When Discovery Communications secured the rights across Europe for the Olympic Games from 2018-2024, we did so with tremendous passion, commitment and ambition, irrespective of the location of the Games, but the proposed 2024 Olympic Games in Europe is also a huge win for hundreds of millions of people and thousands of athletes across Europe, as well as advertisers and distribution partners, all of whom will benefit from an Olympic Games on home soil. Starting at next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, we are excited to leverage the power of Discovery’s storytelling alongside Eurosport’s unmatched sports production expertise, footprint and partnerships across Europe, to bring to life for fans the human stories of ambition, sacrifice and achievement, reaching more people across more screens than ever before.”