NBC Signs Deal for 116 Hours of 2014 and 2016 Paralympic Coverage

In a landmark deal, NBC and the NBC Sports Network have signed an agreement with the International Paralympic Committee for the U.S. media rights to the next two Paralympic Games: 2014 in Sochi and 2016 in Rio.

There are only 5 sports in the winter Paralympic program, but they will see 50 hours of television coverage this March, with each receiving daily coverage.

Then, in September of 2016, the Rio Summer Paralympic Games will receive 66 hours from Brazil on television. Compared that to the 5.5 hours of coverage they received in 2012, this is a monumental leap.

The Paralympic community lit up upon release of the news. Amanda Everlove, a two-time American Paralympian, referred to the news as “groundbreaking;” and Jessica Long said that the news made her “more excited to train.”

“We are absolutely delighted to announce this two-Games agreement with NBC and the USOC as it provides more airtime of the Paralympics than ever before in the U.S.,” said Sir Phillip Craven, president of the IPC. “Following the success of London 2012, we said it was absolutely essential for the growth of the Paralympic Movement and the Paralympic Games that in future years U.S audiences had a greater opportunity to watch some of the world’s best elite athletes in action.

“This is tremendous news for sports fans, too, many of which will be able to watch a Paralympic Games live for the first time. I am sure they will be as captivated and emotionally enthralled as the billions around the world who tuned into London 2012 last summer.”

“With the support of the IPC, USOC and leading corporate sponsors, we are thrilled to provide an unprecedented level of coverage for the Paralympic Games from both Sochi and Rio,” said Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics. “We look forward to telling the inspiring stories of the athletes and capturing the compelling competition across NBC and NBCSN.”

By the numbers:

By the numbers

149 hours of live
streaming for Sochi 2014

77 athletes expected on the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Team

66 hours of television
coverage for Rio 2016

50 hours of television
coverage for Sochi 2014

5.5 hours of television coverage for London 2012

Five sponsors (BMW, BP, Citi, Liberty Mutual and Procter & Gamble) signed to support broadcast and streaming for Sochi

Two channels
(NBC and NBCSN)
set to broadcast
Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016
in the United States

One website
(TeamUSA.org)
set to stream all the
action live from
Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016

Parts of the above were taken from a press release by NBC. Note that Universal Sports, a part of the NBC sports family, is a SwimSwam partner.