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We have our team! Ben Winston will serve as Executive Producer and Creative Director, and Scott Givens will serve as Executive Producer - Production. Winston's Fulwell Entertainment and Givens' FiveCurrents will merge as FulFive, which will serve as the production company for the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies. The company will be led by Givens and Ryann Lauckner. https://la28.org/en/newsroom/la28-announces-production-team-and-company-for-opening-and-closing-ceremonies.html

Oh, I like that. Striking and modern but not over the top. Classy looking podium. Very Italian.

Correction, gave a quick look now, they still have the rights for 2029, but it is actually flopping. Another thing i forgot to mention that is actually very important: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esports_Nations_Cup

Whoops! I wonder what was the straw that led to this review; it was the IOC and the saudis butting heads on the programme?(For all their faults, at the very least the game selection of Esports World Cup looks like a esports olympics already. When the IOC made a Olympic Esports Week, the results were stuff like confining Fortinite to regular real-life sport shooting rules instead of just playing Battle Royale like any sane person would.) It was Kirsty realizing that hosting anything in Saudi Arabia would be controversial at the very least, especially for women, like herself?(Considering that the IOC doesn't have much to leverage in a controversy in first place.) Maybe a bit of both, or neither since this is the first thing we hear of this Esports Games since the partnership was penned.(It might have been a nobody did anything situation.) Well, not too late to give it to Korea then! I wish. They're so entrenched in sports politics now that does it matter that the esports games that doesn't even happened yet is gone? Maybe they will get even more inclined to bid for the Games of the Olympiad... but let's not forget their Trojena thing for the Asian Winter Games flopped too in the end. It's all wondrous projects with almost no materialization. Perhaps that count more in the end.

Unlikely they'll be involved. Usually they only do coverage for the Summer Olympics, not the Winter Olympics

MIKE TIRICO, MARIA TAYLOR, AHMED FAREED, AND NOAH EAGLE TO WORK MULTIPLE EVENTS DURING NBC SPORTS’ “LEGENDARY FEBRUARY” NBC SPORTS’ “LEGENDARY FEBRUARY” SCHEDULE Date -- Time (ET) Coverage Assignment Platform Sun. Feb. 1 – 6:30 p.m. Debut of Basketball Night in America Maria Taylor NBC, Peacock Sun. Feb. 1 – 7:30 p.m. Debut of Sunday Night Basketball – Lakers at Knicks Mike Tirico NBC, Peacock Sun. Feb. 1 – 9:30 p.m. Sunday Night Basketball – Thunder at Nuggets Noah Eagle NBC, Peacock Fri. Feb. 6 Milan Cortina Opening Ceremony Savannah Guthrie, Terry Gannon NBC, Peacock Sat. Feb. 7 Olympic Daytime Host Ahmed Fareed NBC, Peacock Sat., Feb. 7 Primetime in Milan Maria Taylor* NBC, Peacock Feb. 7-9 Olympic Late Night Craig Melvin NBC, Peacock Sun. Feb. 8 – 1 p.m. Super Bowl LX Pregame Show Maria Taylor, Noah Eagle NBC, Peacock Sun., Feb. 8 – 6 p.m. Super Bowl LX Mike Tirico NBC, Peacock Sun. Feb. 8 – 10 p.m. Primetime in Milan Mike Tirico* NBC, Peacock Mon. Feb. 9 Primetime in Milan Savannah Guthrie NBC, Peacock Feb. 10-22 Primetime in Milan Mike Tirico NBC, Peacock Feb. 10-21 Olympic Late Night Maria Taylor NBC, Peacock Feb. 13-15 NBA All-Star Weekend Ahmed Fareed NBC, Peacock Sat. Feb. 14 – 5 p.m. NBA All-Star Saturday Noah Eagle NBC, Peacock Sun. Feb. 15 – 5 p.m. 2026 NBA All-Star Game Noah Eagle NBC, Peacock Sun. Feb. 22 – 6 p.m. Basketball Night in America Ahmed Fareed NBC, Peacock Sun., Feb. 22 – 6:30 p.m. Sunday Night Basketball – Celtics at Lakers Noah Eagle NBC, Peacock Sun., Feb. 22 Milan Cortina Closing Ceremony TBD NBC, Peacock *Hosting from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., site of Super Bowl LX Additional programming details will be released at later dates.

I'd happily buy 100 bags of those!

I love the smell of another Bach legacy unravelling in the morning… Maybe that’ll also cool down chances for any Saudi bid for the real thing?

The controversial deal inked last year ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics had come under scrutiny after the election of new IOC president Kirsty Coventry in June, who asked her membership to review all current processes and recommend changes The post Future of Olympic Esports Games uncertain after IOC, Saudi Arabia tear up 12-year deal appeared first on GamesBids.com. View the full article

It will be the latter. "I think this is really powerful, because when you were in the previous editions of the Games, you never had that feeling. You knew that those that were on the field of play that night were mainly the ice hockey players and the skaters. All the others in the mountains could not participate. Well this time around, it’s the full delegation, and you will recognize the faces on camera, because it will cut to all of them. Now, from a timing standpoint, it will have to be like a Swiss clock. But no reason for it not to work."

Logistically, I can’t see the former being viable - you can’t have skaters being allocated to the Cortina march and then have to fly back to Milan for their preliminary events the next day. So I’d guess the latter - the athletes will march in whichever stadium is closest to their base of competition. Which will make it all just a touch more convoluted. But, hey, whatever. I’ll watch the Greeks march in, then go off and make breakfast, wash the car and drive out for some shopping and be back in time to catch the Uzbekistan delegation enter.

So will each country be allocated a ceremony to parade into - Norway in Milan, Sweden in Cortina etc, or will they be constantly cutting within each delegation between their athletes in Milan and their athletes in Cortina? If it's the latter I hope they thought it through because that could get into London 2012 logo launch territory if they're not careful As for the closing, I still don't know what the hell they're thinking having a ceremony in a city that's not hosting anything else (& nowhere near anywhere hosting anything else), but the Verona arena is one of Italy's - Europe's - greatest buildings so it'll be hard to go dramatically wrong in that setting. Still a missed chance to combine it with Sanremo though

That's a lot of sentences to say "basically we're just going to alternate between shots in Milan and others in Cortina." A lot of words to pass off something so basic and boring as an innovation. In my country, we call that branlette intellectuelle. (This ceremony has the potential to make me very sour very quickly. I'm going to focus all my hopes on the closing ceremony. I'll miss the delegations arriving by boat : since they're talking about the Roman heritage of the Verona arena; I hope they'll have the delegations arrive by boat for a grand reenactment of the naumachias.)

The Australian Paralympic gear is weird- they seem to have used about 4 different greens, and browns, and 3 yellows- and a white shirt.....and an aboriginal print! It doesn't look like a 'team' at all.

@Durban Sandshark Do you know if Telemundo will be offering Spanish-language coverage of the Games in the US, like they did for Paris?

Regarding the production for the Olympic Opening Ceremony's parade of nations being distributed across various locations: That’s in one segment in particular, which is pretty long, but it’s also where you have those national prides that kick in. It’s the athletes entering the stadium, except that here it’s the athletes entering the stadiums, or the venues — plural — because you will have a production that cuts from Milano to Cortina, Cortina to etc., for a delegation, to give that feeling that, yes, you are in Milano, but the Games span to Cortina and the rest of it. You see it through the delegation, and it’s one unique delegation that goes behind the flag. It’s going to be super dynamic because it’s going to be a constant cut from Milano back to the mountains and the reverse. Regarding the Olympic Closing Ceremony being in Verona: One highlight for me this time around was to discover the Closing Ceremony. We are in Verona Arena (a Roman amphitheater built in 30 AD). So to start with, it’s quite a unique background. It’s a very small venue, but historic background. It’s been a long time where — and it’s no criticism to the past — but where you have a Closing Ceremony with an amazing artistic segment. https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/milan-cortina-2026-christophe-dubi-ioc

We have ensured that in any of the locations, you have the equivalent of a live site or fan zone, whatever you call it, that can also serve as — it’s different than Paris — but sort of (like) Champions Park. So all the medals will be delivered in the venue. That was a request that was made at the time. It’s all good, but you still have to celebrate the athletes every day. That’s what it should look like. The celebration of athletes in a festive atmosphere in any of the locations, being in front of Duomo (in Milan) or at the foot of the Dolomites. That’s the key point that we are working on right now. How it all happens? I wouldn’t know at this stage, but the intention, spirit, is this. From an NBC Sports interview with Christophe Dubi that was released a couple hours ago: https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/milan-cortina-2026-christophe-dubi-ioc So it looks like the medal ceremonies will take place at their respective venues, but they will still do a daily public celebration for the athletes at each host community.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DQZtkBoiEXi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Finland's Milan-Cortina 2026 look, made by brand Luhta, maker of its Summer and Winter Olympic outfits since 2017. Inspired "by the nature, silence and blue moment of Finnish Lapland, when the last rays of the day paint the sky in natural blue tones." Finland's team's uniforms are designed to be worn on the road, at opening ceremonies, award ceremonies, representative events, and during free time. https://yle.fi/a/74-20191131

https://www.instagram.com/p/DQZhOVxiN_o/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

NBCUNIVERSAL EXTENDS ITS EXCLUSIVE OLYMPIC AUDIO PARTNERSHIP WITH IHEARTMEDIA FOR THEIR MILAN-CORTINA 2026 WINTER OLYMPIC RADIO/AUDIO COVERAGE Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers will return in premiering their new Winter Olympic version of their Two Guys, Five Rings podcast starting in early January before the OC and just after the Closing. iHeartRadio will provide 24/7 play-by-play audio channels of NBCUniversal’s daily linear premium and extensive wide-ranging coverage of the Games with a special emphasis on Team USA in its ice hockey games, figure skating, speed skating, skiing, snowboarding and much more (although we don't know exactly yet how many channels involved), all providing the excitement of every gold-medal finish and triumphant moment set to come from there; promote Olympic-specific episodes from some of iHeart’s top podcasts; and promote tune-in for NBCU’s comprehensive coverage. As well... Meanwhile north of the border as excitement of my favorite baseball team the Toronto Blue Jays reaches fever pitch, the CBC announces today over 2000-hour live content of its Milan-Cortina 2026 English coverage, featuring over 22 hours daily and present at every venue and every medal-winning moment (with two hours spared daily for The National and CBC local news). Audiences in Canada can watch on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service. Once launched, CBC’s website, cbc.ca/milanocortina2026, will offer full event schedules, results, highlights, athlete profiles daily updates and more with about 2900 athletes from 95+ countries. Fans away from a television, computer or laptop can follow the action in the CBC News app’s Olympic section on their mobile device. CBC Sports will also keep audiences informed and entertained with an exclusive digital series available on its social media platforms, including CBC Sports’ YouTube and TikTok, and CBC Olympics’ Facebook and Instagram. Canada’s top commentators and expert analysts are ready to deliver the world-class storytelling, insight and impactful coverage viewers have come to expect from CBC’s Olympic broadcasts. Petro-Canada, RBC (Royal Bank of Canada), Bell, Andi Petrillo*, Anastacia Bucsis*, Perdita Felicien, Craig McMorris*, Ariel Helwani, Cabral “Cabbie” Richards and Donnovan Bennett, Adrienne Arsenault and CBC Olympics reporter Devin Heroux all return from their Paris 2024 CBC involvement https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/olympic-broadcast-milan-cortina-2026-cbc-radio-canada-9.6957085 *are Canadian Screen Award winners/nominees On the French side with Radio-Canada/SRC from Montreal, where we already know who the Radio-Canada Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic studio hosts are. Plus: https://presse.radio-canada.ca/corporatif/14219/milano-cortina-2026-cbc-radio-canada-devoile-les-details-de-sa-programmation-olympique/ Safe to assume that SVT Vinterstudion's co-hosts Andre Pops and Yvette Hermundstad will be involved with SVT's return to Winter Olympics broadcasting, likely as studio hosts, as that Vinterstudion season kicks off: https://www.svt.se/sport/vintersport/vinterstudion-20252026-har-ar-alla-sandningstider Over at TV4, Annette Norberg joins as its Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic TV curling analyst/expert on TV4 and TV4 Play: https://www.instagram.com/tv4_sport/p/DQZKfTiiCA6/ Swedish NHL stars William Karlsson (Las Vegas Golden Knights), Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning), and Erik Karlsson (Pittsburgh Penguins) all playfully flub their lines in a TV4 promo announcing that Sweden's Tre Kronor men's Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic hockey games will appear on TV4 and TV4 Play: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQYi6voiEQH/ Also, Swedish Idol and Masked Singer host Behrouz Badreh also joins TV4's Olympic broadcast team being not only in the studio, but he will also be heading out onto the ice and snow to try out sports like skeleton and moguls "meeting different national teams and see how difficult it is, what it takes to be in the Olympics," says Behrouz Badreh, – I will expose myself to this to embrace the Olympic spirit. Plus he'll be involved in TV4's Olympic ice hockey broadcasts, a sports he's very passionate about. Badreh says his favorite Olympic memory is when Peter Forsberg scored the winning penalty over Canada for Sweden to win gold back in 1994: https://www.tv4.se/artikel/2cDAglQjkOb646BTLcWwEB/behrouz-berra-badreh-blir-os-profil-i-tv4 All of Milan-Cortina's men's and women's Olympic ice hockey matches in Finland will be on YLE again, shown live on YLE Areena and comprehensively on YLE TV2 and YLE TV1 channels. You can also get into the competition atmosphere from morning to night on YLE's website and the YLE app. Olympic ice hockey can be listened to on Radio Suomen Olympiaradio and YLE Areena. Yle's own hockey studio takes viewers into the excitement of Olympic hockey and follows every twist and turn. The Olympic Hockey Best of the Day program reviews the topics of the games, the matches of the day and their most important moments, and the greatest goals. YLE's hockey studios in Milan are led by Riku Salminen and the new addition to the YLE team, Anni Jämsä. Experts include Jussi Jokinen, Kari Jalonen, Ismo Lehkonen, Venla Hovi, Minttu Tuominen, and Eveliina Mäkinen. The Lions' matches on YLE's TV channels and at Yle Areena are commented by Toni Saukkola. The Women's Lions' matches are commented by Juhavaltteri Salminen and the most interesting international matches by Velja Engström. YLE Radio Finnish Olympic Radio will be commented by Mikko Aaltonen, Tero Kainulainen, and Anssi Ritari. In Swedish, the games will be commented by Mattias Simonsen and Christoffer Herberts. I think on the TV realm for Swedish-language Olympic hockey matches, they will have to turn to SVT and TV4 instead of YLE Fem/FST5: https://yle.fi/a/74-20189760 TelevisaUnivision has been VERY quiet since its acquisition announcement in February about its Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics coverage plans. Possible we'll get details at last at its Upfront 2026 tomorrow in Mexico City. Shakira is scheduled to be a special guest there, among other things: https://www.produ.com/television/noticias/televisaunivision-presentara-en-mexico-su-nueva-oferta-de-contenidos-2026/

Do Not Travel There. A country led by a pro-terrorist government will not be able (or possibly even willing) to ensure security during the Olympics..

Japan.