THE Olympic eventing dressage and cross-country will not be available to view live on the BBC, as a result of the multi-million-pound deal with Discovery.
Although the eventing showjumping, and the pure showjumping team and individual finals, will be aired on the BBC, as will tomorrow’s (28 July) dressage freestyle, which will decide the individual medals, UK fans will have to watch the rest on paid-for services.
During the 2012 and 2016 Games, the BBC was able to show coverage of a huge range of different sports, including equestrianism, streamed live on the red button, through iPlayer and on the BBC Sport website. But the Tokyo Olympics organisers sold the European TV rights to Discovery.
The US company has put most coverage behind its paywall; Sky Q customers can get a year’s free trial of the Discovery+ service to watch the Games, there is a special deal available to pay-monthly Vodafone customers and a short free trial available to all.
As part of the deal, some content must be free to watch and this, including the equestrian sessions mentioned above, is available on the BBC. But owing to this arrangement, the BBC can only show up to two live events at once, one on a TV channel and one via the red button or online.
The BBC said it would still air all the “must-see moments” from the Games, but confirmed the licensing agreements prevents it from offering all sports.
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