For coverage discussion of the next Winter Olympics on Nine.
NINE SEALS EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FOR MILANO CORTINA 2026 PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES
(L-R) Cameron Murray (Paralympics Australia CEO); Ben Tudhope (Winter Paralympic Medalist); Andrew Parsons (President of International Paralympic Committee); Ellie Cole (Paralympic Gold Medalist); Matt Stanton (Nine CEO)
Nine Entertainment Co. (Nine) and the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 have today announced that Nine has secured the exclusive free and paid audio-visual and non-exclusive audio rights to the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.
The deal once again places Nine at the forefront of Australian Paralympic sport coverage as Australia’s official Paralympic Network, after the record-breaking coverage of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games was watched by more than 10 million viewers.
Nine will bring the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games to Australian audiences from March 6-15, delivered exclusively on the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.
In addition to free-to-air and streaming coverage, Nine will bring unparalleled storytelling, imagery and sounds of the Winter Paralympic Games to audiences across Nine’s platforms, with key moments across its talk radio stations 2GB, 3AW, 6PR and 4BC, as well as coverage published across Nine’s suite of print and online publishing platforms, including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Brisbane Times, WAtoday, The Australian Financial Review, nine.com.au and wwos.com.au.
Seen as one of the most transformational sporting events on earth that leave host countries and cities a better place for people with disabilities, the Paralympics provides a rare opportunity to unite the world. Milano Cortina 2026 will mark the 50th anniversary since the first Paralympic Winter Games in 1976. Up to 665 Para-athletes from 50 countries are set to compete at the Games, contesting 79 medal events across six sports.
Matt Stanton, Nine Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are proud to continue our relationship with the Paralympic Games as the exclusive partner for Milano Cortina 2026. Using Nine’s unrivalled scale across streaming, broadcasting and publishing, Australian audiences will be able to immerse themselves, whenever and wherever, in all the action and the incredible stories of these amazing athletes.”
Andrea Varnier, Chief Executive Officer of Milano Cortina 2026, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Nine as the official Australian broadcaster of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. From 6 to 15 March 2026, as Italy takes the global spotlight with events across Verona, Milano, Cortina and Val di Fiemme, Australian fans will have the chance to follow every moment of this global celebration of high-performance winter sport and passion. We look forward to partnering with Nine to bring the excitement of the Games directly to Australian audiences.“
Cameron Murray, Chief Executive Officer of Paralympics Australia, said: “Paralympic stories are immensely powerful. They’re about skill, resilience and determination. They strike at the heart of the human condition in a way that can inspire and empower all Australians. It’s why Paralympics Australia is thrilled to be working alongside Nine, building on a partnership that started with Nine’s exceptional coverage of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
“We anticipate delivering an Australian Paralympic Team to Milano Cortina 2026 that is exciting and capable of continuing our proud tradition of punching above our weight in Winter Para-sports. To have Nine’s brilliant storytellers bringing the action to Australians through its vast and diverse suite of media assets is a wonderful outcome. Paralympics Australia congratulates Matt Stanton and his team at Nine and Andrea Varnier at Milano Cortina 2026 for reaching an agreement that will take coverage of the Games next March to truly great heights.”
Harnessing the power of Nine’s diverse streaming, television, audio and digital platforms, Australian audiences will be able to log on and tune in anywhere, anytime, and on any device to get the very latest Winter Paralympic Games news and coverage.
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What a start for Nine in the first quarter of next year with the summer of tennis into Winter Olympics, MAFS, NRL season kickoff and the Paralympics.
2nd straight Paralympics Nine has secured with them having televised last year’s Paris Paralympics.
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Who posed this? 
Photoshop.
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AUSTRALIANS SET FOR SPORT’S BIGGEST ADRENALINE RUSH AS NINE REVEALS DETAILS OF OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES MILANO CORTINA 2026
CROSS-PLATFORM COMMERCIAL OFFERING UNVEILED FOR BRANDS TO CONNECT WITH VIEWERS DURING ADRENALINE FILLED OLYMPICS
With less than eight months to go until the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on February 6, Nine today reveals its integrated commercial offering across its Total TV, Total Publishing and Total Audio assets.
Off the back of Nine’s record-breaking coverage of Paris 2024 - which reached 19.5 million Australians and earned the company a prestigious IOC Golden Rings award for world’s best coverage - Milano Cortina 2026 is the second Olympic Games Nine will deliver during a runway of world class storytelling up to Brisbane 2032.
With the Winter Olympics set to be spread across various picturesque locations in Northern Italy, the 9Network coverage will feature Experts who are part of one of Australia’s most exclusive sporting club - Australian Winter Olympic Gold medallists, including Torah Bright, Lydia Lassila and Steven Bradbury.
Olympic mogul skier Britt Cox, snowboarder Steph Prem and alpine skier Jono Brauer will also provide their expertise through the Games, with the commentary line-up also including David Culbert (snowboard/alpine skiing), Sami Kennedy Sim (alpine skiing), Mitch Tomlinson (halfpipe, big air & slopestyle), and Matt Hill (downhill/slalom). The 9Network’s hosting team and full commentary lineup will be announced in the coming months.
Nine will be based in the thick of the action in the alpine village of Livigno, which will be a winter sporting wonderland of moguls, snowboard courses and aerial ski jumps. There will also be a state-of-the-art set in Nine’s North Sydney studio that will again showcase cutting edge augmented reality technology that was used for Paris 2024, allowing brands integration and a world class viewer experience.
The 16 day event will feature more than 50 Australian athletes - including freestyle skier Jakara Anthony, snowboard halfpipe Scotty James and women’s aerials Laura Peel and Danielle Scott - with what is expected to be Australia’s best ever Winter Olympics medal prospects. The team will be led by Australia’s chef de mission Alisa Camplin.
For advertisers, the Winter Olympics represent a powerful brand moment with proven ROI. Leveraging the power of Nine’s unrivalled scale and ability to engage Australians across a diverse suite of TV, audio and publishing assets, with our data-driven knowledge of these fans, Nine’s coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 will offer brands and advertisers a deeper, more meaningful connection with our audiences.
The white knuckle thrills and spills of the Winter Olympics provides adrenaline fueled action that attracts a young, engaged audience. Nine’s integrated content ecosystem is designed to reach emotionally primed, hard-to-reach audiences, with 83% of 18–39-year-olds expected to tune in*.
Commercial packages will span cross-platform opportunities, from sponsorships of daily segments and medal tallies to immersive creative activations and branded content. Data-driven insights and custom campaigns via Powered will allow brands to cut through with maximum resonance and precision. Past Olympic partners saw significant gains after Paris 2024 - up to +70% uplift in brand quality perception and +47% increase in enquiries.*
Nine will provide an unrivalled 24/7 connected content ecosystem spanning all facets of Nine’s suite of assets. It will broadcast more than 2600 hours of Winter Olympics across the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport, alongside comprehensive coverage through Nine’s audio assets. Nine’s publishing assets, spanning its mastheads and digital sites nine.com.au, WWOS.com.au and Pedestrian.TV, will ensure viewers can extend their Games experience.
Nine’s Paralympic Winter Games coverage will run from March 6 - 15 across the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport, as well as utilising Nine’s audio and publishing assets. Milano Cortina 2026 will mark the 50th anniversary since the first Paralympic Winter Games in 1976. Up to 665 Para-athletes from 50 countries are set to compete at the Paralympics, contesting 79 medal events across six sports, with viewers guided through the action by Paralympian Ellie Cole.
Nine’s Chief Executive Officer, Matt Stanton, said: “The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina will be a celebration of courage, national pride, and human achievement. Nine’s coverage of Paris 2024 set a new benchmark for how Olympic and Paralympic Games are delivered to viewers, and Milano Cortina 2026 will build on our success. Whether fans are streaming on their phone, watching on their main screen, catching results on radio or reading about the big moments across our publishing assets, Australians can unite behind our athletes as they compete on the biggest stage.”
Nine’s Chief Sales Officer, Matt James, said: “There is no other event quite like the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Combining unbelievable athletic talent with whatever Mother Nature can throw at them, winter sport events are truly captivating, edge-of-the-seat viewing. For brands, this provides a marketing platform to reach a highly-engaged, enthusiastic younger audience at an unrivalled scale. As we go to market, advertisers will be given the chance to be a part of Nine’s coverage across TV, streaming, audio, digital and publishing offering rich branding moments across every touchpoint.”
Source: OzTAM VOZ up to 12/08/2024 (up to 2am research date end), OzTAM VPM up to 12/08/2024 (up to 2am research date end), OzTAM VOZ up to 08/09/2024 & OzTAM VPM up to 08/09/2024
Source: Consumer pulse Feb 2025, PMAX fandom survey Nov 2024
Source: Gemba Paris Olympics Brand Uplift 2025
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Matt Hill is also their caller for the Melbourne Cup Carnival and did rowing commentary for the Olympics last year.
According to Mumbrella, Nine will be selling four premium partner packages as well as multiple smaller sponsor packages. The partner packages will be available for $3.9 million, while sponsor deals cost $2.9 million.
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Former cycling gold medalist and now media commentator Scott McGory will be calling Speed Skating for Nine at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. He called the track cycling at Paris 2024.
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Won gold at the Madison in Sydney 25 years ago. Phil Liggett called some freestyle skiing events back in 2010
Also called ski jumping for seven in 1998 at nagano
Only a daily highlights show for Winter Paralympics?!
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Probably just means that’s the only addition and everyone else continues their Olympics role.
Although I can’t imagine who would write “daily highlights show” right after, literally in the previous few commas, “comprehensive coverage”.
On tap for those days are:
Thursday, Feb 5: Curling 5am-7am (probably deferred to Gem), curling/ice hockey 8.05pm-9.40am
Friday, Feb 6: Snowboard 5.30am-7.45am (also Gem?), evening action 7.55pm-3.10am
Chemist Warehouse was also revealed as a broadcast partner leading into the Victoria Derby coverage