Getty Images
Milan Cortina 2026 feels like a significant moment for the Winter Olympics.
Aside from a successful staging in Vancouver in 2010, the Games have spent two decades touring countries with challenging politics or without a strong winter sports heritage, while a global pandemic prevented fans from attending four years ago.
There have also been discussions about how the Winter Olympics can remain relevant and sustainable in a rapidly changing world where climate change threatens its very existence – or at the very least limits the number of places that can feasibly host the Games.
But there are reasons for optimism. Organisers hope to capitalise on resurgent public interest in the Olympics generated by Paris 2024, while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is entering a new era under the leadership of Kirsty Coventry.
On top of that, fans will be back in attendance to cheer on the likes of Lindsey Vonn, Eileen Gu and Marco Odermatt, while the National Hockey League (NHL) has returned to ice hockey competitions already buoyed by the creation of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
“The Games are going to be incredible,” Coventry recently said. “I’m getting really, very excited about being able to get there and see the blend of tradition and innovation.”
The Winter Olympics returns to Europe for the first time since Sochi 2014 (Image credit: Getty Images)
The host
Milan Cortina beat a bid from Stockholm and Are in Sweden to win the rights to host the Games back in 2019. It’s the third Winter Olympics to be held in Italy, which last hosted the games in Turin in 2006 – the last time they were in Europe.
It is also the first Summer or Winter Olympics to officially be hosted in two cities, which are separated by 250 miles by road.
In total, 25 venues across four clusters – Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Valtellina and Val di Fiemme – will be used for 16 sports during the Games, making it the most geographically spread Olympics of all time. More than 90 per cent of the venues already exist or will be temporary, mirroring a similar approach taken by Paris 2024.
The opening ceremony will be held in Milan’s San Siro – home of Serie A clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan. The city will also host figure skating, speed skating and ice hockey, although there have been concerns that the rink at the PalaItalia Santa Giulia ice hockey arena – the only permanent venue being constructed for the Games – may not be completed in time for the start of the Games. Organisers have also acknowledged that the arena will not be finished in time for the first match.
Cortina d’Ampezzo, which hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics, will stage alpine skiing, sliding sports such as luge and skeleton, and the curling competition. Other events, such as freestyle skiing, snowboarding, biathlon and Nordic skiing, will be held across the regions of Lombardy and Trentino.
The closing ceremony will take place in Verona and there are six Olympic Villages located near main competition venues.
Organisers have conceded that the original budget of around US$1.3 billion to stage the Games has now risen to more than US$1.7 billion, with other associated infrastructure costs also up. That includes €3.5 billion (US$4.19 billion) in public money used to improve the country’s infrastructure for the Games, such as the €118 million (US$141.3 million) cost of renovating the sliding centre in Cortina and roughly €300 million (US$359.4 million) spent on building the ice hockey venue.
Winter Olympics organisers are “absolutely certain” all scheduled fixtures will be played at the PalaItalia Santa Giulia (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ticket demand in line with expectations
A combined total of more than one million tickets have been sold for the Milan Cortina Olympics and the Paralympic Games that will follow. Around 1.5 million tickets were put on sale by organisers, who have noted the ticket sales figure is currently in line with their expectations.
The cheapest ticket price is €30 (US$35.88), and organisers have claimed more than half the tickets are on sale for less than €100 (US$119.58). The most expensive sporting event is the men’s ice hockey final, with tickets ranging between €450 (US$538.13) to €1,400 (US$1674.17).
The closing ceremony in Verona is dearer still, ranging from €950 (US$1,136.04) to €2,900 (US$3,467.92). However, spectators aged 26 and under can buy two tickets for the price of one for the cheapest category at the opening ceremony.
The Italian government expects two million visitors will enter the country for the Games. In October, Visa said US-based fans accounted for a third of all ticket spend – the highest share outside Italy – while Northern Italy is expected to see a 160 per cent year-over-year (YoY) increase in international travellers arriving by plane.
Broadcast arrangements
The IOC will hope the improved ratings of Paris 2024 transfer from the summer to the winter after a series of disappointing Games from a viewership perspective. The central European time zone should play a crucial part in that, attracting more viewers from winter sport heartlands in the Alps, the Nordics and beyond.
The Winter Olympics have traditionally been a significant draw in the US, where NBC has owned the rights for several decades and is ultimately the biggest single benefactor of the worldwide Olympic movement. It paid US$7.5 billion for the rights to show every Winter and Summer Olympic Games between 2022 and 2032 and extended this deal until 2036 for another US$3 billion last year.
It hopes linear coverage on NBC will deliver strong advertising revenue and that the Games will be a subscription driver for its Peacock streaming service, which benefited greatly from Paris 2024.
In Europe, Milan Cortina marks the beginning of a new media rights cycle with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), which expires in 2032.
WBD will air comprehensive coverage on its Eurosport and TNT Sports linear services, as well as its Discovery+ and HBO Max streaming services. Meanwhile, EBU members are able to broadcast at least 100 hours of the Winter Games on television alongside ‘a broad range’ of radio coverage, live streaming and reporting across digital media platforms.
In Germany, Hungary and the Nordics, WBD shares comprehensive rights with local broadcasters. Home broadcaster Rai will also hold parallel coverage rights to WBD’s streaming of the Games as part of a one-off arrangement.
The joint deal marks a change in approach for the IOC, which previously sold all its rights to WBD, which was then responsible for agreeing sublicensing deals with national broadcasters.
As for the Paralympics, the UK’s free-to-air (FTA) rights will once again be held by Channel 4, with EBU members able to show the Games on linear and streaming platforms on a non-exclusive basis. WBD will also provide coverage of the event in 49 markets on Eurosport in up to 20 languages.
The BBC will broadcast the Winter Olympics as a member of the EBU, which becomes a rights holder alongside WBD (Image credit: BBC)
Sponsorship overview
Like the IOC’s broadcast partners, the Olympic body’s sponsors will be hoping that Milan Cortina builds on the success of Paris 2024. What it does offer is a more stable marketing environment than Beijing 2022, which was held behind closed doors and saw several sponsors accused of ignoring China’s human rights record.
There has been significant change within the IOC’s top sponsorship tier, which saw Intel, Atos, Bridgestone, Panasonic and Toyota exit the TOP programme after Paris 2024, with several being Japanese brands that left the programme on the back of a run of Olympics in Asia.
Those departures have been partly offset by the arrival of Chinese electronics firm TCL, with Milan-Cortina 2026 being the first of four Games included in its deal. This will also be the first Winter Olympics for AB InBev, which pushed through an early renewal of its partnership with the IOC following a successful Paris 2024.
However, TOP revenue has fallen to US$560 million, which Sports Business Journal (SBJ) reports is the lowest generated by the programme since 2020.
Outside of the IOC’s global programme, domestic partnership revenue is also crucial to the operating budget for the Games, and the Milan-Cortina 2026 organising committee has a sponsorship revenue target of €550 million (US$657.5 million) across four tiers.
While it is not clear whether that target has been met, eight brands have signed up to the premium tier, including Enel, Eni, Poste Italiane, Intesa Sanpaolo, Leonardo and Stellantis. As of August, a total of 40 deals had been confirmed, with EA7 Emporio Armani and TIM also part of the local lineup.
While the Olympics remain an opportunity for sponsors to promote their association with the Games, partners are also increasingly central to how the event is delivered. A good example of that at Milan Cortina will be domestic sponsor Uber, whose technology will be integrated into Games operations to support transport between venues and reduce congestion.
It will also be worth watching whether Olympic sponsors are afforded greater visibility in Italy after the likes of Samsung and LVMH were given the opportunity to promote their products at Paris 2024.
The bigger picture
As is often the case, the build-up to the Games have taken place against a tense political backdrop, though Coventry has insisted it is not within the IOC’s remit to comment on political conversations.
The expected presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the event has sparked protests in Italy, while this could be the last Games to ban Russian athletes following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Coventry has refused to comment on the presence of ICE agents other than that the distraction from the Games was “sad” but has expressed her belief that the Olympics to be “a place where every athlete can compete freely, without being held back by the politics or divisions of their governments.” Her comments came after Fifa president Gianni Infantino voiced his support for reinstating Russia at its competitions.
The future of the Olympics’ structure is also uncertain, with the IOC reviewing more than 450 Summer and Winter medal events to examine possible change. This has increased speculation that some summer sports that are not yet Olympic disciplines, such as cyclocross and cross country running, could be added to the winter schedule. Winter sports federations have rejected the idea, noting that such change would “dilute the brand, heritage and identity” of the event.
A more existential threat is climate given a recent study from the World Economic Forum (WEF) warned only ten countries will have enough snow to host the Games by 2040. More immediately, the IOC is sticking with traditional winter sports nations, with the French Alps hosting in 2030 and Lake Placid in 2034. Switzerland is expected to win the rights to host in 2038 and recently put forward a ‘decentralised’ venue plan for the event.
Combining richer content, in-depth data and exclusive community benefits, SportsPro+ is your VIP pass into the global sports industry. Discover more here.