With both the 2018 Winter Games and the 2020 Olympics taking place in Asia, in Pyeongchang and Tokyo respectively, this is set to be a challenging quadrennium for European rights holders, with prime time in Japan and South Korea coinciding with morning in lucrative West European markets.

With this in mind, it will be interesting to see if the IOC can again raise more than $1 billion (£650 million/€890 million) from European markets, as it is understood to have done in 2014-2016, up from $848 million (£572 million/€802 million) in the cycle ending with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This time the IOC is asking potential European media partners to outline how they would work with the Olympic Channel, whose launch was approved by IOC members in Monte Carlo late last year - "including through content and distribution support".

Rights in France and the United Kingdom will be excluded from the upcoming tender, as they have already been sold.

Television rights in Europe for the most recent Olympic cycle, including Sochi 2014, raised more than $1 billion ©Getty Images

In its announcement, the IOC said it had again appointed IMG for consultancy services and that it would ask for bids to be submitted by June 15.

It would "assess bids on their ability to meet the highest standards in broadcast quality, their capacity to reach the broadest possible audience across different media platforms, and their commitment to promoting the Olympic Games and the values of the Olympic Movement, as well as on the financial offer".

It appears to be taking pains to be as flexible as possible, underlining that it would "consider bids on a multi-territory or on a country-by-country basis".

It is also understood to be open to deals stretching more than a single Olympic quadrennium.

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