TV 2 and Viaplay collaborate on sports rights

Egmont's Norwegian broadcaster TV 2 and Viaplay will share a number of rights in the coming years. These include the FIS World Cup in cross-country, alpine, combined and ski jumping from the 2026/2027 season, as well as the World and European Handball Championships from 2026.

In addition, Viaplay and TV 2 will share handball's Champions League and Europa League as well as the English FA Cup in football this spring.

CEO of Viaplay Norway, Kenneth Andresen, is delighted to have TV 2 on board.

"With this collaboration, we have secured the rights to winter sports for the foreseeable future, and we now have the best starting point to further improve the coverage of both winter sports and handball for the benefit of sports-loving audiences across the country," says Andresen.

Editor-in-Chief and CEO Olav T. Sandnes is pleased that TV 2 was given the opportunity to acquire these rights.

"Live sports throughout much of the year is important, and we see a lot of interest in winter sports and handball in Norway. Therefore, it was natural for us to seize this unique opportunity when it arose," says Sandnes.

The deal means even more content for both football and ski enthusiasts, as significantly more matches in the prestigious FA Cup will be produced this season, and the agreement provides up to 30 per cent more content and TV time for winter audiences compared to today.

Kristian Oma, Head of Sports at Viaplay Norway, says that viewers will benefit from the fact that two broadcasters that invest so much in sports have entered into a comprehensive rights partnership.

‘Both TV 2 and Viaplay have sky-high editorial ambitions, and these new rights give us a common and long horizon where we can help build this together. Our promise to viewers is to take this very seriously and at the same time have the most engaging possible approach to our future coverage of these sports that the Norwegian people love so much,’ says Oma.

Vegard Jansen Hagen, Sports Editor at TV 2, is looking forward to having big new rights to work with.

‘Sharing these rights means a commitment from both TV 2 and Viaplay and even better overall editorial coverage for viewers. We had a great partnership with Viaplay during the last European Handball Championship, and we look forward to continuing that with the new rights,’ says Vegard Jansen Hagen.

The World Skiing Championships and the European Handball Championships are planned to be made widely available to viewers via the main channel TV 2 Direkte and on TV 2 Play.

‘Handball championships and winter sports have an extremely strong position among Norwegians. The goal is to reach and engage as large an audience as possible. These are popular rights that engage and inspire,’ Jansen Hagen concludes.