Copenhagen, Denmark — The eyes of the ice hockey world will be on Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark from 4 May when the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship begins.
The world's 16 best teams will arrive in the Scandinavian country to stake a claim for the crown, with the hosts set to be joined by defending champions Sweden as well as Austria, Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States.
Fan-first focus at heart of IIHF World Championship broadcast vision
It is the first time Denmark will host the tournament, Infront will be on-site at both venues ensuring that all aspects of media production maintain the high benchmark that has been set by past events.
The tournament will be broadcast to an expected cumulative audience of once again more than a billion around the world. For the first time, Infront subsidiary HBS will be responsible for the feed, bringing with them decades of experience from some of the world's most well-known sporting events.
Engaging with the audience
With a global audience watching both through traditional linear models and a range of digital platforms, the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship offers a broad platform for sponsors to engage with the audience.
With long-standing partners such as Official Main Sponsor ŠKODA - who celebrated a world-record 25th year of partnership with the event in 2017 - all is set to use the tournament for a range of activations, fans both in Denmark and around the world will have plenty of ways to connect with the tournament.
The digital story continues
Sport as a whole has spent the last few years finding new and engaging ways to reach fans and customise their experience through content, fantasy games and riveting content.
In 2017 the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship saw a 56% increase in the amount of videos consumed on their social platforms, with 4.1m engagements. It was the latest chapter in a story that has been building since 2015.
The 2018 chapter will build on this, with content custom-made for social media being created for the first time and fan engagement activities planned across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube and VK.
About Infront
Infront is a leading sports marketing company managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events, including the distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production, event operation and digital solutions. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of more than 1,000 staff working from over 40 offices across more than 13 countries, delivering 4,100 event days of top class sport around the world every year. In 2015, Infront was integrated into Wanda Sports Group, part of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group.
