Infront seals long-term agreement with Europe's leading sports entertainment group for the most comprehensive coverage of winter sports
Paris/France, Milan/Italy, Zug/Switzerland - The Eurosport Group has signed a significant long-term agreement with international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media to consolidate its position as the reference channel for winter sports. Eurosport viewers will be able to enjoy the most comprehensive coverage of winter sports events live on TV and on digital channels through to the 2020/2021 season.
Europe's leading sports entertainment group will continue to offer live coverage of all FIS Alpine, Cross Country, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping, Freestyle and Snowboard World Cup competitions for five seasons from 2016/17 onwards.
In line with Eurosport’s current strategy of expanding exclusivity in pillar sports and for local markets, the broadcaster has secured exclusive coverage in the UK, France, Poland, Romania and Spain for all disciplines of the FIS Alpine and Nordic Skiing World Cup races and in Sweden for the American and Canadian FIS Alpine Ski World Cup races.
By retaining the rights to cover the 2019 and 2021 FIS Alpine and Nordic Skiing World Championships and the 2015 and 2017 FIS Snowboard and Freestyle Skiing World Championships, the channel will provide coverage of over 200 events every season.
Jean-Thierry Augustin, CEO of the Eurosport Group, said: “Eurosport demonstrates once more a clear commitment to invest in its role as the channel of reference for winter sports. On a strategic level, Eurosport continues to secure long-term agreements across its rights portfolio and to increase local exclusivities to provide the best content offer possible for viewers and commercial partners.”
Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront Sports & Media, commented: "We are satisfied to announce this major agreement, as Eurosport represents a real occasion for winter sports to get the visibility they deserve around the world. We deem this has been the right choice to reach a wide audience, thanks to the traditional and digital media the broadcaster owns. This will increase the value of winter sports and widen the number of fans and people who practice them.”
The events will feature on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, as well as on Eurosport Asia-Pacific. In Europe alone over 600 hours of broadcasting will be scheduled per season for the FIS World Cups on Eurosport’s channels. The FIS World Cup events will also be available to watch on mobile, tablet, PC and connected TV through Eurosport’s online simulcast service, Eurosport Player.
About Infront Sports & Media
Infront Sports & Media is the most respected sports marketing company in the world, managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Led by President & CEO Philippe Blatter, Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events – including distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production and event operation – and has won a reputation for its high standards of delivery. As the number one player in winter sport and with a leading role in football and summer sports, Infront enjoys long-lasting partnerships with 160 rights-holders and hundreds of sponsors and media companies. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of 600 experienced staff working from 25 offices across 12 countries, delivering 3,400 event days of top class sport around the world every year.
About Eurosport Group
This year Eurosport celebrates 25 years of leadership in live sports broadcasting and digital innovation.
The Eurosport Group is Europe's leading sports entertainment group.
In 2014, Discovery Communications, the world’s #1 pay-TV programmer, took controlling ownership of Eurosport, expanding its portfolio to reach 2.7 billion cumulative subscribers across more than 220 countries and territories.
Eurosport, the n°1 pan-European TV channel, broadcasts in 20 languages and reaches 136 million homes across 54 countries. Eurosport HD is the high definition simulcast of Eurosport. Eurosport 2 broadcasts to 73 million households in 18 languages across 51 countries. Eurosport 2 HD was launched in August 2009. Eurosport Asia-Pacific reaches 16 countries in the region and launched an HD channel in September 2011. Eurosportnews is the sports news channel transmitted worldwide. Eurosport.com, Europe's n°1 online sports destination, has up to 23 million unique users per month (comScore) across an international network of sports websites in 11 languages, including Yahoo! co-branded sites in Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK. The Eurosport.com free mobile applications are available in 10 languages. Eurosport Player, Eurosport's online TV service, provides LIVE and on-demand sports to fans' PCs in 53 countries and the Player application is available for mobile, tablet and connected TV in up to 34 countries. Eurosport Events is the group's expert division in the management and promotion of international sporting events.
