Zug, Switzerland – Infront Sports & Media has sealed a media rights extension with the Swedish public-service broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) that will provide a tremendous scope of television coverage for international skiing, covering a great amount of FIS flagship events. The agreement includes the 2016-2021 FIS Alpine, Cross Country, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Snowboard and Freestyle World Cup events, the 2019 and 2021 FIS Alpine and Nordic Ski World Championships, as well as the 2015 and 2017 FIS Snowboard and Freestyle World Championships. It features in total more than 250 races per season, as both the men’s and women’s competitions are included.
The agreement, which runs from the 2016/17 through till the 2020/21 season, comprises the media rights for live, delayed and highlights coverage across all TV and digital platforms. SVT will also be provided with the FIS World Cup magazine programs for the Alpine, Snowboard and Freestyle competitions, produced by Infront. As part of the long-term partnership, SVT will handle media production of the Swedish events, including the 2019 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships on home ground in Are, at highest quality standard.
Martin Österdahl, Director of programmes at SVT, said: “SVT stands firm in the commitment to deliver world class skiing programming with the highest possible production value to the Swedish public. We are proud to prolong our long and rewarding partnership with Infront. We look forward to bringing winter sports broadcasting to new heights and to new generations in the future together with Infront."
Bruno Marty, Executive Director Winter Sports at Infront, added: “This new agreement with our long-term partner SVT is of unparalleled scope, featuring the flagship FIS World Cup and World Championship events across various disciplines with a long-term perspective that guarantees stability for all parties – most importantly the fans. SVT will generate tremendous exposure and the broadest possible coverage for the sport of skiing, remaining as the first point of reference for all fans in Sweden."
As partner to all national skiing federations (except Austria) that host FIS World Cup events in the Alpine, Nordic, Freestyle and Snowboard disciplines, Infront handles the media rights to almost the entire series on a collective basis and has helped to continuously increase the reach of the FIS World Cup events over the years. The partnership with SVT for the Swedish territory goes back more than 20 years.
Based on its experience in winter sports marketing and skiing in particular, the International Skiing Federation also awarded Infront the media rights to the prestigious 2019 and 2021 FIS Alpine and Nordic World Championships, as well as the 2015 and 2017 FIS Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships.
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.