Zug, Switzerland – Infront Sports & Media, the leading international sports marketing company, has secured a comprehensive media rights agreement for the 2019 and 2021 FIS Alpine and Nordic World Ski Championships - providing television coverage across the crucial German ski market on ARD and ZDF. Infront sealed the agreement as part of its role as media and marketing partner to the International Ski Federation (FIS) with SportA, the sports rights agency of the two national public-service broadcasters.
The 2019 Alpine and Nordic World Ski Championships will be staged in Åre, Sweden and Seefeld, Austria respectively. The media rights agreement with SportA covers all rights, including live/delayed, highlights and news coverage across TV, online and mobile platforms nationwide.
Bruno Marty, Executive Director Winter Sports at Infront, commented: “The FIS Alpine and Nordic Skiing World Championships are a new core element in our extensive winter sport portfolio and we have initiated our marketing efforts early to maximise the reach and appeal of these flagship events. The agreement with ARD and ZDF is highly significant due to the importance of the German market in the skiing world as well as the strength of the two national public broadcasters. We are now looking forward to extending our existing partnership towards further broadening top-level winter sports programming in Germany.”
Infront was chosen by the International Ski Federation for the first time as its overall commercial partner for the 2019 and 2021 FIS Alpine and Nordic World Skiing Championships – handling the media rights distribution, TV production, sponsorship, merchandising and hospitality. With respect to the media production, broadcasters will receive a quality of signal and level of support that matches the highest standards in sport today.
As media and/or marketing partner to the majority of national associations hosting FIS World Cup events across various disciplines, Infront has facilitated global media rights distribution through a collective approach, developed and produced attractive programming formats and increased worldwide visibility for the series. Together with the FIS, Infront has also established guidelines to ensure a consistent quality in media production across the entire season. Infront also manages the international media rights distribution – excluding domestic territories – for the 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski 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 experienced staff working from 25 offices across 13 countries, delivering 4,000 event days of top class sport around the world every year.