IAAF signs agreement with the European Broadcasting Union for 2014-2017 World Athletics events
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) struck a successful deal with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to buy rights for airing the World Athletics Championships for 2014-2017 in the regions of Africa and Europe.
There is no denying the fact that lately, Athletics have emerged among the most popular sports around the world.
The spectators and audience for athletics championships are found all across the globe. Given the phenomenon, the media groups have also started taking seriously the broadcasting rights for athletics events and have started investing heavily to buy them.
After signing the said agreement, the EBU has become the exclusive media partner of the IAAF for the African and European regions.
The three-year agreement will exclusively cover the IAAF World Athletic Series of 2015 (in Beijing) and 2017 (in London).
After signing the deal in Mont-Carlo, the IAAF President Lamine Diack appreciated EBU’s partnership for a fairly long time (over 25 years).
He said, “The EBU has been our partner for every edition of the IAAF World Championships from their creation in 1983 right through until 2009 and we are delighted to be partners again”.
He was of the view that the agreement between the partners will not only ensure a financially secure future for athletics but will also play a significant role in the promotion of athletics across the world by guaranteeing maximum coverage to the IAAF’s
global athletic events.
Jean-Paul Philippot, President of the EBU, also expressed similar views. He said, “I am very pleased of the IAAF decision to become partner of the EBU again. It shows that the traditional strengths of the EBU combined with a new tailor-made servicing concept
are more than ever strong assets for a sport federation like the IAAF”.
He was of the view that the developments will ultimately result in promoting athletics further.
Signing a broadcasting agreement with the EBU is definitely a win-win deal for the IAAF, as the EBU is not only the largest media group for Europe and Africa and has a large viewership, but also it has the capacity and coverage diversity to target various
audiences, through television, radio and websites.
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