EUROSPORT ACCELERATES ITS DELIVERY OF PREMIUM SPORTS PROPERTIES ACROSS MARKETS IN EUROPE AND ASIA
-- The group has signed a series of exclusive rights deals including the Wimbledon Championships, UEFA Europa League, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, Rugby World Cup and US PGA TOUR --
June 4, 2015
Paris, June 4, 2015: Eurosport has signed ten new premium rights deals in one week to further demonstrate its focus on delivering the best sports content. The acquisitions have been signed on an exclusive basis in markets including Scandinavia, Netherlands, Belgium and Singapore as the company continues to roll out its localisation strategy to provide a more relevant and compelling experience to local viewers.
"Acquiring further rights of must-have key sporting properties across some of the world's most popular sports including tennis, football, rugby and golf demonstrates our ambition to deliver the best viewing experience for sports fans and further positions Eurosport as a leading destination for many of the world's greatest sporting events," said Peter Hutton, Chief Executive Officer, Eurosport.
Eurosport completes tennis Grand Slam
Eurosport has completed the Grand Slam of tennis rights in Belgium by adding Wimbledon to the three Grand Slams already part of its portfolio - the Australian Open, French Open and US Open.
The deal includes exclusive TV and digital rights for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions of the flagship grass-court tournament, which will be broadcast live in Belgium in both the French and Dutch languages. The tournament will also be available on Eurosport Player, Eurosport's dedicated online TV service which launches a new and improved version on June 10, also announced today, to give sports fans the most immersive coverage of sports events.
"Tennis is a pillar sport for Eurosport. This year's broadcast of the French Open has been better than ever before with more live matches, more special programmes and with the signing of new experts including John McEnroe and Chris Evert. The acquisition of the Wimbledon Championships in Belgium reaffirms Eurosport as a premier destination for tennis," added Hutton.
Eurosport bolsters football rights portfolio
Eurosport, a Discovery Company, has also secured the exclusive TV and digital rights to the UEFA Europa League. The deal covers Sweden, Norway and Denmark as well as Singapore, for the 2015/2016 to 2017/2018 seasons. In Scandinavia, live coverage of the competition will also be broadcast on Discovery's channels.
Two matches will be broadcast live on each match day on Eurosport Norway, Eurosport Denmark and Eurosport 2 in Sweden and up to two matches will be shown live on Discovery's channels - Kanal 9 in Sweden, MAX in Norway, 6'eren and Canal 9 in Denmark. Additional matches will be available on Dplay, Discovery's premium video streaming service which will show around 100 matches per season.
In Singapore, the UEFA Europa League acquisition follows that of the UEFA Champions League premium package signed by Eurosport in April. Eurosport will broadcast two live matches every match day with all additional matches available to viewers online through OTT services.
In addition, the Italian and French top-tier football leagues, the Serie A and the Ligue 1, will also be shown exclusively on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 in the Netherlands from the 2015/2016 to the 2017/2018 seasons. The deal includes TV and digital rights for both competitions as well as for the Coupe de la Ligue, French soccer's league cup competition, the Emirates Cup in London headlined by Arsenal and a package of pre-season friendly matches.
Eurosport acquires PGA TOUR rights
Eurosport has secured the rights to broadcast the US PGA TOUR in Norway. Golf fans in Norway can look forward to seeing Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and other superstars tee-off on Eurosport and Dplay from January 2016 to the end of 2021.
The TV broadcast will be aired on the upcoming new look Eurosport Norway channel. The rights involve a minimum of 36 PGA TOUR tournaments a season, as well as The Presidents Cup, the series of matches between US and the rest of the world excluding Europe, in 2017, 2019 and 2021. The Eurosport channel will air a minimum of two hours of the PGA TOUR every day from Thursday to Sunday during each tournament. In addition, Dplay subscribers will get access to all content made available from the PGA TOUR giving golf fans the best possible coverage.
2015 Rugby World Cup in Germany
The 2015 Rugby World Cup is another jewel added to Eurosport's portfolio. Eurosport has secured the exclusive TV and digital rights for Germany and will show more than 20 live matches for the duration of the tournament, hosted by England and Wales, from 18 September to 31 October.
The extensive coverage will kick-off with the opening game at Twickenham, where hosts England will take on Fiji, and will include the best group stage matches, the quarter-finals, semi-finals, bronze medal match and the final.
These acquisitions follow a series of signed pan-regional and local rights including wintersports World Cups, cycling's Tour of Spain, football's MLS and FA Cup, MotoGP series, IAAF Diamond League in athletics, and a number of ATP and WTA tennis tournaments.
ENDS
Eurosport contacts
Oliver Springgay, ospringgay@eurosport.com, +33 1 40 93 81 42; +33 7 60 14 71 83
Marc Hebert, mhebert@eurosport.com, +33 1 40 93 80 59; +33 6 99 61 85 37
Gerdine Lindhout, glindhout@eurosport.com, + 33 1 40 93 83 61; +33 7 62 61 58 94
ABOUT EUROSPORT GROUP
Eurosport Group is the leading pan-regional sports entertainment destination. Part of Discovery Communications, the world's No.1 pay-tv programmer, Eurosport is dedicated to delivering the most comprehensive live sports experience through compelling content and technical innovation. Eurosport reaches 222 million cumulative subscribers across 91 countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Eurosport - the flagship channel - is the No.1 pan-European TV channel, broadcasting over 5,000 hours of live sport every year into 137 million homes in 54 countries, providing expert commentary in 20 different languages. Eurosport.com is Europe's No.1 online sports news website with up to 23 million visitors every month. Eurosport Events is the group's expert division in the management and promotion of international sporting events. More information on corporate.eurosport.com
# # #