Berlin Marathon organiser SCC Events has awarded the event’s national media rights to SportA, the sports rights agency of German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF, in a four-year deal commencing from this year’s event on September 29.
Under the agreement brokered by the Infront Sports Media agency, ARD and regional broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg will report live starting from this year’s event, and then on an exclusive basis from 2014.
In addition to the live broadcast, Infront said some ARD stations are also planning to accompany the 2013 Marathon with extensive pre and post event reporting with immediate effect.
Axel Balkausky, sports coordinator at ARD, said: “Endurance competitions in Germany inspire and enthuse more people every year – whether as a participant or spectator. We are taking this popularity into account by including this globally recognised marathon event in Berlin as a top national event in our sports programming.”
The Berlin Marathon is recognised as one of six events that make up the World Marathon Majors, alongside races in Boston, London, New York, Chicago and Tokyo. The German race celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.