The IMG Media agency has agreed a “long-term” deal to become a media distribution partner of the Association of Surfing Professionals from 2014.
IMG will develop a content distribution strategy to help grow men’s and women’s surfing through the ASP World Championship Tour and ASP Big Wave World Tour properties.
The start of the 2014 season will see the convergence of production, marketing, media, social and sponsorship initiatives under the ASP banner for the first time in surfing’s history. As part of this initiative, ESPN in October signed up as the ASP’s exclusive US broadcaster as part of a three-year agreement to showcase the sport’s elite events.
ESPN’s rights deal will allow surfing fans to see highlight shows immediately following the 26 elite tour events across men’s, women’s and big wave arenas in Australia, Brazil, Fiji, Indonesia, Tahiti, USA, France, Portugal, Chile, Peru, South Africa, Spain and Mexico.
YouTube has also signed a four-year deal to exclusively provide fans with more than 3,000 hours of programming, including live streaming of the 26 elite events. ASP will now work with IMG to finalise its international media partnerships for 2014 and beyond.
The 2014 ASP Men’s and Women’s World Championship Tours start with the Gold Coast events, which run alongside one another in Australia from March 1-12.