The CCTV Sports & Entertainment division of Chinese state-owned broadcaster CCTV has acquired exclusive rights for the 35th America’s Cup ahead of the start of the campaign for the sailing showpiece later this week.
Beginning with the opening America’s Cup World Series event in Portsmouth, England from July 23-26, CCTV will broadcast all World Series events in 2015 and 2016 as well as the America’s Cup Qualifiers and Challenger Playoffs and the America’s Cup Match, which takes place in Bermuda in June 2017.
The racing will be broadcast on CCTV5 Plus, China’s free-to-air sports channel.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for the America’s Cup, our partners and our teams, to demonstrate the excitement of America’s Cup racing to the largest national television audience in the world,” Harvey Schiller, commercial commissioner of the America’s Cup, said.