The European Broadcasting Union consortium of free-to-air broadcasters has confirmed strong participation from its members in covering the inaugural European Championships multi-sport event in 2018.
The EBU said 23 of its members have committed to broadcasting the Championships including the top five markets on the continent in the shape of the BBC in the UK, ARD/ZDF in Germany, France Televisions in France, Rai in Italy and TVE in Spain.
The EBU holds the broadcast rights to the Championships on all platforms having struck a deal in March 2015. The event will bring together the existing championships of some of the continent’s biggest sports for the first time and be co-hosted by Glasgow and Berlin.
The existing European Championships of athletics, aquatics, cycling, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon will be brought together and a new Golf Team Championships will also be introduced. Around 1,500 athletes will compete in Berlin from August 7-12 as part of the European Athletics Championships, while approximately 3,025 athletes will visit Scotland for the other six events from August 1-12.
Paolo Barelli, co-chair of the 2018 European Championships Board and president of the Ligue Européenne de Natation, the governing body for swimming in Europe, said: “We have brought our individual European championships together in this way to help grow broadcast and commercial opportunities and to continue to encourage participation in our great sports. I am therefore delighted that the major markets across the continent are helping ensure our partnership will be a tremendous success as we create a compelling, must-see event.”
Frank Kowalski, Berlin 2018 managing director, added: “We are convinced that the path our summer sports have chosen to position themselves even more effectively against the power of football is the right one. We will work to create the best synergies between the sports and the two host cities. The new format will be very entertaining.”