European Athletics has extended a deal for the European Broadcasting Union consortium of public-service broadcasters to sell the governing body’s media rights outside Europe.
The new four-year deal, from 2012 to 2015, extends a partnership that has been in place since 1981.
The agreement covers all of European Athletics’ major events, including the Helsinki 2012 and Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championships, and the Gothenburg 2013 and Prague 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships. The deal also covers the 2013, 2014, 2015 European Athletics Team Championships and the annual European Cross Country Championships.
European Athletics director general Christian Milz cited a significant increase in the worldwide cumulative audience for the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona for the renewal of the deal. The event attracted 368 million viewers over six days in comparison with 340 million over seven days for the 2006 event.
“These fantastic figures show a huge interest in our main events, and we believe this bodes well for a future working together with EBU,” Milz said. “We will now be able to optimise the importance of our sport not only within Europe but also worldwide and we see a lot of synergies in this additional partnership.”