Infront announces Ironman triathlon rights deals

The Infront Sports & Media agency has secured media rights agreements for this year’s Ironman and Ironman 70.3 triathlon events which give them coverage in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Infront is media advisor for rights-holder the World Triathlon Corporation and has been selling a new television series covering this season, consisting of 14 magazine programmes, each of 26-minutes duration. The series is being produced by Infront subsidiary Host Broadcast Services.

The agency has agreed deals with: pay-television broadcaster BSkyB and commercial broadcaster Channel 4 in the UK, basic-tier sports broadcaster Sport1 in Germany, public-service broadcaster ORF in Austria, regional broadcaster Guangdong TV in China, pay-television broadcaster ESPN Brasil in Brazil, and pay-television channel Universal Sports in the US.

Stephan Herth, executive director of summer sports at Infront Sports & Media, said: “The positive take-up shows that broadcasters consider Ironman sports as an appealing product that will be appreciated and followed by their audiences. They value the captivating format, which features the essence of the sport and is produced to the highest international standards. The new contracts mark just the start of a continued push to further extend Ironman and Ironman 70.3 coverage around the world.”

The core Ironman series in 2012 began in April, and finishes with the World Championship Finals in October, held in Kona, Hawaii.