Infront secured broadcast agreements in more than 155 territories for last year’s edition of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Championships.
Infront Productions provided over 200 hours of footage across the tournament, which took place from May 10-26 in the Slovakian cities of Bratislava and Košice. Infront deployed a production team of more than 130 people, with 30 cameras set up, including two 4G cameras, ultra slow-motion, ref and cable cameras.
During the tournament, the IIHF published more than 2,500 video clips to its social media channels, attracting over 88 million views – an increase of 118 per cent on the 2018 tournament in Denmark.
Infront said: “The production was supported through digital activations including behind-the-scenes videos and a new daily podcast, The Totally Ice Hockey Show, which gave over 120,000 listeners an even more in-depth analysis and review from the rink.”
The IIHF also teamed up with video-sharing platform YouTube to allow fans to easily find content, while it engaged with social media influencers to deliver daily content across its platforms.
Infront’s senior vice-president of ProSports, Bruno Marty, said: “The aim with the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship is the same every year – build and improve on what we have done previously and set a new standard. The 2019 edition was no exception and we have added another layer to the full-service we provide for our long-term partner the IIHF.”
Infront recently signed a 10-year extension to its media and sponsorship rights sales agreement with the IIHF. The deal runs from 2023 to 2033 and includes rights to the World Championships and the two Division I tournaments (Group A and B).
Infront said that, over the 10-year period covered by the extension, it foresees guaranteed payments and the provision of comprehensive media, marketing and digital services of more than CHF500m (€467m/$515m).
Infront has sold commercial rights for the World Championships since 1981.
This year’s tournament takes place in the Swiss cities of Zurich and Lausanne from May 8-24.