IPC boosts Tokyo 2020 Paralympics live coverage

The International Paralympic Committee have added a further five sports to the roster that will be broadcast live from the Tokyo 2020 summer Paralympic Games, bringing the total number to 19 sports, encompassing 21 disciplines.

The five additional sports to be shown live are: canoeing, equestrianism, rowing, archery and shooting.

At the Rio 2016 Paralympics, 12 disciplines from 12 sports were broadcast live.

The IPC said greater support from broadcasters, Tokyo 2020 and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) led to the increase in coverage.

Alexis Schaefer, the IPC’s commercial, broadcasting and partnerships director, added: “Our strategy throughout has been to invest all additional revenues generated from TV rights sales back in to the broadcasting plan for Tokyo 2020.  This is allowing us to broadcast live nine disciplines and seven sports more compared to Rio 2016.

In addition to more live TV coverage, the IPC is also investing in delivering more short form content for broadcasters to use in the form of highlights, athletes features and profiles.

The IPC is confident the enhanced coverage will ensure viewing figures exceed the record cumulative audience of 4.1 billion people for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The other 14 sports that will be broadcast live are: athletics, badminton, boccia, cycling (road and track), 5-a-side football, goalball, judo, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, triathlon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.