Russian pay-television broadcaster NTV Plus has agreed a four-year deal to produce the World Cup Series and the Senior World Championships of the Union International de Pentathlon Moderne, the international modern pentathlon union.
The World Cup Series event in the American city of Palm Springs on February 20-24 will be the first event to be produced by NTV Plus, with the agreement running until the end of the 2016 season.
The UIPM said NTV Plus “beat a long list of companies” for the contract, adding that its bid was accepted on the back of its “vision, passion and experience in producing modern pentathlon events”.
NTV Plus will produce the individual final days and mixed relay finals from six events a year live for international television distribution, plus a live webcast of each event, a television magazine show and news edits.
UIPM vice-president for business affairs, Viacheslav Aminov, said: “This agreement is a new epoch in UIPM’s history in the broadcast and popularisation of our great sport. NTV Plus brings with them three years of experience in online and live TV broadcasting of modern pentathlon, especially riding and the combined event.”