Swedish public-service broadcaster SVT has agreed a five-year extension to its rights deal for a range of International Ski Federation (FIS) events, under an agreement brokered by the Infront Sports & Media agency.
The agreement, which runs from the 2016-17 season through the 2020-21 campaign, comprises the media rights for live, delayed and highlights coverage across all television and digital platforms.
The contract includes the 2016-2021 FIS Alpine, Cross Country, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Snowboard and Freestyle World Cup events, the 2019 and 2021 Alpine and Nordic Ski World Championships, as well as the 2015 and 2017 Snowboard and Freestyle World Championships. It features more than 250 races per season as both the men’s and women’s competitions are included.
SVT will also be provided with the FIS World Cup magazine programs for the alpine, snowboard and freestyle competitions, produced by Infront. As part of the long-term partnership, SVT will handle media production of the Swedish events, including the 2019 Alpine Ski World Championships hosted at the Swedish resort of Are.
Bruno Marty, executive director of winter sports at Infront, said: “This new agreement with our long-term partner SVT is of unparalleled scope, featuring the flagship FIS World Cup and World Championship events across various disciplines with a long-term perspective that guarantees stability for all parties – most importantly the fans. SVT will generate tremendous exposure and the broadest possible coverage for the sport of skiing, remaining as the first point of reference for all fans in Sweden.”
As partner to all national skiing federations, with the exception of Austria, that host FIS World Cup events in the alpine, Nordic, freestyle and snowboard disciplines, Infront handles the media rights to almost the entire series on a collective basis. The partnership with SVT for the Swedish territory goes back more than 20 years.