The European Broadcasting Union consortium of public-service broadcasters has agreed a four-year extension to its exclusive media rights partnership with the United World Wrestling global governing body.
The deal runs from 2017 to 2020 and includes television and digital rights covering the UWW European and World Championships. The EBU will also be the federation’s exclusive technical provider for worldwide distribution.
The new contract covers media rights in Europe for seven events – four European Championships and three World Championships – with men's and women's Greco-Roman and freestyle disciplines contested at each competition.
UWW president Nenad Lalovic said: “This gives a unique possibility for Greco-Roman, freestyle wrestling and women’s wrestling to grow into new markets and continue the recent and positive development of our fantastic Olympic sport.”
EBU head of indoor sports Ingolfur Hannesson added: “Over the last few years we have experienced how UWW has started to develop and reshape the sport of wrestling, in order to make it more attractive to athletes, fans and TV viewers in general. The aim of our partnership is to provide a global platform of continuous growth on the challenging and competitive marketplace of sport and media.”