Posted: March 5, 2007

Athletics: IAAF Agrees Television Deals In Asia/Pacific Region

Monte-Carlo - The IAAF is pleased to announce three more broadcasting deals in the Asia/Pacific region, following negotiations handled by the Japanese corporation Dentsu Inc, our exclusive worldwide partner for the exploitation of commercial rights for the World Athletic Series. Thanks to a new three year deal with CCTV, the IAAF will ensure extended coverage in China, one of the IAAF’s key markets for strategic growth. By enhancing our existing relationship with CCTV, the IAAF guarantees a continuous promotion of the sport, especially targeted at the next edition of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan, where the Chinese superstar Liu Xiang, Olympic champion and World record holder in the 110m Hurdles, is expected to challenge for gold again. In another key Asian market, South Korea, where Daegu is currently bidding to win the right to host either the 2011 or 2013 edition of the World Championships, the IAAF has secured terrestrial, cable and satellite coverage on KBS, XPORTS and Skylife respectively, via an agreement with IB Sports. Thirdly, the IAAF will now have additional coverage in New Zealand through a deal with Sky Network Television. All three deals are for all IAAF World Athletics Series events from 2007-09 guaranteeing coverage of these competitions together with extensive exposure for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka and Berlin in 2009. "I am very pleased to announce that more people than ever before in the growing economic markets of Asia and the Pacific will be able to follow our sport on TV broadcasts," said IAAF President Lamine Diack. "This is part of the IAAF’s strategy to pursue maximal broadcast coverage all over the world, building up a new fan base to enjoy the action from our top competitions. Further Asian broadcasting deals will soon be announced, giving us the potential to have unparalleled terrestrial coverage for athletics.”