EBU CONFIRMS OVER 40 BROADCASTERS FOR MULTISPORT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS AS GLASGOW-BERLIN 2018 BOARD GATHER AHEAD OF INAUGURAL EDITION
The European Broadcasting Union has confirmed that almost 40 European broadcasters have now signed up as rights-holders for the first multisport European Championships, ensuring dedicated coverage from EBU Members across all major European markets for the inaugural event.
In addition to this extensive pan-European coverage there are also confirmed agreements across the globe including in Latin America and the Asia/Pacific region.
EBU Sports Director Stefan Kürten says, 'We're really pleased to confirm this extensive coverage across Europe and in further territories worldwide. The concept of a new top level multi-sport event in Europe is really resonating with national broadcasters and this means millions of viewers will be able to experience the magic of the European Championships free-to-air and support their heroes, inspiring the athletes of the future.'
The European Championships is a major new multisport event taking place every four years, supported by Europe’s free-to-air broadcasters, which aggregates the existing senior continental championships of Athletics (European Athletics), Aquatics (LEN), Cycling (UEC), Gymnastics (UEG), Rowing (FISA), Triathlon (ETU), with a new Golf Team Championships (ET & LET) – all unified under a common brand.
The world-class sporting and cultural cities of Glasgow and Berlin will host the first edition of the Championships 2-12 August 2018.
At the most recent Board meeting, following presentations from both cities on preparations, European Championships Management (ECM), which developed the event concept and is managing and implementing the 2018 event on behalf of the participating federations, updated the stakeholders on common topics related to the overall timetable, brand and communications.
Content sharing will be at the heart of the European Championships international communications and broadcast strategy and a key part of this is the recently announced media hub.
The hub has been launched by ECM to support the promotion and marketing efforts of stakeholders ahead and during the event - the first-ever platform created to promote European sports in such a way.
The video distribution platform will make content available before and during the event to Press Partners, participating European and National Federations, International Broadcasters, Sponsors, Host Cities Glasgow and Berlin, Athletes and Social Publishers and Influencers.
There will be an extensive amount of content available (including archive content, recent competition footage, athlete interviews, promo videos, broadcast visuals) thanks to the partnership with the seven participating sports and their respective events and athletes.
The media hub platform is available to media outlets in over 190 countries to access, preview and order free broadcast-quality video and other multimedia content for use in their programming and therewith to promote the 2018 European Championships.
European Championships content will be made available at https://mediahub.europeanchampionships.com. Interested parties will be required to sign in to gain access to premium content.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
- James Mulligan, European Championships Head of PR and Communications +41 (0) 79 694 48 29 james.mulligan@europeanchampionships.com
- Leanne Williams, Senior Communications Officer, EBU +41 (0) 79 938 99 19 williamsl@ebu.ch
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
1. The 2018 European Championships will be staged by seven European Sports Federations and the Host Cities of Glasgow and Berlin.
2. The Glasgow 2018 sports programme will start with a day of qualifications on Thursday 02 August and will run until Sunday 12 August, while the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships will be held between Tuesday 07 August and Sunday 12 August.
3. The EBU is the broadcast partner of the Championships and, to date, has signed agreements with over 40 broadcasters to ensure the event will be viewed by the widest possible audience, free-to-air in all major markets. Its business arm, Eurovision Media Services, will be acting as host broadcaster, through its subsidiary European Production Coordination, and will be responsible for distributing the event to rights-holding media organizations worldwide.
4. In total, the European Championships will span 10 days of television programming from Friday 03 August to Sunday 12 August 2018. The event has a potential television audience of around 1.03 billion with many more viewers across multiple digital platforms. There will be up to 300 hours of host broadcaster coverage, and an anticipated 2,700 hours of television coverage.
5. Around 3,000 athletes will travel to Scotland as part of a total delegation of around 8,500 including officials, media and others. A further 1,500 athletes will compete in Berlin.
6. Berlin's Olympic Stadium will be the venue for the European Athletics Championships with the road races and race walking events held throughout the city.
7. The European Aquatics Championships will take place at Glasgow's Tollcross International Swimming Centre, with diving at Edinburgh's Royal Commonwealth Pool, synchronized swimming at the Scotstoun Sports Campus, and open water swimming at Loch Lomond.
8. Four European Cycling Championships will be staged in Glasgow. Track, Road, Mountain Bike and BMX will attract 650 of Europe’s top names to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, the Cathkin Braes Mountain Bike Trails, the streets of Glasgow and the surrounding metropolitan area, and a new world championship and Olympic standard BMX track to be built in the Knightswood area of the city.
9. The European Golf Team Championships will take place at the Gleneagles PGA Centenary Course in Perth and Kinross.
10. The European Artistic Gymnastics Men’s and Women’s Championships will be staged at The SSE Hydro, the venue for the 2015 FIG World Gymnastics Championships.
11. The European Championships for both Rowing and Triathlon will both be staged at Strathclyde Country Park in North Lanarkshire.
Want to find out more about the multi-sport European Championships? Go to the website www.europeanchampionships.com and follow us on Twitter @Euro_Champs. #TheMoment is Coming!