Hot on the heels of the Seven Network announcing it will broadcast the last three days of Royal Ascot in June (read the press release here), Seven has announced that it has secured Australian broadcast rights to the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The European Games, which is a new multi-sport event, will run from 12-28 June 2015 and see more than 6,000 athletes compete in 20 sports (16 Olympic and four non-Olympic sports). Twelve of the sports will offer qualification opportunities for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Although no specific broadcast details are available yet, we do know that Seven has committed to some form of daily broadcast coverage of the Games in Baku. The inaugural European Games join the multi-sport event fest at Seven. The free-to-air broadcaster counts the 2016-2020 Olympics Games (including options for 2022 and 2024 Olympics), 2016 Paralympic Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games in its broadcast portfolio.
The deal with Seven sees the European Games broadcast reach extend to 57 countries, with deals having been reached with broadcasters in the United States, Canada, China, India and the Arab World as well as a host of European broadcasters. Official partners of the event include BP, Coca-Cola, P&G and Tissot. Official Supporters of the event include McDonalds and Motorola Solutions.
Saul Shtein, Seven’s Head of Sport, said:
“As a network we are determined to bring the biggest events in sports to our audiences in Australia. We see the European Games as a natural fit with our long-term commitment to the Olympic Games and our recent agreement to also broadcast the Paralympic Games.”
It will be interesting to see whether Seven runs its coverage only on its multi-channels or across all its free-to-air channels. Stay tuned for coverage details closer to the event.
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