Universal Sports and NBC Sports announced a long-term partnership with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world's governing body for track & field, and their commercial partner's, Dentsu Inc. for broadcast rights to all major IAAF World Athletics Series events from 2010-2015, including the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, 2011, 2013 and 2015. The agreement extends the existing relationship between Universal Sports, NBC Sports, the IAAF and Dentsu already in place that covers this year's IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.
"This long term partnership with the IAAF confirms that Universal Sports together with NBC will be the long term destination in the United States for the very best in global athletics competitions, providing fans a true season for the sport of track and field," said Claude Ruibal, Chairman and CEO Universal Sports.
"Our relationship with the IAAF is a critical component to our Olympic sports strategy, and this agreement gives us a terrific platform to further build the awareness of the best track & field athletes as we lead up to the 2012 London Olympic Games," said Gary Zenkel, President NBC Olympics."
This announcement signifies a substantial increase in the coverage of athletics in the United States as NBC and Universal Sports will make these popular sports available on multiple platforms, with most events covered live and same-day on their networks, starting with a total of over 130 hours of coverage on the two networks in 2009.
"We are proud to extend our partnership with Universal Sports and NBC Sports," said Lamine Diack, President of the IAAF. "They have consistently demonstrated a commitment to providing the IAAF broad distribution of our events and we consider them the perfect partner for the IAAF as we work to further build the sport of athletics in the U.S."
UNIVERSAL SPORTS WIDESPREAD AVAILABILITY: Universal Sports is now available in eight of the top 10 DMAs including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. Recent expansion includes launches in Houston, Miami, Seattle, Denver, Portland, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City and Jacksonville. Go to UniversalSports.com for a complete list of TV markets.
2009 TRACK AND FIELD COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS: NBC Sports will provide broadcast coverage of the Reebok Grand Prix on May 30 and the Prefontaine Classic on June 7 in combination with Universal Sports, as well as the 12th IAAF Track & Field World Championships, on August 15, 16, 22 and 23, from Berlin.
2009 TRACK AND FIELD COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports television and UniversalSports.com will offer the complete outdoor 2009 IAAF track & field season, with the Golden League, Super Grand Prix and Grand Prix events featuring the top track & field athletes in the world. In addition, Universal Sports will have exclusive live online coverage of the 12th IAAF Track & Field World Championships, August 15-23, from Berlin. Fans can visit the track & field channel on UniversalSports.com/trackandfield for updated schedules (TV and online), news, video highlights, special features, photo galleries, sweepstakes and more.
