Athletics: EBU and ESPN get the TV rights of the IAAF in Europe and Africa until 2023

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the US pay-TV group ESPN have acquired the broadcasting rights for the IAAF competitions for at least six seasons until 2023, on 02/08/2017. This agreement, which takes effect on 01/01/2018 and was signed ahead of the 2017 World Championships which are taking place in London (ENG) from 04 to 13/08/2017, covers in particular the 2019 World Championships (in Doha, Qatar), the 2021 edition (Eugene, USA) and 2023 edition (location not yet determined).

"The EBU will represent the free-to-air television rights to its members in numerous countries across Europe, ESPN will represent the IAAF media rights across Africa and the two will collaborate to represent the rights for pay television, digital media and additional free-to-air opportunities across Europe. The two companies also have the ability to leverage the ESPN Player OTT streaming platform to reach Athletics fans," said the IAAF. The EBU possesses exclusive IAAF broadcasting rights in Europe and Africa over the current cycle of four seasons (2014-2017).

This is the second EBU collaboration…