CBC Sports Signs FIS, IBSF Media Rights Deal With Infront Sports & Media

CBC Sports and Infront Sports & Media signed a media rights agreement that includes live, delayed, repeat, and video-on-demand coverage of flagship International Ski Federation (FIS) and International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) events across CBC Sports’ TV, online and mobile platforms over the next five years.

“As Canada’s Olympic Network, it is important for us to ensure our continued ability to provide our audiences with access to the best in international sport, and this extension with Infront Sports & Media keeps CBC Sports as Canada’s home for FIS and IBSF events,” said Greg Stremlaw, executive director, CBC Sports, and general manager and chef de mission for CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “We work closely with Canada’s National Sport Organizations to help achieve mutual goals, which includes our focus on ensuring Canadians know their homegrown athletes and their stories year-round. Our continued coverage of these FIS and IBSF events will also allow us to showcase the athletes as they compete alongside the best from around the world on a full-season basis as we head into and beyond the next Olympic Winter Games.”

The agreement will see CBC Sports provide Canadian audiences with up to 250 individual FIS World Cup events each season, including FIS World Cup Alpine, Cross Country, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Snowboard and Freestyle, FIS Snowboard, Freestyle, Alpine and Nordic World Championships, as well as IBSF Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Cup and World Championship events. CBC Sports will showcase these prestigious winter sport properties as part of its weekly Road To The Olympic Games TV broadcasts and via live streaming coverage across cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices.

“Through CBC Sports, Canadian audiences will benefit from more than 250 FIS World Cup events per season in Alpine, Nordic, Snowboard and Freestyle as well as live and on demand access to bob and skeleton events,” said Bruno Marty, executive director, winter sports, Infront. “This agreement allows continuous and diverse winter sports coverage across the entire season and will further help CBC with its positioning as a leading and reliable broadcaster of winter sports content in the market.”

CBC Sports works closely with Canada’s National Sport Organizations (NSOs) to further the shared goals of advancing the awareness and popularity of their individual sports with Canadians and elevating the star status of their current and future top athletes in the minds of Canadian sports fans. Today’s extension will benefit not only CBC Sports and its audiences, but also NSOs like Alpine Canada, Biathlon Canada, Cross Country Canada, the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, Canada Snowboard and Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton.

In addition to the winter sports included in CBC Sports’ extension with Infront, the network has also acquired multiplatform media rights to the Berlin Marathon through 2020.

A breakdown of the five-year extension between CBC Sports and Infront is as follows:

• FIS Alpine World Cup
• FIS Alpine World Championships
• FIS Nordic World Cup
• FIS Nordic World Championships
• FIS Freestyle World Cup
• FIS Freestyle World Championships
• FIS Snowboard World Cup
• FIS Snowboard World Championships
• IBSF Bobsleigh World Cup
• IBSF Bobsleigh World Championships
• IBSF Skeleton World Cup
• IBSF Skeleton World Championships
• Berlin Marathon