Eurosport increases its Olympics sports portfolio with modern pentathlon broadcast deal
Eurosport has agreed a broadcast partnership with the modern pentathlon governing body as part of its wider strategy to provide a more comprehensive story of the Olympics with detailed coverage of the sports in the lead up to the Games.
Eurosport Modern Pentathalon
The broadcaster has partnered with the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) to broadcast some of the sport’s most popular events on its platforms throughout 2017.
The one-year Pan-European agreement will include blue-ribbon events such as the 2017 World Cup Final in Lithuania in June and the World Championships in Egypt this August.
The deal follows on from Eurosport’s €1.3bn deal with the International Olympic Committee to become the exclusive pan-European broadcaster of the Olympics from 2018 through the 2024.
As part of its marketing as the new home of the Olympics, Eurosport has signed broadcast agreements with many of the sports involved in the Games. This includes the broadcast rights for all four tennis grand slams.
The Discovery Communications-owned broadcaster says that the partnerships will give fans of the sports the most in-depth coverage while also telling the stories of athletes’ journeys to the Olympics.
The agreement with the UIPM means that over half of the sports to feature at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be broadcast on Eurosport over the next 12 months.
“Modern pentathlon is widely regarded as one of the most challenging and traditional sports in the Summer Olympic program and we are delighted to be able to bring this year’s biggest events to our viewers,” said Eurosport chief executive Peter Hutton.
“Eurosport already dedicates over half of its schedule to Olympic sports and this agreement further strengthens our portfolio as we start our journey towards Tokyo.
The UIPM’s president, Klaus Schormann, added: “UIPM's development programmes have enabled our sporting movement to grow right across the world and we have seen the results with the Rio 2016 Olympic medallists in Modern Pentathlon coming from three different continents.
“However, the traditional heartland of Modern Pentathlon is the continent of Europe and today is a day for celebration for the many fans of our sport who will be able to watch our most important competitions on television through Eurosport. This is another major step forward for our core Olympic sport, which has benefited in recent years from great advances in media coverage and marketing.”
The first modern pentathlon event to be broadcast under the new deal will be the World Cup Final in Vilnius on in June.
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