Eurosport will broadcast 2013 Universiades in the Asia-Pacific Region

SYDNEY 4 October 2012 – The Eurosport Group and FISU (International University Sports Federation) announce they have signed an agreement to broadcast the 2013 Summer and Winter Universiades across Eurosport’s Asia-Pacific network.

This partnership will give the Summer and Winter Universiades – FISU’s highly successful global multi-sport events – comprehensive television coverage in 17 countries including Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.

Eurosport will also produce a monthly TV show called CAMPUS dedicated to the World University Championship events and FISU’s global commitment to excellence in body and mind.

The multi-media partnership is completed with the creation of a dedicated university sports section on Eurosport.com which will include the latest results, sport news and videos about the World University Championships and Universiade events.

The Summer and Winter Universiades, held every two years, gather student athletes aged 17-28 and are second only to the Olympic Games in terms of number of participating athletes and countries represented.*

The Universiades have proven to showcase future stars who have gone on to perform at World Championship and Olympic level. As an example Australian swimmer Cate Campbell, a Gold medal winner in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2011 Universiade, became Olympic Champion at the same event in the London 2012 Games.

The deal with FISU includes TV broadcast in Australia of:

– the 27^th Summer Universiades, held in Kazan, Russia on 6-17 July 2013

– the 26th Winter Universiades, taking place in Trentino, Italy on 11-21 December 2013

CAMPUS will be a 26-minute TV show, broadcast on a monthly basis.

The programme will cover the World University Championships, organised by FISU and follow preparations for the Universiades, feature profiles and interviews with the Universiade athletes and explain FISU’s values and university spirit.

In Europe the deal between the Eurosport Group and FISU runs until 2017 with coverage of the next six Summer and Winter Universiades and broadcast of the monthly show CAMPUS.

Speaking to announce the European multi-year agreement FISU President Claude-Louis Gallien commented: “I am extremely pleased that FISU has signed a multi-year partnership with Eurosport for our upcoming events. Like FISU, which strives for Excellence on the academic campus and on the sports field, Eurosport has been pursuing excellence in bringing the major international sports events in the homes of many sports fans. I am confident that with the help of Eurosport the International University Sport Movement will continue to grow in popularity worldwide.”

Speaking to announce the European multi-year agreement Laurent-Eric Le Lay, Eurosport Chairman & CEO said: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to bring Eurosport’s unrivalled expertise and multi-media credentials to this partnership with FISU, which will enable fans to follow the upcoming athletes of the future. We are committed to being the first to showcase the best young rising stars in sport as we do with football for example with the NextGen Series# and other international youth competitions. We are looking forward to developing a strong relationship with FISU which will give a platform to its highly respected events, commercial partners and key messages. Eurosport is committed to ensuring action from the Universiades and its associated events are accessible to sports fans globally.”

Don Knapp, CEO Australian University Sport said: “Australian University Sport is genuinely excited about the Eurosport and FISU arrangement – this is a dynamic deal. Australia has always faced the issue of tyranny of distance and this partnership will enable so many fans of the Uniroos to view news and results that are often near impossible to get back here in Australia. This Eurosport deal will ensure that when our elite athletes are competing overseas at Universiade events news of their achievements will be enjoyed at home by a broader and growing audience in Australia”.

(Source: Eurosport & FISU)