DOUBLE VICTORY FOR EUROSPORT AT TV SPORTS AWARDS

The honours were presented during the TV Sports Awards, the premier event to recognise excellence in sports media and attended by the most influential organisations and leaders in the industry. 

Peter Hutton, Eurosport CEO, said: “It is a privilege to be awarded Best Sports Broadcaster for the second year running.  It brings to life how much fans and the sports industry have valued the transformation that is taking place at Eurosport, with our resolute commitment to be more premium and more locally relevant for fans.  The recognition for Eurosport’s new Bundesliga rights in Germany is a strong example of this philosophy in action, delivering exclusive must-have and highly relevant content to fans.

“We’ve also enjoyed a year of innovation, including being the first sports platform to market with a dedicated VR app and increasing our short form content with record breaking films such as The Commissioner of Football featuring Eric Cantona.  They’ll certainly be much more to come, as we become the Home of the Olympic Games and continue to share the premium sport content fans really care about.”  

The awards mark a year of continued growth by Eurosport, which now welcomes 229 million cumulative subscribers in 93 countries.  A revitalised brand identity, which invites fans to ‘Fuel Your Passion’, has helped connect with audiences like never before. 

Bundesliga

The Best Football Rights Deal, awarded together with the Deutsche Fußball Liga, recognises the agreement signed in June 2016 which saw Eurosport secure exclusive rights to show Bundesliga matches on Eurosport paid platforms in Germany for the first time.  The four-year agreement will see 40 live Bundesliga matches per season presented exclusively on Eurosport from 2017/18.

Eurosport picked up The Best TV Rights Deal last year, following Discovery Communications’ acquisition of exclusive broadcast rights for the Olympic Games in Europe from 2018. 

Home of Grand Slam Tennis

In August 2016, Eurosport further strengthened its position as the Home of Grand Slam Tennis, finalising new agreements to present The Championships, Wimbledon, in sixteen additional countries.  From 2017, Eurosport will show all four Grand Slam tournaments –the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open – in 25 countries across Europe.  It marks a significant expansion for Eurosport given it held no Wimbledon rights as recently as 2014. 

Investing in the Very Best Talent

Just last week, Eurosport confirmed double Olympic champion Tina Maze is set to become a key face of its winter sport and Olympic Winter Games coverage.  Maze will be a leading expert analyst and joins a line-up that already boasts triple Olympic gold medallist biathlete Michael Greis and Polish ski legend Adam Malysz.

The news followed the announcement of a new all-encompassing series with Lindsey Vonn, the most successful downhill skier of all time, which will give fans exclusive access to the winter sports icon like never before.  ‘Chasing History’, which debuts in February 2017, will go behind-the-scenes with Vonn as she pursues her professional dream of breaking the number of world cup wins. The series will form a key part of the buildup to Eurosport’s coverage of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Earlier this summer, Eurosport broke its digital and social media records following the signing of Eric Cantona around Euro 2016 and his short form show The Commissioner of Football.  The six digital episodes alone were viewed by more than 30 million people. Episode four, featuring “King Eric” cheekily applying for the position of England Head Coach, saw a record 17.2 million views. 

Home of Cycling

Eurosport continues to be the Home of Cycling, presenting all three Grand Tours, including the Tour de France, and all five Monuments.  Innovation was once again integral to Eurosport’s coverage in 2016, launching the first ever 360° VR film shot during a competitive cycling race. Eurosport also engaged millions of fans on social media using augmented reality videos to explain the intricacies of cycling.

There awards were presented during the opening night of SPORTEL, the leading convention for the international sports media industry.

ENDS.