FISU and Eurovision sign partnership agreement

FISU and Eurovision sign partnership agreement

The best of global university sport will be available on more screens than ever to fans worldwide, as the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and Eurovision Services (ES), business subsidiary of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), announced an agreement that covers all FISU events through to 2021. The pact allows for the distribution of an international signal to rights holding broadcasters on the Eurovision Global Network.

As the global governing body of international university sports, FISU has an impressive collection of international sports events coming up, notably the Summer and Winter Universiades. The largest university multi-sport competition in the world, the Winter Universiade will take place in Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation from 2-12 March, while the summer edition will take place in Naples, Italy from 3-14 July 2019. This fall, two emerging FISU sport properties – the University World Cups in 3x3 Basketball and Football, will also be available to fans of university sport.

Summer universiades

"We're delighted to partner with FISU to help maximize the reach of their events to audiences around the world,” said Marco Tinnirello, CEO at Eurovision Services. "Great events don't happen by accident. A lot of hard work goes into making sure that the right content reaches the right audiences, on the right platform at the right time. We look forward to distributing and offering additional digital services to personalize and enhance the content coming from these unique events."

FISU Secretary General – CEO Eric Saintrond emphasised the need for strong broadcast partnerships to expand the reach of university sport worldwide. "We are pleased to partner with Eurovision Services until 2021. Our Sports Programme covers more than 60 sports and multiple events of varying scale. The distribution through Eurovision Services will allow us to not only promote our Universiades but will also help us bring our World University Championships and other single sport events to fans throughout the year, year upon year."

Winter Universiades

At the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade that opens in just under a month, Eurovision Services will distribute the international signal over the Eurovision Global Network (satellite and fibre) to rights holding broadcasters. Four simultaneous feeds will be available to the worldwide network, allowing ‘à la carte’ distribution to TV takers. In addition, live and recorded content will be edited for news and highlights as an additional content service for distribution to sports news broadcasters.

For more information, please see www.fisu.net and www.eurovision.net.