Universal Sports and
International Skating Union ink Four-Year Multi-Platform Distribution Deal
Los Angeles, November 10, 2009:
Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com will be the home of the
International Skating Union’s (ISU) key events through 2013, highlighted by the
ISU World Figure Skating Championships and ISU Speed Skating Championships and ISU
Short Track Speed Skating Championships.
The announcement was made by Universal Sports Chairman and CEO Claude
Ruibal and ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta.
“We’re
very excited to have reached this wide-ranging deal with the ISU making Universal
Sports the long-term home for key ISU events,” says Ruibal. “These prestigious events will provide
our consumers with what has traditionally been some of the most compelling and
entertaining Olympic sports content. As a new sports network, we are proud and
encouraged that ISU has selected Universal Sports as their USA distributor to
highlight their amazing athletes as they compete in their respective
competitions.”
"The
ISU is thrilled to have a permanent home for our major competitions showcased
by Universal Sports in the United States," says Cinquanta. "Our major figure and speed
skating events and championships will be well-served by this partnership with
Universal Sports, which will offer our viewers a vibrant, multi-platform
opportunity to interact with our stars."
Details
of the events and rights to be showcased annually by Universal Sports include
the following:
Figure
Skating:
ISU
World Figure Skating Championships
ISU
European Figure Skating Championships
ISU
Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
ISU
World Junior Figure Skating Championships
ISU
World Synchronized Skating Championships
ISU
Grand Prix of Figure Skating Individual Events (5) and Final (1)—does not
include 2009-10 season and excludes all Skate America events
Speed
Skating:
Essent
ISU European Speed Skating Championships
Essent
ISU World Sprint Speed Skating Championships
Essent
ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships
Essent
ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships (not held during 2009-10
due to Winter Olympics)
Short
Track
ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships
ABOUT
INTERNATIONAL SKATING UNION: The International Skating Union (ISU) is the
international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including
figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed
skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, The Netherlands in 1892, making it one
of the oldest international sport federations. The ISU was formed to establish
standardized international rules and regulations for the skating disciplines it
governs, and to organize international competitions in these disciplines. It is
now based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, a partnership between
NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform
destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on
television and online. Universal
Sports, available
in 56 million homes, is in nine of the
top 10 DMAs including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, San
Francisco, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Houston, Seattle and Denver. Major world
championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from
track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to
volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com
delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage,
as well as interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to
Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the
availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit
UniversalSports.tv.
Universal Sports: Greg Hughes
404-394-3700
ISU: Devra Pitt
ISU Communications Coordinator
+41-21-612-6666
Amy Sorrells
404-550 4885
240-396-1906