ISA and NBC agree to three-year deal to broadcast ISA Events on Olympic Channel in USA through 2020
La Jolla, California - 24 January 2019
Following the successful 2018 broadcasts of the ISA World Championship Series event highlight programs - which brought the Federation’s elite events to new audiences around the globe - the International Surfing Association is today proud to announce an extended broadcast agreement with NBC Sports Group ahead of an exciting time in the history of Surfing.
The three-year agreement will see all ISA Global Event highlight programmes transmitted on the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA in the United States - showcasing Surfing to over 35 million households. The deal will also run throughout the sport’s historic Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA is a partnership between the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee, and NBCUniversal.
The announcement follows a successful broadcasting year for the ISA in 2018, which saw Surfing reach more territories than ever before.
The ISA World Surfing Games, the ISA’s flagship Global Event, was carried on 12 international broadcasters, including Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA in the U.S., with a further three (CBC - Canada, Adrenaline - France, and Fuel TV – in over 80 territories) streaming the action live in their respective regions.
Reaching 143 territories in total, the elite Surfing competition featured on some of the world’s leading broadcasters - including BT Sport in the UK, Eleven Sports in Portugal, and RAI TV across Italy and Southern Europe.
The agreements also saw the ISA’s U-18 World Junior Championships carried across the world, giving increased and unprecedented coverage of the next generation of Surfing talent that will have their sights set on future Olympic success.
The ISA also produced highlights for the 2018 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship in Wanning, China and Stance ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship in La Jolla, USA, as well as a 2018 ‘Season Review’ programme which will premiere in the U.S. on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA on February 6th at 8 p.m. ET with a second showing on February 7th at 12:30 a.m. ET.
A full list of all broadcasters can be found below.
ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, said:"Partnering with NBC Sports Group in the United States is an important part of the ISA’s long-term commitment to the Olympic Movement and to showcasing our sport on this continually growing platform. We’re stoked to be able to bring highlights of all the ISA’s major events to viewers in the U.S. for the rest of the Olympic cycle.
"Expanding the ISA’s exposure and reach around the world is a major priority for us as we look towards Tokyo 2020. We are proud to be working with these premier broadcasters to bring greater visibility to surfing, our athletes and our mission in new territories and regions around the world.
"Our sport has continued to benefit from increased momentum and attention from broadcast media as we build our properties on the road to Tokyo and we’re very pleased to see the global surfing family continue to grow.
"We will continue to promote the ISA events to new global audiences in 2019 and offering a glimpse to those around the world of the unique atmosphere we will be bringing to Tokyo 2020."
President, NBC Olympics Production & Programming, Jim Bell, said:
"As Surfing gets ready for its Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020, the NBC Sports Group is excited to offer a wide range of coverage of this thrilling, visual sport, and showcase some of its daring athletes."
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors
The full list of broadcasters is as follows:
Broadcaster
Territory
Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
USA
BT Sport
UK and Ireland
CBC
Canada
Claro
17 Territories, Spanish LatAm
Cosmote
Greece
Econet
20 Territories, Sub-Sahara Africa
Eleven
Portugal
Extreme Sport TV
Russia
Fuel TV
80+ Territories
Adrenaline
France
ONE
Israel
RAI
Italy + Europe
About the International Surfing AssociationThe International Surfing Association (ISA), founded in 1964, is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. The ISA governs and defines Surfing as Shortboard, Longboard & Bodyboard Surfing, StandUp Paddle (SUP) Racing and Surfing, Bodysurfing, Wakesurfing, and all other wave riding activities on any type of waves, and on flat water using wave riding equipment. The ISA crowned its first Men’s and Women’s World Champions in 1964. It crowned the first Big Wave World Champion in 1965; World Junior Champion in 1980; World Kneeboard Champions in 1982; World Longboard Surfing and World Bodyboard Champions in 1988; World Tandem Surfing Champions in 2006; World Masters Champions in 2007; and World StandUp Paddle (SUP) and Paddleboard Champions in 2012.
ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies of 104 countries on five continents. Its headquarters are located in La Jolla, California.
On 3 August 2016 at the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro, the IOC Membership voted unanimously for Surfing to join the Sports Programme of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
ABOUT OLYMPIC CHANNEL: HOME OF TEAM USA
Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA is a partnership between the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee, and NBCUniversal. The TV network offers fans year-round programming of Olympic Sports from around the world, highlighting their favorite American athletes and teams. Programming emphasizes live events from a broad portfolio of summer and winter Olympic Sports. It also includes Olympic-themed original content produced by all three parties, such as original programs produced by filmmakers from around the world commissioned by the global Olympic Channel; rich archival footage from the IOC and NBCU’s libraries of Olympic features and documentaries; and original Team USA programming produced by the USOC that provides authentic, wide-ranging and athlete-focused coverage of the Olympic Movement in the United States. Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA is live streamed on OlympicChannel.com, the Olympic Channel app, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app. Select replays and highlights are available on these digital platforms as well as TeamUSA.org.
For further information:
Sujit Jasani
VERO Communications
Email: sjasani@verocom.co.uk
Mobile: +44 [0]7940 375 282
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