CANAL+ Acquires Television Rights for the IAAF Golden League
10 April 1998 - Monaco - The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) and the Canal+ group reached a major agreement today on the television rights for the IAAF Golden League for the next three years.
Starting next July, the IAAF Golden League represents the new vision of athletics and is expected to have a significant impact on public opinion.
The Golden League comprises six of the world’s top athletics meetings in Berlin, Brussels, Monaco, Oslo, Rome and Zurich. The six meetings are linked by a special formula which includes a $ 1 million jackpot for any athlete who wins his or her event in all six meetings, plus the IAAF Golden League/Grand Prix Final in Moscow on September 5th, which will be broadcast by Eurovision. A select group of 30 elite athletes will be contracted to participate in all six meetings and a new focus will be placed on prize money at the events rather than appearance fees.
Through the Canal+ network of subsidiaries in Europe, the Golden League meetings will be broadcast in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Canal+ has also purchased the television rights for the French-speaking countries covered by its Canal Horizon network.
"Our efforts to ensure world-wide television coverage of the IAAF Golden League are proceeding well," said the IAAF President, Dr. Primo Nebiolo, "And this exceptional agreement plays a key part of these efforts by opening up Athletics to new opportunities in a more ample television spectrum for the future."
With its notable experience in promoting sports programming, Canal+ makes an important entrance into the international broadcasting of athletics with this agreement, which was reached with the assistance and collaboration of the IAAF’s marketing consultants, ISL.
The IAAF has also signed a multi-year agreement with the Greek broadcaster "Antenna" for the coverage of the Golden League in Greece and Cyprus. Further negotiations are in progress regarding coverage of the Golden League in Japan, Great Britain, the United States, South Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Korea, Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American countries.