NBC Sports, Universal Sports Enter Long-term Track and Field Partnership with IAAF

Mon, 04 May 2009 10:09:43 -0500

Universal Sports and NBC Sports have entered into a long-term partnership agreement with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world's governing body for track and field. The agreement covers the the 2010-2015 time period.

This year's televised events include (all times ET)

May 8 IAAF Super Grand Prix Doha, Qatar 12 Noon US
May 30 IAAF Reebok Grand Prix New York 4:30 p.m. NBC
May 31 IAAF Reebok Grand Prix New York 12 Noon US
June 7 IAAF Prefontaine Classic Eugene, Ore. 2 p.m. NBC
June 8 IAAF Prefontaine Classic Eugene, Ore. 8 p.m. US
June 14 IAAF Golden League Berlin 2 p.m. US
June 28 US Track and Field Championships Eugene, Ore. 4 p.m. NBC
June 29 US Track and Field Championships Eugene, Ore. 8 p.m. US
July 7 IAAF Super Grand Prix Lausanne 12 noon US
July 10 IAAF Golden League Rome 2 p.m. US
July 12 IAAF World Youth Championships Bressanone, Italy 8 p.m. US
July 17 IAAF Golden League Paris 2 p.m. US
July 24 IAAF Super Grand Prix London 1 p.m. US
July 25 IAAF Super Grand Prix London 1 p.m. US
July 28 IAAF Super Grand Prix Monte Carlo, Monaco 3 p.m. US
July 31 IAAF Super Grand Prix Stockholm 2 p.m. US
Aug. 15 IAAF World Championships Berlin 1 p.m. NBC
Aug. 16 IAAF World Championships Berlin 2 p.m. NBC
Aug. 22 IAAF World Championships Berlin 1 p.m. NBC
Aug. 23 IAAF World Championships Berlin 2 p.m. NBC
Aug 28 IAAF Golden League Zurich 2 p.m. US
Aug. 30 IAAF Golden League Zurich 1 p.m. NBC
Sept. 4 IAAF Golden League Brussels 2 p.m. US
Sept. 6 IAAF Golden League Brussels 2 p.m. NBC
Sept. 12 IAAF World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 7 p.m. US
Sept. 13 IAAF World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 7 p.m. US
Oct. 11 IAAF World Half Marathon Champs Birmingham, UK 7 p.m. US

* schedule subject to change; visit UniversalSports.com for up-to-date TV and online event schedules and availability of Universal Sports 24-hour network.

Here is the joint release from NBC Sports and Universal Sports

UNIVERSAL SPORTS, NBC SPORTS, AND IAAF STRIKE LONG TERM PARTNERSHIP

Includes all major IAAF World Athletics Series events from 2010-2015 including three IAAF World Championships in Athletics

LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK-May 4, 2009- Universal Sports and NBC Sports today announced a long-term partnership with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world's governing body for track and field, and their commercial partner's, Dentsu Inc. for broadcast rights to all major IAAF World Athletics Series events from 2010-2015, including the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, 2011, 2013 and 2015. The agreement extends the existing relationship between Universal Sports, NBC Sports, the IAAF and Dentsu already in place that covers this year's IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin.

"This long term partnership with the IAAF confirms that Universal Sports together with NBC will be the long term destination in the United States for the very best in global athletics competitions, providing fans a true season for the sport of track and field," said Claude Ruibal, Chairman and CEO Universal Sports.

"Our relationship with the IAAF is a critical component to our Olympic sports strategy, and this agreement gives us a terrific platform to further build the awareness of the best track and field athletes as we lead up to the 2012 London Olympic Games," said Gary Zenkel, President NBC Olympics."

This announcement signifies a substantial increase in the coverage of athletics in the United States as NBC and Universal Sports will make these popular sports available on multiple platforms, with most events covered live and same-day on their networks, starting with a total of over 130 hours of coverage on the two networks in 2009.

"We are proud to extend our partnership with Universal Sports and NBC Sports," said Lamine Diack, President of the IAAF. "They have consistently demonstrated a commitment to providing the IAAF broad distribution of our events and we consider them the perfect partner for the IAAF as we work to further build the sport of athletics in the U.S."

UNIVERSAL SPORTS WIDESPREAD AVAILABILITY: Universal Sports is now available in eight of the top 10 DMAs including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. Recent expansion includes launches in Houston, Miami, Seattle, Denver, Portland, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City and Jacksonville. Go to UniversalSports.com for a complete list of TV markets.

2009 TRACK AND FIELD COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS: NBC Sports will provide broadcast coverage of the Reebok Grand Prix on May 30 and the Prefontaine Classic on June 7 in combination with Universal Sports, as well as the 12th IAAF Track and Field World Championships, on August 15, 16, 22 and 23, from Berlin.

2009 TRACK AND FIELD COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports television and UniversalSports.com will offer the complete outdoor 2009 IAAF track and field season, with the Golden League, Super Grand Prix and Grand Prix events featuring the top track and field athletes in the world. In addition, Universal Sports will have exclusive live online coverage of the 12th IAAF Track and Field World Championships, August 15-23, from Berlin. Fans can visit the track and field channel on UniversalSports.com/trackandfield for updated schedules (TV and online), news, video highlights, special features, photo galleries, sweepstakes and more.

MARATHON COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports is the home of the entire World Marathon Majors series, a championship-style competition started in 2006. The series includes the annual marathons from Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City, as well as the 2009 IAAF World Championship Marathon. Universal Sports will be delivering coverage of other prestigious marathons, including Los Angeles and Stockholm.

For more information on current programming schedules and channel listings please visit UniversalSports.com/tvschedule.

ATHLETE BLOGS ON UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM: UniversalSports.com features blogs from Lauryn Williams (100m, 200m), Sanya Richards (400m), Shannon Rowbury (1500m) and Ryan Hall (marathon).Posted May 4, 2009

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