Zug, Switzerland – The Champions Hockey League (CHL) final will see Frölunda Gothenburg and Sparta Prague battle it out for the European trophy in Gothenburg on 7 February 2017. Broadcast into 51 territories by 21 broadcasters and platforms, the final will face-off at 19:05 CET. Ahead of the final, Infront Sports & Media, a Wanda Sports company, has announced several new key media rights agreements starting with the upcoming 2017/18 season.
Eight broadcast agreements confirm appeal of competition
As exclusive media and marketing partner of the CHL, Infront has signed a further eight long-term media rights agreements, which ensure consistent live coverage of the tournament over the upcoming seasons.
Throughout the 2017/18 - 2022/23 CHL seasons, SVT will broadcast the games in Sweden, SPORT1 in Germany, Arena sport TV in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, RTV in combination with Sport TV in Slovenia, ESPN in Brazil, Charlton Sport 1/2 in Israel and Sportstv in Turkey. Additionally, Infront has signed an agreement with AMC (Sport1, Sport2) for the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia for the 2017/18 - 2019/20 seasons. The rights covered by all agreements include full-length, live, delayed and highlights transmissions across all media platforms including television, mobile and internet.
These new long-term agreements are the latest media rights contracts sealed by Infront for the CHL - following agreements previously announced with SRG SSR in Switzerland, TSN in Canada, TV2 Danmark in Denmark and MTV Oy in Finland for the seasons to come.
Growing competitive profile of the CHL
For the upcoming season, played between August 2017 and February 2018, the Champions Hockey League will feature an adapted qualification system - based purely on sporting merit to grant entry to 32 professionally ranked teams. Within the new criteria, 24 of the best teams from the founding national leagues and eight from the Challenge Leagues (with a maximum of five teams per country) will be accepted into the competition. The previous season’s CHL Champion and the Continental Cup Winner will be granted automatic qualification.
Bruno Marty, Executive Director Winter Sports at Infront: “The changes to the entry qualification criteria are clearly drawing support and adding further value for broadcasters – who are demonstrating their confidence in the competition with these long-term agreements. We are excited about the final tomorrow and looking forward to the upcoming seasons - confident that the popularity of the CHL will continue to soar.”
About the Champions Hockey League
The league is fully owned and operated by the Champions Hockey League AG/Ltd which includes, as its shareholders, 26 Founding Clubs, six national Founding Leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Founding National Leagues are: Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. The best teams from the Challenge Leagues (Belarus, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Norway, Poland and Slovakia) are extended Wild Cards (C-Licenses). The 2016-17 season opened 16 August 2016 with 48 teams. Poland is the new and 13th league in the competition. The teams which participate in the 2016-17 season represent a total of 267 national championships between them.
About Infront Sports & Media
Infront Sports & Media, a Wanda Sports company, is one of the most respected sports marketing companies in the world, managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Led by President & CEO Philippe Blatter, Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events – including distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production, event operation and digital solutions – and has won a reputation for its high standards of delivery. As the number one player in winter sport and with a leading role in football, summer and endurance sports, Infront enjoys long-lasting partnerships with 170 rights-holders and hundreds of sponsors and media companies. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of more than 900 experienced staff working from over 35 offices across more than 15 countries, delivering 4,100 event days of top class sport around the world every year. In November 2015, Infront was integrated into Wanda Sports Holding, part of the Chinese conglomerate the Dalian Wanda Group.
