Oulu, Finland / Zug, Switzerland - The Champions Hockey League Final is an international affair between Kärpät Oulu (FIN) and Frölunda Gothenburg (SWE) to be played on Tuesday, 9 February 2016, at the sold-out Oulun Energia Areena in Oulu (capacity: 6,614). Face-off is at 18:30 local time (17:30 CET).
The Final will complete the 157-game schedule of the Champions Hockey League season, which opened on 20 August 2015, with 48 teams from twelve leagues and thirteen countries.
Infront Sports & Media, the exclusive media and marketing partner of the Champions Hockey League, has sold the media rights for the final to 19 broadcasters and digital platforms worldwide, covering a total of 40 territories. This includes coverage in Finland (MTV) and Sweden (SVT) – the home countries of the two finalists. For the final, Infront has secured additional coverage in Latin America through DirecTV, in Israel through Charlton, in Latvia through Best4Sport and in France through the streaming platform Dailymotion.
The multilateral production of the final with host broadcaster MTV is also overseen by Infront and uses a total of 15 cameras. In an effort to enhance the appeal of the signal provided to broadcasters worldwide, Infront optimises the production operation year on year. For the final, it will newly introduce a Bowcam – a cable suspended aerial camera provided by Spidercam. The Bowcam travels along a point-to-point path, but with the added advantage of being able to alter its height freely.
On the digital end, the CHL together with Infront are delivering the entire website experience on www.championshockeyleague.net including the gamecenter (live blogging) and live streaming. As an add-on for the final, a new software platform, called BracketPro, is introduced on the official website. It allows fans to engage with CHL video content by voting for their favorite goals of the season.
The mixture of broad media exposure and steady fan engagement also benefits the sponsors of the Champions Hockey League, including Official Presenting Sponsor engelbert strauss, Official Sponsors Škoda and Tissot, as well as the six Official Partners.
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 (Slovakia, Norway, France, Denmark and Great Britain) are extended Wild Cards (C-Licenses). The 2015-2016-season was opened 20 August 2015 with 48 teams. Belarus is the new and 12th league in the competition. The teams which participate in the 2015-2016 season represent a total of 284 national championships between them.
About Infront Sports & Media
Infront Sports & Media is the most respected sports marketing company 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 and event operation – 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.
