Zug, Switzerland — Tomorrow, Saturday 18 March, the CPT World Women's Curling Championship 2017 (WWCC) will commence in Beijing, China with a total of 60 athletes from twelve countries. As the exclusive media and marketing partner of the World Curling Federation (WCF), Infront Sports & Media, a Wanda Sports company, handles the overall media rights as well as part of the marketing rights for the WWCC 2017. For the 50th anniversary season of the World Curling Federation (WCF), the international curling spotlight will turn to China, just one year ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea.
For the upcoming Championship, starting tomorrow at 1 PM (GMT+8), Infront can confirm broadcast partners including Eurosport covering 111 territories across Europe and Asia Pacific, TSN and RDS in Canada, CCTV in China, Czech Television in the Czech Republic, L’Equipe in France, Arena Sport in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia, NHK in Japan, SRG SSR in Switzerland, SBS in Korea, TVP in Poland, MatchTV in Russia and NBC in the USA. They will deliver live and/or delayed coverage from the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing, showing the world’s best female curlers to 130 territories around the world.The final will be held on Sunday, 26 March 2017.
Furthermore, curling fans around the world will be able to follow live coverage of the Championship on the event website and the WCF’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/WorldCurlingTV. Live broadcast coverage may be geo-blocked in specific regions. For all broadcast information visit, www.worldcurling.org/broadcast.
Last Tuesday, Infront announced the return of the sponsorship duo Lucerne Tourism and TITLIS Cableways, for this and next year's edition of the World Championship. The agreement grants the two Main Sponsors far-reaching brand exposure across both World Curling Championships as they will be present on boards on-site around the rink, the scoreboards, under the ice as well as branding on interview backdrops and event related print material.
Growing popularity of curling
Women’s curling is more than 100 years old, being one of the first sports women were allowed to compete in. The World Women’s Curling Championship 2016 in Swift Current, Canada attracted more than 100 million viewers from over 370 hours of coverage. In Beijing it will be now the last chance for the teams to receive qualification points for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. It is also the second time that the World Curling Federation (WCF) has staged a World Curling Championship in China, the last time being in 2014, when the Capital Gymnasium hosted the CPT World Men’s Curling Championship.
Host nation China will welcome, amongst others, 15-time World Champion Canada as well as last year’s Champion Switzerland. The expectations are high on the Chinese team with their super star Bingyu Wang, who, in 2009, became the first non-Northern American or European skip to win a World Championship. Further former World Champions are Scotland's Eve Muirhead and Switzerland's Alina Paetz.
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 close to 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.
