The buyers of the rights were ERT, in Greece, and RTP, in Portugal, both incumbent World Championships broadcasters. Both are public-service broadcasters.
The deals include rights for other events in the IAAF’s “World Athletics Series” package between 2010 and 2013, including the World Indoor Championships, which begins March 12 in Doha, Qatar.
“These latest agreements, with free-to-air broadcasters with whom the IAAF was previously associated, proves that it is still possible to maximise revenue potential without giving up on reach and ratings,” said IAAF President Lamine Diack.
The deals bring to three the number IEC has completed since last year winning the Europe and Africa distribution rights for the World Athletics Series, 2010 to 2013. The first deal was agreed in Sweden early last week with SVT and TV4, who bought the rights jointly.
IEC’s chief executive Jonas Persson, said: “the tender processes in Greece and the Nordic Countries are clear examples of how a determined agency approach can yield very positive results for a major sports federation like IAAF”.
