As a result of an open tender procedure, UEFA has chosen the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as one of its broadcast partners for UEFA EURO 2012™ which will take place in Poland and Ukraine.
This decision re-establishes the longstanding partnership between the organisations. The deal covers 36 countries*, enabling audiences to follow this event extensively, not only on free-to-air TV, but also on internet, mobile platforms and radio.
The EBU will conclude agreements in 29** of the 36 countries with its members and work in close cooperation with UEFA in order to identify and select the best platform to broadcast media rights for UEFA EURO 2012™ in the remaining seven countries.
EBU President Jean-Paul Philippot expressed his satisfaction: “I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement with UEFA for UEFA EURO 2012™. The EBU is extremely keen to fully support this unique and spectacular event.” He went on to say that: “This deal provides UEFA with a strong and reliable broadcast commitment from EBU Members and shall enable the further development of this competition and football as a whole”.
EBU Director-General Jean Reveillon hailed the agreement as an important achievement for the organisation and its Members. “We hope that this deal marks a new beginning to a long-running partnership.”
UEFA General Secretary David Taylor said: “UEFA is delighted to have reached such a significant agreement with the EBU and we are looking forward to working together to offer football fans across Europe an extensive coverage of the competition already during the qualifying phase of the tournament.’
He went on to say that, “EBU Members are experienced partners in the broadcasting of major international sports events and their expertise will no doubt be to the benefit of football viewers in Europe.’
“To have such a wide-reaching broadcasting platform in place nearly one year prior to the start of the qualifying competition will help promote UEFA EURO 2012™ and is highly positive for the development of European football,’ he concluded.
The EBU also holds the rights for the 2010 & 2014 FIFA World Cups™ in South Africa and Brazil.
The EBU has sports rights acquisition agreements with over 30 international federations for 18 Olympic sports. These strong partnerships ensure that EBU Members, and other broadcast partners, are positioned to offer their audiences a wide variety of sports programming, ranging from football, skiing, tennis and cycling to swimming, athletics, figure skating and more.
*The 29 territories are : Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, FYR Macedonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey.
**The seven territories are: Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Slovakia.
