World Athletics has put out a Request for Information (RFI) as they seek out a host broadcaster for five years from 2025 to 2029 for World Athletics events. Following the RFI process will be a Request for Proposal (RFP) starting March 20 before finalizing a supplier of service.
The partnership will be effective from January 1, 2025 and will include, most notably, the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in the first year.
The RFI process is to identify media companies who have the “capability, advanced technology, personnel and experience required, and the appetite for innovation to deliver a world class production to the satisfaction of a global slate of rights-holding broadcasters.”
World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon said, “We launched our current partnership with ITN in 2017 and they have been a great partner, helping to elevate the quality of our host broadcast production and delivering more value to our rights holding broadcasters – and we want to thank them for their excellent work so far. As we look to step up our efforts in this area, now feels like the right time to review the future and we look forward to receiving some exciting proposals for how to continue to grow our sport.
“Broadcast is a fast-moving industry and has advanced substantially in the last five years. It is in the best commercial interests of our sport to understand the market again and make sure that we have the ideal production partner to take us forward to the end of the decade. Innovation is what we are striving for, and we are looking for a partner who has that same vision and can provide ground-breaking coverage of our major championships.”
Potential partners can acknowledge their interest by emailing a response to HBRFIresponse@worldathletics.org by 20 March 2023.
