FISU sports events will now be available on the world’s largest broadcasting union. Through the ABU members’ network, international university sports events can reach up to three billion people across the Asia – Pacific region.
FISU sports events like the Summer and Winter Universiades, University World Cup series and World University Championship events will now be available to the world’s largest broadcasting union
LAUSANNE — There’s an old adage in television — you got to give the people what they want. University sports fans received that today as the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) announced a three-year agreement. The pact allows for the ABU Sports Network to distribute broadcast content from FISU sports events throughout the Asia-Pacific region to its members.
As the global governing body of international university sports, FISU has an impressive collection of international sports events coming up, notably the Summer and Winter Universiades. The largest university multi-sport competitions in the world, the Winter Universiade will take place in Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation from 2-12 March, while the summer edition will take place in Naples, Italy from 3-14 July 2019.
This fall, two emerging FISU sport properties, the University World Cups in 3×3 basketball and football, will also be available to ABU members.
The ABU Sports Network is a platform to share, and exchange audio video content from major sports events from around 20 countries sharing and exchanging right free sports and entertainment content on a daily basis. The platform also offers an enhanced content distribution system where ABU members can freely access daily highlights and will soon offer live streaming.
The ABU Secretary General, Dr Javad Mottaghi, welcomed the latest move by FISU to sign the partnership agreement for yet another three years. He said the 280-member strong Union, comprised mostly of broadcasters, is able to reach over 3 billion audiences across Asia and the Pacific. Dr Mottaghi expressed his appreciation to the FISU and said this latest move by FISU reflects the trust and confidence that the governing body of international university sports has bestowed onto the ABU.
While the Summer and Winter Universiades will have centre stage in 2019, the year after events like the World University Beach Volleyball Championship that is set to take place in Malaga, Spain should find its way onto more televisions
FISU Secretary General – CEO Eric Saintrond noted the need for strong broadcast partnerships to expand the role and reach of university sport worldwide. “At FISU, our focus is putting on world-class sports events for student-athletes. University sport has a special spirit, one where elite athletes compete with camaraderie amongst one another. Combining this with the top-level of the athletes makes for compelling television, which should find a strong audience in the Asian market.”
ABU Director of Sport Yanjiang Cai remarked on the significance of the agreement. “This signing with FISU allows the Asia-Pacific region to benefit from even richer, more diverse and vibrant television programming,” he said. “We envision ABU Sports being the hub for all international university sports broadcast content within the region.
“The addition of these compelling events further demonstrates our commitment to capitalising on our multi-network and multi-platform expansion strategy,” Mr. Cai added. “I am sure this is the beginning of a success story in what will be a longstanding relationship with FISU.”
By combining elite performance with the wholesomeness of university students, international university sports events connect with fans at an innate level.