Special Reports: Eurosport

The 3rd floor of Eurosport’s headquarters is home to the rights acquisition department, where the sporting content begins its journey to screen. Working closely with the Distribution and Commercial areas of the business, the focus is on acquiring exclusive and premium content whilst being innovative in identifying new programming trends. A prime example is football’s NextGen Series, recently signed on a four-year deal. Being exclusive in Europe and able to associate Eurosport with the rising stars of premium clubs like FC Barcelona is effective commercially and fits with the strategy of broadcasting the best rising stars in sport.

Any new acquisition is bound to grab attention in Communications, where a central team co-ordinates activity on a pan-European basis as well as guiding eight different local offices in key territories. “We have to make sure the sports business industry and sports fans are up to date with what’s going on at Eurosport, whether it be that today’s tennis is delayed due to rain or that we just learned of a new audience record set during the Olympic Games” said Global Communications Director Heather Bowler. “We’re always proactively thinking weeks and months in advance to ensure the right messages are out there and we don’t miss an opportunity to communicate on the Eurosport brand through advertising, hospitality, social media or press relations.”

The rise and continued growth of Eurosport.com in recent years has seen it consolidate its position as Europe’s number one online sports destination. Not content with being the best, Eurosport believes fans in all corners of the world should be able to access their favourite sports when, where and how they choose. For Eurosport.com’s editorial teams, this means providing 24/7 access on a choice or even a combination of four different screens: TV, PC, mobile and tablet. Eurosport’s New Media department prides themselves on their coverage of world sport’s biggest events through a unique blend of live score updates, breaking news and expert analysis. Currently comprising 15 websites and free mobile apps available in 10 languages, Eurosport.com continues to go from strength to strength and recently achieved its highest ever number of monthly visitors worldwide as global interest in the London 2012 Olympic Games attracted 33.2 million fans in August. Joint co-branded sites with Yahoo! in four major European markets and with Onet in Poland demonstrate the capability of Eurosport to combine its sporting expertise with the biggest online partners to create a product that is the most accessible, up-to-date and well-informed on the market – any sports fan’s dream!