Volvo Ocean Race release list of broadcast partners
October 17, 2017
The Volvo Ocean Race and its global distribution agency Sunset+Vine announced their initial list of broadcast partners this week in advance of the race start on 22 October 2017.
Twitter, Facebook, Apple and Samsung will bring race content to the most popular digital platforms in the world, while Spain (TVE/Teledeporte), Portugal (RTP), Brasil (TV Brasil), France (Sport+), South Africa (SuperSport), Australia (Fox Sports), New Zealand (Sky NZ), UK (Sky Sports) and Holland (NOS) all feature national channels or premier sports broadcasters covering the race programming throughout nine months.
Other premium broadcasters in top markets include J-Sport (Japan), Sport TV (Turkey), TG4 (Ireland) and Sweden’s TV3 Sport.
On the digital side, Sunset+Vine has delivered partnerships for the race with leading online and mobile platforms such as Sina.com (China), Twitter (Global), Tencent (China), Aftonbladet Sport (Sweden), Samsung (Asia) and OutsideTV.com (USA) to bring the race’s award-winning content to smartphones, desktops and tablets.
The TV programming will consist of a one-hour race preview, nine 30-minute leg summary shows and a one-hour race review in August 2018 for seven hours of TV coverage.
Sina Sports and the Volvo Ocean Race have recently agreed to a content partnership.@volvooceanrace @DongfengRacing https://t.co/yxJFuLVX8j pic.twitter.com/21n3Pa3Aon
— Sina Sports (@SinasportsChina) October 16, 2017
“With our new crew communicator, we will have video footage going right from the boats 3,000 miles at sea into the hands of sports and sailing fans in an instant,” said Leon Sefton, head of television of Volvo Ocean Race.
“Enhancing longer-form television content, we want fans to catch glimpses of our race and our incredible sailing footage on their social feeds via popular sports websites and on sports news shows in their home markets throughout the nine months of this competition.”
Andrew Piller, head of media partnerships at Sunset+Vine, added: “Volvo has taken an exciting new digital-first approach to this race and Sunset+Vine is delighted to have played a key role in leveraging across not just traditional television networks but also the digital and social channels.
“The new emphasis on digital content is a decision we made during the last cycle to provide raw and unfiltered content straight from the boats – to let the public and sports fans see what it’s like to sail around the world in some of the toughest possible conditions over 45,000 nautical miles.”