On Friday, 25 March 2022, the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) announced a three-year partnership with Olympic broadcaster Discovery that will change the landscape of how, where, and when IFSC events can be watched.
The Mission of the IFSC as stated in the Strategic Plan that was unanimously approved by the XVI IFSC General Assembly in November 2020, is “to grow the Sport Climbing community and to foster the furtherance of Sport Climbing worldwide; to effectively and efficiently govern, develop, showcase and promote Sport Climbing through sustainable events for athletes, member federations, and key stakeholders.”
The three-year partnership with Discovery, and the already existing contracts, aligns with the objectives listed in the IFSC Strategic Plan 2020-2028, particularly to showcase Sport Climbing through events, increase IFSC brand awareness, and promote Sport Climbing globally.
Discovery is one of the world’s leading and most influential Olympic broadcasters. The three-year partnership with Discovery will allow an unprecedented number of countries in Europe to promote and broadcast all semi-finals and finals of the IFSC World Cup Series and World Championships in 2022, 2023, and 2024. As a direct consequence, our sport and a larger-than-ever group of athletes will benefit from additional exposure to national and international sports fans.
The following European countries and territories: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vatican State.
Discovery offers a variety of ways to enjoy its sports programming: discovery+, Eurosport Player, and its linear channels Eurosport 1 and 2. The partnership between the IFSC and Discovery guarantees that semi-finals and finals of all IFSC events will be streamed live on discovery+ and Eurosport Player; additionally, most final rounds will also be shown on Eurosport 1 or 2.
Yes, semi-finals and finals of all IFSC events will be available on the Olympic Channel, 24 hours after they are broadcasted live on Discovery and Eurosport. The Olympic Channel can be accessed here.
All coverage of IFSC events that will be broadcasted on the Olympic Channel will remain available on the platform until the end of the current year.
Yes, the IFSC YouTube livestream will remain accessible in all the countries and territories that are not covered by any existing broadcast partnership.
The following countries in Central and South America are geo-blocked: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Since 9 June, all final rounds will also be geo-blocked in Indonesia.
In the countries mentioned above, climbing fans will be able to watch IFSC events live on ESPN Latin America, or both live and on-demand on the Olympic Channel.
Indonesian fans will be able to watch them on public network TVRI.