Olympic sports, climbing is gaining ground and closing broadcast agreement with Discovery +

The International Federation of Sports Climbing (IFSC) on Thursday (24) announced a broadcast rights agreement with Discovery Sports. With this, all IFSC World Cup and Climbing World Cup action will be broadcast live on the Discovery+ streaming platform.

The contract is signed until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and will be valid in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. For countries outside Europe, the IFSC has stated that it will continue to broadcast free of charge via Olympic Channel, the broadcast channel of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but not live.

“More than anything, our agreement with Discovery+ will raise the profile of our sport and our athletes, leading to greater sponsorship opportunities for all climbers around the world. We are confident that the partnership with Discovery+ will help cement our position as one of the fastest growing sports. Olympic growth, and thanks to the increased supply, will make more and more people interested in not only watching the climb, but also experiencing it.” Marco Scholares, president of the IFSC, said in a statement.

To access Discovery+ broadcasts, those interested will have to subscribe to the streaming service, priced at £6.99 per month or £59.99 per year.

It is worth noting that until recently, it was possible to watch all the major IFSC events live and for free on the Federation YouTube channel or through the Olympic Channel platform also on YouTube. The sport debuted at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and is guaranteed for Paris 2024.

The 2022 IFSC World Cup season will start in Meiringen, Switzerland on 8-10 April. In all, there will be 14 contested stages, ending in October, in a city to be determined in Japan.