The International Swimming League (ISL) has entered into an exclusive, two-year broadcast deal with Eurosport. Per Sports Pro, the first two ISL seasons will be made available to Eurosport subscribers in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
The arrangement also entails Eurosport having digital rights to the competition and exclusive public sublicensing rights worldwide, with the exception of Australia and the U.S. The ISL is said to be pursuing a separate U.S. contract. Four of the seven meets of the inaugural ISL season take place within the United States in the cities of Indianapolis, Lewisville, College Park, and Las Vegas.
Australia was most recently the odd -nation-out when it came to the 2019 FINA World Aquatic Championships, with no broadcasting deal having been reached for the elite biannual event. At the 11th hour, Swimming Australia streamed all swimming sessions on their iSwim app, while spectators could also download the FINAtv subscription service.
The nation has some of its most successful current swimmers sprinkled throughout the ISL, including Kyle Chalmers, Cate Campbell, and Emma McKeon among those on the London Roar roster alone.
Of the exclusive deal with the ISL, Eurosport‘s Senior Vice President for Rights Acquisitions and Syndication, Laurent Prud’homme, said, “The agreement with the ISL is strategically important for Eurosport, strengthening our portfolio of premium rights and continuing to tell our Olympic story with over 70 percent of Summer Olympic disciplines screened on our channels across the globe.
“The ISL will give world-class swimmers the platform to perform and we are thrilled to be able to showcase this exciting new competition to millions of fans all over the world on all screens.”
ISL President and Founder Konstantin Grigorishin commented, “We are delighted to partner with Eurosport, one of the best and major sports fans destination on the planet. With this agreement, International Swimming League will benefit from an unprecedented massive coverage in Europe for a brand-new competition”
Per our report this past May, below is the schedule for the ISL‘s premiere season:
- Indianapolis, IN, USA – October 4-5
- Naples, Italy, Europe – October 12-13
- Lewisville, TX, USA – October 18-19
- Budapest, Hungary, Europe – October 26-27
- College Park, MD, USA – November 15-16
- London, England, Europe – November 23-24
- Las Vegas, NV, USA – December 20-21
Tickets for the ISL meet that will be hosted in London, England from November 23rd-24th will be on sale September 6th.
If Eurosport is now the prime revenue generator for ISL it will be interesting to see if they do to Americans what NBC does to the rest of the world when international events are in inconvenient time zones for USA’s east coast audiences. Will Indy finals begin at 2pm EST to accommodate prime time audiences in Rome/London/Stockholm?
This made me lol
So the European side of the ISL is relatively on top of things compared to the American side? Seems to be the case throughout these announcements. Making the Indy meet still questionable at best….
No Rowdy, no NBC. All good!
What’s the bet us Australians get totally shafted again.
If you have FOXTEL (probably the biggest Pay TV operator in AUS market) then you’re OK as Eurosport is part of most if not all FOXTEL packages. If you’re purely reliant on free to air, your summation is correct.
I have Foxtel but it says in the article Australia is excluded?