IMG SELLS THE RED BULL AIR RACE WORLD SERIES TO EUROSPORT ASIA

IMG Media today announced that it has sold the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Series to Eurosport Asia, a subsidiary of pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport, who will broadcast all 10 races across Asia (excluding Japan and China).

The agreement means that the exhilarating international motor sport race series can now be seen in more than 625 million households worldwide, with each race attracting crowds of up to 1 million people and more than 70 television stations showing the action globally.

Since 2006, IMG Media has negotiated successfully on behalf of Red Bull Air Race in numerous territories, with some of the most-watched TV stations, such as RTL in Germany, Channel 4 in the UK, and CCTV-5 in China who have all confirmed their commitment to broadcasting the 2008 series.

Last year IMG furthered the sport’s reach by 250 million households by selling 11 episodes of the 2007 Red Bull Air Race World Series to CCTV-5, the only national sports channel covering all of China.

This year The Red Bull Air Race Series was nominated in the category of Outstanding Technical Team Remote at the 29th Annual Sports Emmy® Awards.

Michael Mellor, Head of IMG Media, Asia Pacific, said: “We are pleased that Eurosport Asia has chosen to acquire the rights to this spectacular and unique motor sports competition. This is an exciting time for the Red Bull Air Race World Series, with a new race format, new host cities and the world’s best pilots competing to win the coveted championship title.”

Red Bull Air Race Head of TV and New Media Distribution, Kim Bernhard said: “The increasing digitalisation of television has expanded horizons for many sports fans and Asian viewers become more eager to watch a wider variety of sports. The Red Bull Air Race World Series being aired on Eurosport allows viewers in Asia-Pacific to have access to such an exciting competition which has grown in popularity and interest.”

“Eurosport is dedicated to bringing “live” coverage of world class events with a program line-up offering a true variety of at least 60 different sports at their highest level of competition such as Athletics, Cycling, Motorsports, Rugby, Equestrian, Sailing, Swimming and lots more,” says Arjan Hoekstra, Managing Director of Eurosport Asia-Pacific. “The addition of the Red Bull Air Race Series on Eurosport is sure to further expand the horizon of the sports viewers in Asia-Pacific!”

The 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Series season takes off on 10 April in Abu Dhabi and ends in November in Perth, Australia where the Red Bull Air Race World Champion will be crowned.