New Broadcast Platform Coming Soon For Olympic Sports

England and Great Britain Hockey are delighted to be at the centre of the development of a new broadcast platform for Britain's Olympic and Paralympic Sports.

The Over-The-Top (OTT) platform has today been announced by a group of leading sports’ National Governing Bodies, UK Sport, the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association.

The collaboration across the Olympic and Paralympic sector has been in development for nearly two years, with over 2,600 hours of content across 26 sports having already been secured.

The platform will include both domestic and international hockey; with agreements in motion with both the FIH and EuroHockey. In addition, it will host behind-the-scenes content and features from across the sport.

Jon Cockcroft, GB and England Hockey Commercial Director and GB Sport Media Board Member said, "As the consumption of sports content changes, this collaboration is a game-changing opportunity to grow the audiences of Olympic and Paralympic Sport outside Games time.

"Through GB Sport Media, we’re looking forward to showcasing the skills and spirit of international and domestic hockey, better connecting fans with the stars of our sport and inspiring more young people to pick up a stick.” 

Fans of wider Olympic and Paralympic sports will be able to watch the best  content from around the world focused on British and Northern Irish athletes and teams.

The concept has been developed in conjunction with advertising network Omnicom Group, led by their sports consultancy, Fuse, with the ambition of launching the platform after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In their first move, the collective of British sports’ bodies have appointed Dominic Coles as the Chair of the newly incorporated GB Sport Media. Coles will be responsible for driving negotiations with broadcast and media platforms and publishers as the opportunity to partner with GB Sport Media to deliver the platform is taken to a competitive market tender.

GB Sport Media seeks to appoint a media organisation to co-create the platform with, and to build a long-term relationship with an organisation that understands the strategic and commercial potential inherent in Olympic and Paralympic sports in the UK.

UK Sport CEO, Sally Munday, said: “We are hugely excited about the opportunity that GB Sport Media presents for sports fans to watch their favourite Olympic and Paralympic sports more often. This collaboration of over 20 sports is a great example of the collective power of the UK high performance system to work together to drive increased exposure and financial sustainability for sport.”

Andy Anson, CEO of the British Olympic Association, said: "This venture is a great demonstration of the strength of relationships across the British Olympic and Paralympic network and the importance of different sports bodies coming together to pool rights to create meaningful scale. The BOA will support this excellent initiative to the fullest extent possible."