FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 29th, 2018

NBC SPORTS GROUP & INTERNATIONAL BIATHLON UNION AGREE TO MULTI-YEAR MEDIA RIGHTS DEAL

Exclusive Media Rights Agreement Begins December 2018 & Continues Through 2022

NBC Olympics to Present More Than 90 Hours of 2018-19 IBU Biathlon Coverage

Event Highlights Include World Cup Stops in Salt Lake City & Oslo, Norway, Plus World Championships from Östersund, Sweden

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 29, 2018 – NBC Sports Group and the International Biathlon Union have reached a comprehensive, four-year media rights agreement beginning in December 2018, both parties announced today. NBC Olympics will showcase more than 90 hours of biathlon coverage throughout the 2018-19 season across NBCSN, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app.

Coverage begins Sunday, Dec. 2 from Pokljuka, Slovenia on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA.

“Biathlon – the art of skiing fast and shooting straight – is one of the most unique and physically demanding winter sports, and it provides iconic moments at every Olympics,” said Jim Bell, President, Production & Programming, NBC Olympics. “So we are very excited to begin this partnership, and present year-round coverage through our expansive range of linear and digital assets.”

NBC Sports’ 2018-19 IBU Biathlon World Cup schedule includes events in Pokljuka, Slovenia (Dec. 2 – 9); Hochfilzen, Austria (Dec. 13 – 16); Oberhof, Germany (Jan. 10 – 13); Salt Lake City, Utah (Feb. 14 – 17); and Oslo, Norway (March 21 – 25). NBC Sports’ presentation of the 2019 IBU World Championships from Östersund, Sweden, begins March 7 and continues through March 17. NBCSN and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will present nearly 20 hours of World Championships programming.

Additional IBU Biathlon coverage will also be available on NBC Sports Gold – NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer live streaming product powered by Playmaker Media – and the Olympic Channel digital platforms. “Snow Pass” is available for purchase now for $69.99 by visiting NBCSportsGold.com. All events can be streamed live via NBC Sports Gold and the Olympic Channel app throughout the season.

The U.S. contingent is led by two-time Olympians Susan Dunklee and Sean Doherty. Dunklee, who earned silver in the mass start at the 2017 World Championships, is the only American woman to win an individual world medal. Doherty became the first U.S. biathlete to earn three individual medals at a World Championships when he won gold and two silvers at the 2013 World Junior Championships. Doherty has since repeated the feat twice more, at the 2014 and 2016 World Junior Championships.

A complete telecast schedule will be made available soon.

STREAMING COVERAGE OF IBU BIATHLON WORLD CUP

All 2018-19 IBU Biathlon events can be streamed live via NBC Sports Gold – NBC Sports’ direct-to-consumer live streaming product powered by Playmaker Media – and the Olympic Channel app throughout the season.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming platforms for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide streaming coverage of the 2018-19 IBU Biathlon events airing on NBCSN and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are powered by Playmaker Media and available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

All linear coverage on NBCSN will stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. All linear coverage on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will stream on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app, in addition to NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

-NBC SPORTS GROUP-