The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has announced as the broadcast rights owner of the five major television outlets on the continent that it will air the European Athletics Championships on its platforms in 2018.
Not to be confused with the European Games, which launched in Baku in 2015, this gala weekend will consolidate the major championships of many European sports into a single time-period, achieving on some level a goal that the European Games failed to do in their first edition.
Covering an audience in excess of 1.03 billion, the five networks consists of the United Kingdom’s BBC, Germany’s ARD/ZDF, France Television, Italy’s RAI, and Spain’s TVE, with additional services being provided in Scandinavia, Belgium, and the Netherlands among others. EBU’s director of Eurovision Services & Sports Rights Stefan Kürten stated, “The EBU and its members are proud to be part of this milestone event for European sports on free-to-air; this event will feature the best of Olympic summer sports in Europe – all competitions for the widest public.”
Glasgow, Scotland and Berlin, Germany will serve as host cities for the inaugural launch of the competitions which shall feature athletics, aquatics, cycling, gymnastics, rowing, triathlon, and with the newly introduced Golf Team Championships making it’s debut. Glasgow is scheduled for the competition of approximately 3025 athletes during August 1st through August 12th while the Berlin faction will see nearly half that number with only 1500 athletes competing August 7th through August 12th.
Both cities have experience hosting major international swimming competitions in recent years. In Glasgow, the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships saw 32 para-swimming World Records and 14 para-swimming European Records fall, and the 2014 Commonwealth Games witnessed England, Australia, and Canada respectively top the overall medal count. Great Britain led the 2014 European Aquatics Championships with two world records and the gold and total medal count while in Germany’s capital city.