IMG secures media rights for Winter Games

The deal includes live coverage on Sport 24, the 24/7 live sports channel produced and distributed by IMG Media exclusively for the in-flight and in-ship markets.

In total, there will be more than 60 hours of coverage from Sochi on Sport 24, with nearly 50 hours live, including all the main men's and women's skiing and snowboarding events and the opening and closing ceremonies.

Feast of action

"The Sochi Olympics is the pinnacle for winter sports athletes and the Games promises to be a feast of top action," Richard Wise, senior vice president of IMG Media said. "We are delighted that we will be growing the global audience for such a prestigious event to include passengers in the air and on the seas, through our relationships with airlines and cruise liners and our live Sport 24 channel."

Vincent Chupin, vice president of television and audio-visual rights at IOC Television and Marketing, said their broadcast objective is to reach the widest possible global audience with each edition of the Olympic Games. "By working with IMG Media we are pleased we will also be able to bring extensive and live daily coverage of the Sochi Games to audiences on airlines and ships worldwide."

Other live action to be shown during 2014 on Sport 24 includes coverage of the Barclays Premier League, all four golf majors and all four tennis Grand Slams, as well as the ATP 1000 events and finals, the F1, the Bundesliga and the Giro d'Italia.