World Athletics, the sport’s international governing body, has signed a long-term deal with USA's NBC Sports Group for the domestic rights to all World Athletics Series events, including the 2022 World Championships on home soil.

The exclusive deal, which runs until the end of 2029, covers five editions of the World Athletics Championships, Indoor Championships, Cross Country Championships, Half Marathon Championships, Race Walking Team Championships, Under-20 Championships and Relays.

USA will is host the World Athletics Championship for the first time in Eugene, Oregon in 2022.

Sebastian Coe, WA president, said: “The World Athletics Championships Oregon22 will be a historic occasion for our sport and we are delighted to have such a trusted broadcast partner by our side to showcase our sport in the United States.

“The next decade presents a tremendous opportunity for us to build our American fan base for track and field by highlighting the amazing athletes the US produces, and telling their stories as they take on the greatest athletes from around the globe.

“NBC Sports’ ability to take fans inside those must-watch moments will be vital to our efforts.”

NBC, the Olympics broadcaster in USA to 2032, already holds the rights to the Diamond League, WA’s annual top-tier series, and USA Track and Field events. 

Gary Zenkel, NBC Olympics president, said: “Track and field is a cornerstone of the Olympic programme, and with the World Championship coming to the US for the first time ever in Eugene 2022, and a group of young and talented American stars on the rise, we couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to deliver these events and tell their stories to years to come.”

The announcement of the deal came as Oregon 2022 organisers launched the logo, website and social media channels for the event, which is due to begin in 600 days.

The event was originally scheduled for 2021 but was rescheduled to 2022 due the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games by a year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2023 edition of the World Athletics Championships is due to take place in Budapest, Hungary.

Meanwhile, WA has today released the provisional calendar for the 2021 Wanda Group Diamond League season, which will see the competition return to a full schedule of 14 meetings from May to September. 

This season's Diamond League was cut to 11 meetings from August to October due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The 2021 competition is set to begin on 23 May in Rabat, Morocco, before heading to Doha, Qatar on 28 May.

Rome will host the first European meeting of the season on 4 June, before the athletes head to Oslo a week later. 

Following stops in Stockholm, Monaco and London, in the first two weeks of July, the league will pause for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which are set to run from 23 July to 8 August. 

The series will resume in Shanghai, China on 14 August and will be followed by another event in the country the following weekend at a venue soon to be announced.

The league will then travel to Eugene on 21 August before returning to Europe for the final leg of the season, with meetings in Lausanne, Paris and Brussels. 

The season finale will be held in Zurich on 8 and 9 September. 

WA said the calendar remains subject to changes depending on the global health situation next year and it, together with the Diamond League and meeting organisers, will continue to monitor the situation.

Sportcal